December 26, 2004
2. The Boxing Day Tsunami
December 26, 2004. Boxing Day. A day typically filled with holiday cheer and leftover turkey. But for millions of people living along the coasts of the Indian Ocean, it became a day of unspeakable horror. On this day, the deadliest tsunami ever recorded struck, leaving an indelible scar on the landscape and the human psyche.
The story begins deep beneath the ocean floor, off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. A massive earthquake, registering a magnitude of 9.1 to 9.3, ripped through the Earth's crust. The energy released was equivalent to thousands of atomic bombs, causing the seafloor to rupture and displace an enormous volume of water.
This displaced water surged outwards in all directions, forming a series of giant waves — tsunamis. Unlike typical wind-driven waves, tsunamis have incredibly long wavelengths, often hundreds of kilometers. In the open ocean, they may be barely noticeable, only a few feet high. But as they approach shallower coastal waters, they slow down and build in height, transforming into walls of water capable of unimaginable destruction.
The impact was devastating. Coastal communities in Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, and even as far away as Somalia, were slammed by these towering waves. Homes were swept away, infrastructure was decimated, and entire villages were obliterated. The sheer scale of the tragedy was almost incomprehensible.
