Tsunami 2004: The aftermath

I remembered that beautiful morning of December 26, 2004 just after Christmas. Everyone was still sleeping. Suddenly a magnitude 9.0 earthquake occured about 100 miles west of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. In the aftermath of the quake resultant tsunami waves killed over 280,000 people in towns and villages along the coasts of the Indian Ocean. Over 3 million survivors had their livelihoods destroyed. India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Somalia were affected.

Inspired by true accounts, this HBO mini-series focuses on a group of fictional characters caught up in the harrowing aftermath of the tsunami that devastated the coast of Thailand. This melodrama has already been nominated for "Golden Globes Award 2006" in the categories of best performance by an actor, an actress, and an actress in a supporting role in a series, mini-series or motion picture made for television.

"Tsunami: The Aftermath," a tale of personal loss, survival and hope, follows a group of fictional characters whose lives are irrevocably transformed by the cataclysmic natural disaster. Among those whose stories are followed are: a young couple searching for their child; a Thai survivor who loses his family and tries to prevent developers from seizing the land his village was built on; an Englishwoman whose husband and son are missing; an ambitious reporter; a relief worker; an overwhelmed British official whose faith in the system is torn apart; and a leading Thai meteorologist, whose earlier report detailing the inevitability of a tsunami hitting the affected area was ignored.

According to a leading geologist of the Geological Survey of Bangladesh (GSB), Mir Fazlul Karim, Bangladesh survived the effects of the tsunami on December 26 because of the natural barrier of its continental shelf stretching 200 km into the Bay of Bengal.

The gift of nature, the continental shelf, was formed on the Gangetic delta with billions of tons of sediment carried down by the Ganges and the Brahmaputra. Bangladesh survived with God's mercy, and that natural barrier.

Although there is no system for predicting the earthquakes or tsunamis, Bangladesh is yet to be out of the woods as danger is always lurking. It needs to develop a system of early warning against more powerful sea surges.

As we can't stop tsunamis we need to install necessary warning systems like seismic observatories in the region to detect an earthquake and send data to the Central Tsunami Warning Center. If the earthquake is in the sea, and above 7.5 on the Richter scale, an initial "tsunami watch" alert is sent out and data from monitoring stations deep on the seabed near the earthquake's epicenter are checked for signs of a tsunami. If a tsunami is detected warnings are sent out via national systems which have been set up in several countries. We have to be ready with proper medication, plans for rehabilitation, and many other necessary steps.

Because of ignorance, lack of awareness, and inexperience in handling an earthquake emergency situation, Bangladesh can hardly manage such a big natural disaster like a tsunami.

Although Bangladesh runs a high risk of being hit by an earthquake and tsunami, it has little preparation to combat those natural calamities. According to geologists there are some geological faults that can cause strong earthquakes in the country. One of them is Dauki fault at the bordering area of Sylhet-Meghalaya, and the other one is Sitakunda-Teknaf fault in the Chittagong coastal area. Besides these, Bangladesh has many seismic faults which can cause earthquakes in the plains around Dhaka and the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

Moreover, there is a 600 km long seismic gap (that indicates possibility of earthquake) stretching from the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal to Teknaf where there is no record of an earthquake which could turn into a tsunami if it occurred under the Bay of Bengal.

Bangladesh can't gather everything within a very short time for post-natural disaster management like Japan or US. But managing emergency underground water reservoirs, food, portable toilets, smooth traffic plan to clear streets for fire engines and ambulances, coordinated teams of engineers and doctors are not too difficult task.

Bangladesh Meteorological Department, GSB, Space Research and Remote Sensing Organization, as well as Bangladesh Navy and the Air Force who use satellite data, sit together to develop a tsunami warning system with available resources.

In addition, development of a rapid seismic observatory system including hydro-acoustic sensors, sea height buoys, and modern tide gauges as an integral part of early warning system for tsunami is very important. Above all, Enhancing people's participation in disaster management and upgrading coastal embankments for greater safety can help to reduce aftermath of tsunami.

Bangladesh has been included in the Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System for the Indian Ocean within a Global Framework of the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

So far, twenty-four tsunamis have caused damage in the United States and its territories during the last 204 years. Just since 1946, six tsunamis have killed more than 350 people and caused a half billion dollars of property damage in Hawaii, Alaska, and the West Coast.

The 2004 tsunami is the deadliest in recorded history. Prior to 2004, the deadliest recorded tsunami was the result of an earthquake near Awa, Japan in 1703 that killed 1,000,000. As a tsunami nears the coastline, it may rise to several feet or, in rare cases, tens of feet, and can cause great loss of life and property damage when it comes ashore.

Tsunamis can travel upstream in coastal estuaries and rivers, with damaging waves extending farther inland than the immediate coast. A tsunami can occur during any season of the year and at any time, day or night. Bangladesh should beware.

Ripan Kumar Biswas was an intern at The Seoul Times and is a freelance writer based in New York.