| 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami |
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| Countries affected |
| Humanitarian response |
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The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, by far the worst disaster in the number of lives lost during peacetime for Finland, killed 179 Finns in Thailand and Sri Lanka, and caused widespread public debate and investigations into the actions of Finnish officials who were claimed to have failed to help their citizens in the affected areas.
The undersea megathrust earthquake was 9.1 to 9.3 on the moment magnitude scale and struck the Indian Ocean off the western coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia. It occurred on 26 December 2004 at 00:58:50 UTC (07:58:50 local time in Jakarta and Bangkok).
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There were approximately 2300 Finnish citizens on package tours in Thailand, and 600 in Sri Lanka, at the time of the earthquake. The number of independent travellers has not been confirmed. By 31 May 2005, a total number of 179 Finns have been proclaimed dead as caused by the tsunami; as of October 2006, one adult and three children were still officially missing in the affected areas. One person went missing in Sri Lanka and 178 in Thailand. Eight Finnish casualties had resided in Phuket island, and 170 in Khao Lak beach, which was the area in Thailand hardest hit by the catastrophe. 106 Finns went missing from the hotel Blue Village Pakarang in Khao Lak.
Among the dead were a Finnish executive at Pfizer, Harriet Eckstein, [1] and a popular rock and jazz musician, Aki Sirkesalo. Among those who escaped was the future President of Finland, Sauli Niinistö, who saved himself from the tsunami wave by climbing onto a lamppost with his son in Khao Lak.
The Finnish government officials were heavily criticised for their slow response to help those citizens affected by the events. There were a high number of travellers in the affected areas in need of information on lost relatives, help to find travel documents to get back home, and generally in need to get evacuated in an organised manner. In Finland, thousands of relatives needed information regarding family members that may have been in the area. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs received the most criticism, mostly by not providing enough emergency telephone services during Boxing Day and the days following.
One of the reasons for the government's slow response, as has been claimed, was the general lack of information about the situation, and the lack of readiness to organise evacuation efforts in politically stable foreign locations. [2] In Sweden, the country in Europe with the highest number of casualties as a result of the tsunami, widespread criticism towards the government led to the resignations of top politicians, but these consequences didn't occur in Finland.
In response for the need to coordinate rescue and evacuation efforts for Finnish people in Thailand, a group of Finnish scuba divers started collecting namelists of the ones missing and the ones in safe locations, and sending them as text messages to the homeland to be published in lists in the Sukellus.fi Archived 28 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine website. This operation was led by entrepreneurs Janne Miikkulainen and Jani Mäkinen from Raya Divers, a scuba diving firm based in Phuket, and by internet entrepreneur Alex Nieminen and journalist Petri Ahoniemi in Helsinki. Miikkulainen, Mäkinen and a crew of tourist agents also circulated hospitals and evacuation centers around Khao Lak and Phuket in order to find Finnish people and give them information about the situation.
Janne Miikkulainen was awarded a Cross of Merit of the Order of the Lion of Finland for his work during and after the catastrophe. The others hosting the Sukellus.fi-website received a State information award. [3]
Phang Nga is one of the southern provinces (Changwat) of Thailand, on the shore of the Andaman Sea to the west and Phang Nga Bay to the south. Neighbouring provinces, from north and moving clockwise, are Ranong, Surat Thani, and Krabi. Towards the south of Phang Nga is the Phuket province, connected by the Sarasin Bridge.
Phuket is one of the southern provinces (changwat) of Thailand. It consists of the island of Phuket, the country's largest island, and another 32 smaller islands off its coast. It lies off the west coast of mainland Thailand in the Andaman Sea. Phuket Island is connected by the Sarasin Bridge to Phang Nga province to the north. The next nearest province is Krabi, to the east across Phang Nga Bay.
The Ingrians, sometimes called Ingrian Finns, are the Finnish population of Ingria, descending from Lutheran Finnish immigrants introduced into the area in the 17th century, when Finland and Ingria were both parts of the Swedish Empire. In the forced deportations before and after World War II, and during the genocide of Ingrian Finns, most of them were relocated to other parts of the Soviet Union, or killed. Today the Ingrian Finns constitute the largest part of the Finnish population of the Russian Federation. According to some records, some 25,000 Ingrian Finns have returned or still reside in the region of Saint Petersburg.
Patong refers to the beach and town on Phuket's west coast. It is the main tourist resort on the island of Phuket, and is the centre of Phuket's nightlife and shopping. The beach became popular with Western tourists, especially Europeans, in the late-1980s. It has numerous hotels and the area has expanded into a tourist place.
