Tsunami Statistics                                                       Additional resources

By, Jacklyn Blecker (http://www.seas.gwu.edu)

 

The great volume of the ocean was the direct cause of one of nature’s most deadly phenomena: a tsunami. Within hours killer waves as high as 50 feet (15 meters) in some places radiating from the earthquake zone slammed into the coastline of 11 Indian Ocean countries, causing death toll numbers ranging from nearly 158,000 to more than 221,000 with millions more missing. The greatest damage occurred in Indonesian which makes up 166,320 of the total deaths and 6,245 of the total number missing. Total tsunami damages are estimated at 0.3 percent of GDP in Thailand and 0.1 percent in India. Indonesia is estimated to spend 0.4 percent of GDP on reconstruction.

 

Urgent Needs Obscure Long-Term Costs of Asian Disaster
WASHINGTON, Dec 30 (IPS) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank say it is too early to know the real damage caused by the disaster, but some independent analysts have began forecasting long-term costs. (…)
A Duke University professor who has studied rural economic development in Indonesia and Sri Lanka says the loss of coastal villages' fishing fleets will be a major long-term obstacle to economic recovery.
"These communities are dependent on the ability to fish, to trade by boat and to travel by boat," said Kramer. (…) "These villagers have very low incomes to begin with, and without their boats -- their major source of income -- recovery will be especially slow."
The destruction of boats, vehicles, harbours and roads will make it extremely difficult for fishermen to travel to other villages in search of work, added Kramer.(…)

The Brussels-based International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) said its union sources in Thailand estimate that 200,000 people are likely to be affected in southern Thailand's tourism industry where, in Phuket alone, 50,000 workers are employed in hotels. (…)
Thousands of plantation workers in Indonesia, tourism employees in Malaysia, as well as various categories of workers and their relatives in Sri Lanka and India are likely to be hit for a long time, said the union.

Copyright © 2005 IPS-Inter Press Service News Agency. All rights reserved

 

Counting the costs
Philippine Daily Inquirer, Jan 03, 2005               This story was taken from www.inq7.net

 

THE disaster caused by tsunamis last week over an area spanning Eastern Africa and South Asia is turning out to be the costliest catastrophe that has hit the world in more than a hundred years.

The cost in human terms: About 150,000 dead and counting; tens of thousands of others missing; tens of thousands injured. Millions of people displaced, without food, clothes and shelter and jobs. In many villages, the second generation--the youth--decimated, if not completely wiped out.

The economic cost: Tens of thousands of poor fishermen living in countries on the shores of the Indian Ocean are bearing the brunt of the economic cost of the disaster. Most of the victims are people who live on the margins of the world economy and also of their national economies.

In the short term, the disaster has dealt a big blow to the tourism industry, principally in Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. (…)

The environmental costs: Agricultural land in the affected areas may take years to recover from the sea water flood. The killings of thousands of fowl and thousands of head of livestock will affect the poultry and cattle industries. Fruit production has been badly affected. Salt water may kill many trees on the shoreline. Flooding can wash away not just crops in the farms but also the nutrient-rich topsoil and some subsoil.

The massive flooding by sea water will salinate wells and water supplies, rendering them practically useless for drinking and other household purposes. The flooding may wash away irrigation systems. (…)

But an effect that will not be readily evident will be the cost of the disaster in terms of emotional and psychological trauma and mental paralysis. Because of these effects, the survivors may not be productive for quite some time and may depend on the donations from donor countries. They will have to be helped not just economically but also psychologically to help them get back on their feet.(…)

 After the initial relief operation is completed, the next stage will be reconstruction, and billions of dollars more will then be needed. In some cases, entire communities and villages will have to be rebuilt.(…)