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Tsunami in Indonesia On 26 December 2004 (07:58:53 am local time) a giant Earthquake of 9.3 on the Richter Scale occurred off the coast of Indonesia’s Aceh province. The undersea earthquake generated a Tsunami which killed hundreds of thousands of people, displaced over ½ million people and tens of thousands still missing. The disaster is also known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and is the deadliest Tsunami in recorded history.   Click here for photos of the Tsunami destruction and affected people in Aceh courtesy of the Australian Army (medical corp).   Click here for a map showing the coverage of the Tsunami and Click here for a before and after photo of Banda Aceh courtesy of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. In May 2005, scientists reported that the earthquake itself lasted close to ten minutes when most major earthquakes last no more than a few seconds; it caused the entire planet to vibrate at least a few centimetres. It also triggered earthquakes elsewhere, as far away as Alaska.  The earthquake originated in the Indian Ocean just north of Simeulue Island, off the western coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia.  The resulting tsunami devastated the shores of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, South India, Thailand and other countries with waves up to 30 m (100 ft). It caused serious damage and deaths in the Maldives, Malaysia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Yemen, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, and as far as Port Elizabeth in South Africa, 8,000 km (5,000 mi) away from the epicentre.  See an animation of how the waves travelled to see why some countries were more affected than others. Wikinews has news related to this article: 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami Wikimedia Commons has media related to: 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake   Casualty numbers   One year later, officials still aren't exactly sure how many people died in the tsunami, but a tally of conservative government figures estimates the number of dead and missing at more than 216,000 in 12 countries. Tens of thousands of bodies were washed out to sea, local government offices were destroyed and personal records lost. In some places, census details that formed the basis of missing-persons lists are hopelessly out of date.   In relation to Indonesian fatalities the Indonesian Red Cross -- considered the more reliable by international aid agencies -- lists 131,338 dead and 25,016 missing in Aceh, which suffered the most.  Indonesia’s Ministry of Health confirmed 131,029 deaths on June 18th 2005, mainly in the northern province Aceh of the island of Sumatra. The number of people missing are some 37,000.   Jessica Adamson , News Reporter from Channel 7 in Adelaide, South Australia reports from the Tsunami scene in Banda Aceh  on January 7 2005.

"Alone in a strange place - Zalfahmi - the little boy Mother Nature left behind.  Five days ago no one knew where he came from, a mystery, number 89. Brave little Zalfahmi ran to the mountains when the tsunami hit but his mum and dad, his little sister and baby brother never came.  He was one of thousands of children here whose lives had been turned upside down. For now it was back to hospital in Banda Aceh, his only toys there the surgical kits given to him by the doctors - gloves, masks and glasses." Click here to see the Channel 7 story of Zalfahmi  Video 1      Video 2 Click here to read more about Jessica's Channel 7 story about the Tsunami in Aceh. Click here for photos of the Tsunami disaster of December 26 2004.