Experience the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami like never before. This raw, unfiltered eyewitness footage captures the terrifying moments as one of the most powerful natural disasters in history struck without warning. See the chaos, destruction, and heartbreak unfold in real-time as towering waves swallowed coastlines across Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and beyond. From desperate survivors to entire communities washed away, this video offers a haunting account of the tsunami that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and stunned the world.
#IndianOceanTsunami #Tsunami2004 #NaturalDisaster #RealFootage #BreakingHistory #ExtremeWeather #DisasterVideo #AsItHappened
LIVE EYEWITNESS steps you back in time to the moments that shaped our world, showcasing historic television news coverage from across the decades. Relive how major news events unfolded, exactly as viewers saw them at the time. From breaking news headlines to global turning points, these videos offer a powerful window into the past through original broadcasts from leading news networks.
#IndianOceanTsunami #Tsunami2004 #NaturalDisaster #RealFootage #BreakingHistory #ExtremeWeather #DisasterVideo #AsItHappened
LIVE EYEWITNESS steps you back in time to the moments that shaped our world, showcasing historic television news coverage from across the decades. Relive how major news events unfolded, exactly as viewers saw them at the time. From breaking news headlines to global turning points, these videos offer a powerful window into the past through original broadcasts from leading news networks.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Good evening. The tsunami toll is now reaching levels no heart or mind can truly comprehend.
00:06Some authorities are predicting the number of deaths will reach 100,000 by the weekend.
00:12More than 11,000 people are now thought to have been killed in southern Asia
00:16after an undersea earthquake sent enormous waves rolling across the Indian Ocean.
00:22The quake measured 8.9 on the Richter scale, the biggest in the world for 40 years.
00:27Waves up to 10 metres high engulf the coasts of many countries.
00:32Tens of millions of tonnes of water, unthinkably powerful, are driven onto shores across the Indian Ocean.
00:39The waves started at speeds of as much as 500 miles an hour.
00:44Nothing and no one can stand against them.
00:47The Husseini family are getting ready for a wedding.
00:51Then the tsunami waves hit northwestern Indonesia.
00:55By 8.50, less than an hour after the waves were launched, the Husseini's town of Banda Aceh has almost vanished.
01:05It's coming again! Coming again!
01:08At the resort of Phuket in Thailand, 250 miles to the north, the tourists are running for their lives.
01:16Oh my God!
01:17It's half an hour after the waves hit Indonesia.
01:20Oh shit!
01:22Sri Lanka, two hours later and a thousand miles further on.
01:27There's more coming!
01:28This was Sri Lanka, as the seawater flooded inland.
01:35Thousands have lost their lives here.
01:39And government officials say more than one million people, around 5% of the island's population, have been affected.
01:47The flood water came inland for several hundred metres.
01:52Some victims were washed away as friends and relatives screamed.
01:59Sri Lanka's Natural Disaster Management Centre says it may be the worst disaster they've experienced.
02:07Entire swathes of south-eastern India were devastated.
02:15In each of the countries around the Indian Ocean where the waves hit, it was one of the worst disasters in living memory.
02:22A catastrophe.
02:25These are countries where the wealthy come to holiday and the poor cling to a precarious existence of the best of times.
02:32Tsunami waves made no distinction between rich and poor, foreigners and locals.
02:41Children suffered particularly because they couldn't run away.
02:44In country after country, the emergency facility is always limited, buckled and virtually collapsed under the strain.
03:02The true scale of the disaster is only now becoming plain.
03:09But we still don't have any clear idea who's survived and who hasn't.
03:13We don't even know roughly how many casualties there have been.
03:17And we won't find out for some days.
03:20It'll be a long time before the floods give up all the bodies of the dead.
03:24In the expensive resorts where foreigners were taking the holiday of a lifetime, the shock and grief were no less strong.
03:34Some could scarcely understand how they'd survived.
03:38As the water gushed through, it filled the room with water and I was almost drowned.
03:45And I just stood there and prayed.
03:53Across the entire region, people are dealing with the bodies of the dead according to their own religious traditions.
04:00It's been a reminder of the immense destructive power which natural forces can exert, and of our feebleness.
04:08It even briefly disturbed the rotation of the earth.
04:13Yet it's the individual cases that stay in our memories.
04:17Like this husband and wife who found their children among the piles of bodies.
04:21And here is the moment when the ocean starts to spill onto the street.
