A tragic event 20 years ago resulted in the death of 227,000 individuals. Here is the sequence of events that took place.

The year was 2004 when a devastating disaster struck on the day after Christmas. It was a day that would be remembered as one of the worst natural disasters in human history - the Boxing Day tsunami. At 7:58am local time, an earthquake with a magnitude of 9.1 hit off the coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia in the Indian Ocean. The tremors were felt for miles, causing widespread destruction and panic.

Within 15 minutes, the first waves began crashing onto the shores of northern Sumatra and the Nicobar Islands, as reported by the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience. As the hours passed, the tsunamis made their way to other countries, reaching as far as Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand. And even seven hours later, the waves reached as far as Mauritius and the east coast of Africa.

The scale of this disaster was unimaginable. According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the waves reached a staggering height of 51 meters in Indonesia's Aceh province in Northern Sumatra. To put this into perspective, these waves were about 30 times the size of the average Australian person and seven times the size of a two-storey home.

The devastation caused by the Boxing Day tsunami was immense, with at least 227,000 people losing their lives. This tragedy affected more than a dozen countries, with Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and India being some of the worst hit. Among the victims were 26 Australians.

The Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience has declared it as the single worst tsunami in history and one of the 10 worst earthquakes ever recorded. Dr. John Dawson, the head of community safety at Geoscience Australia, stated that this disaster stands out because of the number of deaths that occurred far from the epicenter of the earthquake. This is not a common occurrence in natural disasters.

The magnitude of this earthquake was rare and extraordinary. Dr. Dawson compared it to another massive earthquake that occurred in the Tōhoku region of Japan in 2011, which led to the Fukushima nuclear disaster. He also highlighted the fact that in 2004, there was no tsunami warning capability in the Indian Ocean, which was one of the reasons for the high death toll.

Although we cannot predict earthquakes, it is essential to have systems in place to monitor potential tsunamis. Since the Indian Ocean earthquake, Geoscience Australia and the Bureau of Meteorology have been working together to monitor earthquakes and potential tsunamis. As the 20th anniversary of this tragedy approaches, they hope that it will not fade from people's memories and that we will be prepared for any future disasters. Reflecting on this event also serves as a reminder of the unpredictable and recurring nature of such catastrophic events.

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