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The Boxing Day Tsunami in numbers
Stats and facts
Scale of the devastation of the Boxing-day tsunami
1. 275,000 people were killed in fourteen countries across two continents, with the
last two fatalities being swept out to sea in South Africa, more than twelve hours after
the earthquake.
2. 40,000 to 45,000 more women than men were killed in the tsunami.
3. US $ 9.9 billion was originally estimated to be the value of economic, infrastuctural
and human development losses.
4. 141,000 houses were destroyed, which accounts for 47.9 percent of the total damage
(BRR & World Bank, 2005)
5. Over 600,000 people in Aceh lost their livelihoods (in some cases only for a few
months) including all those in the fishery sector and 30 percent of those in
agriculture.
6. A 1,200km section of the earth’s crust shifted beneath the Indian ocean and the
earthquake released stored energy equivalent to over more than 23,000 Hiroshima
bombs.
7. Speeds of 500km/h were reached as the tsunamis radiated through the Indian Ocean.
In the worst cases, the waves reached over
8. Tsunamis reached 20m in height at landfall in parts of Aceh. In other locations they
spread 3 km inland carrying debris and salt water with them. The retreating waters
eroded whole shorelines.
9. Within ten minutes of the earthquake, tsunami waves started to strike the Nicobar
and Andaman Islands. Banda Aceh was struck within another ten minutes.
10. Within two hours of the earthquake, both Thailand and Sri Lanka had been hit. The
east cost of India was hit shortly afterwards.
11. Three hours after the earthquake tsunamis rolled over the Maldives and more than
seven hours after, hit the Somali coast.
12. Over 1,000 German and Swedish tourists were killed. Germany and Sweden were
the worst affected countries outside the region and lost more citizens than all but the
four most affected countries.