04:35This is amateur video from holidaymakers in Thailand, at the resort of Phuket.
04:41And captured on the same camera one of the waves, its power about to be revealed.
04:47For many tourists in southern Thailand, this was a paradise, not anymore.
04:56Survivors here evacuated on the island of Phi Phi, well known to many as the perfect setting for the movie The Beach.
05:06And from a tourist in the Maldives, this account of her survival.
05:10We didn't realise, we just saw a water plane coming up and towards the building.
05:17And people from outside screaming.
05:19And then we saw the water come in the building and very fast.
05:24Pictures from Indian television show the water overwhelming large areas of the coast.
05:30Hundreds of fishermen are among those reported missing.
05:34India's Prime Minister says everything possible will be done to help those affected.
05:40The sea that should be turquoise is muddy brown, threatening, tainted.
05:47And where villages stood, almost nothing is left.
05:53Nature feels disturbed, unbalanced.
06:01Sri Lanka's coast has been its fortune.
06:04That's why so many people were here when the tsunami hit.
06:07What really strikes you from the air is the scale of the devastation.
06:18It just goes on for mile after mile after mile.
06:22We've been in this helicopter for about half an hour, going along the coast of Sri Lanka.
06:30And right along there, there's the debris left by destroyed businesses, destroyed homes, and destroyed lives as well.
06:40And this is what the sea did, in one of those villages.
06:52Habaradur wasn't a smart resort.
06:55It was a quiet place where people made a living from tourists who came to dive and surf.
07:00The wave tore into the heart of the village.
07:11Now they're digging for what the sea left behind.
07:14Relics of lives that had seemed to be getting better.
07:17Bodies are buried as they're identified.
07:23Ones without names are left at the roadside, decaying in the wet heat, in the hope that someone will claim them.
07:33Mr. Kumar is looking for his four-year-old daughter.
07:36Just before the wave came, he saw her playing outside their back door.
07:39He's already buried his older daughter and his wife.
07:43He doesn't expect to find her alive.
07:46On a beach in Thailand, the crowds flee in fear as a wave approaches.
07:52This did not turn out to be one of the really big ones to strike.
07:57But the power of these waves has caused devastation here,
08:00and along thousands of miles of coastline, across the entire region.
08:04The waves, known as tsunami, can move at up to 400 miles an hour.
08:10Out in the ocean, they aren't usually that high.
08:13But look inside at what happens as the waves approach the coast.
08:17The peak of the waves is forced upwards.
08:19Today, they were several stories high,
08:21and behind them comes a vast and destructive mass of water.
08:27Up to 3,000 people, tormented by rumours that more tsunamis are coming,
08:32stay at the local Buddhist temple.
08:34They get some help from the monks and from well-wishers,
08:37but they say they've had nothing from the government.
08:41Habaradua is a single village.
08:43Across this country, one million people have lost their homes.
08:48If aid is still arriving this slowly next week, it will get worse.
08:54If you could smell this, you would be retching.
08:58Banda Aceh's main hospital, overflowing.
09:01A place of filth and despair.
09:06And time is running out.
09:09Six-year-old Maola has been here since yesterday, untreated.
09:14Gangrene is setting in fast.
09:16No one seems to care, says her brother.
09:21Look at her wounds.
09:22They've started rotting.
09:25Outside, grave digging, now on an industrial scale.
09:29Another truckload every two minutes.
09:32No names, no ceremony.
09:35But it's not fast enough.
09:38The streets still festering with corpses.
09:41The dead seem to outnumber the living.
09:43But there is little time to mourn.
09:48The battle for survival here is getting harder by the day.
09:52Regular water supplies are contaminated.
09:55Relief still scarce.
09:56Tonight, thousands of families will again sleep out in the open.
10:03In the middle of their devastated city.
10:06And this was the moment their lives changed forever.
10:14The waves' relentless progress captured on an amateur video.
10:19People clinging to the roofs for safety.
10:21But other towns have simply vanished.
10:26This was Malabo.
10:27Population 95,000.
10:30Number of survivors unknown.
10:35Indonesia was the closest country to Sunday's epicenter.
10:39It was hit first and hardest.
10:42Now it is hell on earth.
10:45International aid cannot come fast enough.
10:48The horrors here are beyond belief.
10:52The waves that did this came without warning.
10:55But the next disasters here are now entirely predictable.
10:59Dysentery, gangrene, cholera,
11:02and epidemics which could kill as many people
11:04as the original tsunami.