On 26 December 2004, at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7), a major earthquake with a magnitude of 9.1–9.3 Mw struck with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The undersea megathrust earthquake, known by the scientific community as the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, was caused by a rupture along the fault between the Burma Plate and the Indian Plate, and reached a Mercalli intensity up to IX in some areas.
The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea megathrust earthquake of moment magnitude 9.1–9.3 that struck the Indian Ocean off the western coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia on 26 December 2004 at 00:58:50 UTC.
Khao Lak is a series of villages, now tourist-oriented, mainly in the Takua Pa District and partly in the Thai Mueang District of Phang Nga Province, Thailand.
The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami occurred on Sunday, December 26, 2004. The earthquake itself, with a moment magnitude of around 9.1-9.3, devastated Aceh Province, Indonesia, while the tsunami affected countries all around the Indian Ocean. Nations which were affected are listed below in alphabetical order. For detailed information about each country affected by the earthquake and tsunami, see their individual articles. Countries with a smaller number of casualties, as well as those that lost citizens who were travelling abroad, are listed further on in the article.
Aki Pekka Antero Sirkesalo was a Finnish singer and broadcaster.
Takua Pa is a district (amphoe) in Phang Nga province in south Thailand.
Sri Lanka was one of the countries struck by the tsunami resulting from the Indian Ocean earthquake on December 26, 2004. On January 3, 2005, Sri Lankan authorities reported 30,000+ confirmed deaths.
Thailand was one of the 14 countries affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami on 26 December 2004. It left behind unprecedented damage and destruction in six provinces of Thailand, impacting 407 villages, completely destroying 47 of them, including prominent tourist resorts like Khao Lak. The disaster killed about 5,400 people in Thailand, including foreign tourists.
Hat Kata Noi is a beach on the southwest side of the island of Phuket in Thailand. It is adjacent to Kata Beach to the south. The beach is bordered to the north by the Mon Tri's Villa Royale Resort, and most of the beachfront is occupied by the resort of Kata Thani.
The 2005 Nias–Simeulue earthquake occurred on 28 March off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia. At least 915 people were killed, mostly on the island of Nias. The event caused panic in the region, which had already been devastated by the massive tsunami triggered by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, but this earthquake generated a relatively small tsunami that caused limited damage. It was the third most powerful earthquake since 1965 in Indonesia.
Tsunami: The Aftermath is a 2006 American disaster drama television miniseries that dramatizes the events in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.
Library damage resulting from the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake has been reported in six Asian countries. On December 26, the massive 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake struck off the northwest coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The resulting tsunamis killed more than 180,000 people. In addition to the loss of human lives, cultural institutions were destroyed in several Asian nations. Libraries on the Eastern coast of Sri Lanka and the northern province of Aceh on Sumatra were most severely affected by the disaster.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is a national law enforcement agency of the Finnish Police and the principal criminal investigation and criminal intelligence organization of Finland. The Bureau's main tasks are to counter and investigate organized crime, provide expert services, and develop methods for criminal investigation. NBI is also responsible for financial intelligence (FININT), such as preventing money laundering and terrorism financing. NBI headquarters has been situated in the city of Vantaa within the Capital Region since 1994 with field offices in Tampere, Turku, Mariehamn, Joensuu, Oulu and Rovaniemi. It is subordinate to the National Police Board under the jurisdiction of the Interior Ministry.
The Emergency Architects Foundation is a French non-governmental organization, reconnue d'utilité publique. It is organised as a not-for-profit foundation with the French Order of Architects as supporters and is accredited by the United Nations and the European Union. The Emergency Architects Foundation is also present in Australia and in Canada . The aim of Emergency Architects is to bring help and technical aid to the victims of natural, technological and human disasters, not only in safety and security evaluations of the populations but also in post-disaster reconstruction programs focused on long-term development and risk mitigation.
The 2012 Indian Ocean earthquakes were magnitude 8.6 and 8.2 Mw undersea earthquakes that struck near the Indonesian province of Aceh on 11 April at 15:38 local time. Initially, authorities feared that the initial earthquake would cause a tsunami and warnings were issued across the Indian Ocean; however, these warnings were subsequently cancelled. These were unusually strong intraplate earthquakes and the largest strike-slip earthquake ever recorded.
Khao Lak–Lam Ru National Park is a national park in Phang Nga Province, Thailand. The park is named for two of its mountain peaks, Khao Lak and Lam Ru. It also encompasses beaches and forests.