11:13Sri Lanka has declared a national disaster
11:16and is appealing for international aid.
11:20And aftershocks remain a possibility.
11:23This is what one of Thailand's most popular resorts looks like today.
11:27Phuket, especially busy with British holidaymakers
11:30at this time of year.
11:31Now they are tending the injured.
11:33Tourists helping one another
11:35while they wait for medical assistance.
11:37At least 20 foreign nationals
11:39are thought to have died here.
11:40There are reports of holidaymakers
11:42swept from the beach.
11:43We saw this enormous tidal wave
11:46approaching the beach
11:48and people started to run.
11:51And suddenly it was complete chaos.
11:53People running and screaming
11:54as the wave hit.
11:57This is what brings so many here.
12:00This island was the setting for the Hollywood movie
12:02The Beach.
12:03The stunning scenery,
12:04a magnet for tourists.
12:06But this is what's been left behind.
12:08A picture repeated across the areas
12:10that have been hit.
12:11Holiday operators believe there could be
12:13more than 10,000 Britons in the region.
12:15The tour operators are making contact with them
12:17as quickly as they can.
12:19Trying to find ways of getting them to safety.
12:22And eventually, of course,
12:23over the next two days
12:24to fly them home to back to the UK.
12:26But with communications cut in many places,
12:29it's hard to assess just how many foreigners
12:31are still missing.
12:32Especially those not travelling with organised tours.
12:35It's actually a much trickier position
12:37for the many thousands of British backpackers
12:40who are in the area.
12:41They kind of have to fend for themselves.
12:43And if in an area where sanitation,
12:46water, even things like basic food
12:48in short supply,
12:50that is a very, very tricky position to be in.
12:53Tourists with travel plans over the coming days
12:55are being told to contact their tour operators.
12:58A number of flights to the region
12:59from Britain tonight will be going out empty
13:02to bring holidaymakers back home.
13:04As coastline searches continue,
13:06thousands more bodies are discovered.
13:09Towns that once had 10,000 people living there
13:11now have just a handful.
13:14Whole areas have literally been wiped off the map.
13:17More than half of those who've died
13:19have come from Indonesia.
13:21In Aceh, one in four people have been killed.
13:24Victims are being buried without ceremony or care.
13:28Body bags and coffins are in short supply.
13:30This was supposed to be a wedding video.
13:33The celebrations cut short
13:35as the family battle to stay above the rising waterline.
13:38Five days on,
13:39the remote Andaman Islands have only just been reached.
13:43Homes have been replaced by rubble.
13:46Families don't have time to mourn.
13:48For those lucky enough to be spared,
13:50survival is now their greatest challenge.
13:52Five million now are without basic essentials.
13:55A roof over their heads,
13:57food and water.
13:58There is no end in sight.
14:00As each hour passes,
14:02the news worsens
14:03and the death toll grows ever higher.
14:06Aid is on its way,
14:07but it's slow.
14:08The agencies just can't cope
14:10with the geographic scale
14:11and the level of demand.
14:13The UN says it would still take
14:15at least another two to three days
14:17to begin to respond properly.
14:18This is not a short-term relief program.
14:22Livelihoods have been lost.
14:24It will take years and billions of pounds
14:26to rebuild the 11 countries affected.
14:29The hardest hit,
14:30the island of Phuket
14:31and the much smaller island of Phi Phi nearby.
14:35Although the effects of this earthquake
14:38were felt as far away
14:40as here in the capital, Bangkok,
14:42it's those islands
14:43that were hit so hard
14:45by these walls of water
14:46where we've seen
14:47the greatest numbers
14:48of deaths and casualties.
14:50The latest information
14:51we have from British officials
14:53is that at least
14:5510 Britons are in hospital.
14:57Now that number is likely
14:58to rise over the next few hours.
15:01It's still the early hours
15:01of the morning here
15:02and as I speak,
15:04consular officials
15:05are travelling around
15:07the main hospitals in Phuket
15:09trying to establish
15:11just exactly who's been injured
15:13and who might be missing.
15:15And what are the emergency services
15:17managing to do
15:18in the worst-hit areas?
15:19Have they managed
15:20to get to all the areas
15:22that have been affected?
15:24No, they haven't.
15:25Now, one of the biggest problems
15:27that they've got
15:27is a lack of power.
15:29When these walls of water
15:31hit these beaches
15:32they didn't just do
15:34so much damage
15:35to the unfortunate people
15:36that were on the beach
15:37or swimming in the hotel pools
15:39on the side of the beach
15:41but of course
15:42they dumped all this debris
15:44onto the streets
15:46and in many cases
15:47tore down power lines.
15:49So part of the problem
15:50that they've had
15:51working through the night
15:52has just been establishing power.
15:54Then you've got
15:55this second issue
15:56which has been touched
15:58on a little earlier
15:59of just trying to contact
16:01these outlying islands
16:03you have to remember
16:04that this area
16:05as well as those big islands
16:07that we've been focusing on
16:08there are lots of little settlements
16:10and in the next
16:11two or three hours
16:12as first light comes
16:14one of the priorities
16:15for the emergency services
16:16for the Thai army
16:18and navy forces
16:19who've been mobilised
16:20to help
16:20in this relief effort
16:22will be to try to contact
16:23those outlying areas
16:25just to try to find out
16:26the scale of the devastation there.
16:28What stories are you hearing Chris
16:30from people
16:31who actually survived this?
16:32It must have been
16:33an absolutely terrifying experience.
16:36Well indeed
16:36and I think
16:37some of the most remarkable
16:38are from people
16:39who were on holiday
16:41and who were just doing
16:43the most normal thing
16:44sitting there having
16:45breakfast with their children.
16:48There was one Swedish tourist
16:49who said she was having breakfast
16:50on the beach
16:51with her husband
16:52when one of her three children
16:54raced over
16:55crying out
16:56and being followed
16:56by this huge wave.
16:58The family followed
16:59other foreign tourists
17:00who were evacuated
17:01to the hills.
17:02They stayed there
17:03for hours without food.
17:04I can tell you
17:04it was a very warm day
17:05in southern Thailand today.
17:07They said locals
17:08brought them water.
17:09Finally they returned
17:09to the seaside
17:10and then the Thai people
17:11came again and shouted
17:12the waves are coming
17:13the waves are coming
17:14and they had to drop
17:15their food
17:16and run off
17:17into the hills again.
17:18It's those kind of stories
17:19that give you a real idea
17:20of just how horrible
17:22for these people
17:24that were having
17:25these amazing
17:26Christmas vacations
17:27in these beautiful
17:30white sandy beaches
17:31turquoise waters
17:32and they've just had them
17:34turned into a nightmare.
17:35I believe you were
17:36in your hotel
17:37on Boxing Day morning
17:37when you heard
17:38screaming outside.
17:39Tell us what happened next.
17:42Morning to you Jackie.
17:45Well as you said
17:46I just heard some screaming
17:47and got up
17:48I was in bed
17:48and I went to the door
17:52and saw water
17:53gushing down the path
17:55from the beach.
17:58Initially I thought
17:59it was just a flood
18:01from the heavy rain
18:02the night before
18:02but then within seconds
18:03I realised
18:04it was far more serious.
18:06Within seconds
18:07the water was up
18:08around her knees.
18:09I was going to say
18:09it went up to about
18:10seven feet high
18:11in about a minute
18:12or something I believe.
18:13the flood came in
18:19to about knee deep
18:21and then started
18:22to drop down a bit
18:23and then a few seconds
18:24later it was up
18:25seven feet deep
18:26as you said.
18:27So you all managed
18:28to get onto the roof
18:29and what happened then
18:29I believe you saw
18:30lots of people
18:31being hurt
18:31and it must have been
18:32just horrendous for you.
18:33There was no staff
18:36in the hotel
18:37they'd all gone
18:38so it was all the
18:38holiday makers
18:39that were helping
18:40one another out
18:41and we were trying
18:42to get as many people
18:43to the roof of the hotel
18:45as quickly as possible.
18:48People were trapped
18:49in their rooms
18:50for some reason
18:51I don't know
18:51if it was just panic
18:52or had somehow
18:53been locked in
18:54but we had to kick
18:55doors open
18:55and let people out
18:56because we didn't know
18:57how high the water
18:58was going to rise.
18:59There was screaming
19:00shouting
19:01there was injured bodies
19:03in the hotel
19:03cars floating around
19:05jet skis are blown in
19:06from the beach
19:07and boats
19:08you know
19:09the place was in
19:11a horrific mess.
19:14I'm sure it was
19:14and Paul
19:14the most horrendous thing
19:16really out there
19:17was that you almost
19:18instantly saw people
19:19taking advantage
19:20of the disaster
19:21trying to profit from it.
19:24Well basically
19:25what it was
19:25we didn't really
19:28sort of pay the attention
19:29to that at first
19:30but as things
19:32were floating by
19:33people were
19:33chasing after them
19:35and basically
19:36taking whatever
19:37they could for themselves
19:38really.
19:40And how are you both
19:41now?
19:42I mean it must be
19:42very difficult
19:43to get over
19:43something like that
19:44I know it's only
19:44been a few days
19:45how are you both
19:45feeling now?
19:48Well there was
19:48eight of us
19:49and we've all
19:50reacted to it
19:51in a different way
19:52for me
19:53it's helped
19:54to talk about it
19:55and you know
19:56the more I talk
19:57about it
19:57the easier it becomes
19:58and possibly
20:00you know
20:01it's helping me
20:02get over it
20:02I know a lot
20:03of my friends
20:03have turned their
20:04phones off
20:04they can't talk
20:05about it
20:06they can't discuss
20:07what we went through
20:08it's too emotional
20:09for them
20:10and we reacted
20:12I suppose we all
20:13reacted in different
20:14ways.
20:15That's very understandable
20:16how did you manage
20:17to get home
20:18Oh that was
20:20that night
20:22you know
20:23we had to
20:24the hardest part
20:26was staying there
20:26you know
20:27we couldn't get out
20:27of the town
20:28so we had to stay
20:28there for the night
20:29and the following
20:31morning we
20:31we were up
20:32you know
20:33nobody slept
20:33obviously
20:34we slept
20:34we took
20:35sort of refuge
20:3613 floors
20:37high in a derelict
20:39building
20:39and then in the
20:41morning
20:41you know
20:41at sunrise
20:42we were all up
20:43we were waiting
20:43on the streets
20:44we went
20:45we went back
20:45to the hotels
20:46which had been
20:46burgled in the night
20:47the locals
20:48had been in
20:48ransacked the rooms
20:50and taken a lot
20:51of the stuff
20:52but we managed
20:52to rescue things
20:54like
20:54I couldn't find
20:55my passport
20:56but I managed
20:56to find my tickets
20:57and a lot
20:59of my goods
20:59had been stolen
21:00from one of the
21:01rooms
21:01that we put
21:02all our stuff
21:03in that we managed
21:03to save
21:05well that's
21:05not relevant
21:06and then
21:07we got taxis
21:08back to the airport
21:08but even the taxi
21:09drivers
21:10you know
21:10the prices
21:10have gone up
21:11you know
21:11tenfold
21:12because I knew
21:12you were so
21:13desperate
21:13to get out
21:14Matthew
21:15what is the
21:16latest that you
21:16have on the
21:17casualty figures
21:18there
21:18the latest
21:20figures in the
21:21state of Tamil
21:22Naadu
21:22are about
21:231700 people
21:25being killed
21:26there's also
21:27hundreds more
21:28in neighbouring
21:29states
21:29and even
21:31round on the
21:32west coast
21:33of India
21:33in Kerala
21:35a place where
21:36many tourists
21:36like to go
21:37there have been
21:38deaths reported
21:39there as well
21:40and are there
21:41many more people
21:42still reported
21:43missing
21:43yes there are
21:45in Andhra Pradesh
21:46at least 400
21:47fishermen were said
21:48to have gone out
21:49to sea or were
21:50out at sea
21:51this morning
21:51they're definitely
21:52still missing
21:53some fishermen's
21:55bodies have been
21:56washed ashore
21:56throughout the day
21:57but I don't think
21:57anyone has really
21:59got a sense of
21:59what's happened
22:00to all the people
22:01who were out
22:02at sea when
22:02this struck
22:03the Indian
22:05government is
22:05doing everything
22:06it can
22:06it's describing
22:07itself as being
22:08on a war footing
22:09now and it's
22:09sending helicopters
22:10and boats
22:11and doing
22:12everything it can
22:13to find out
22:14what is going on
22:15but there are
22:16definitely still
22:16people missing
22:17and on the more
22:18remote parts of the
22:19coast
22:19it may be that
22:20people are missing
22:21or they may be dead
22:22but really
22:22nobody's getting
22:23very much information
22:24from those remote
22:25villages as of yet
22:26we've heard
22:27terrible reports
22:28from the area
22:29where you are
22:29of many many
22:30bodies being
22:31washed up
22:31on the beaches
22:33how are they
22:33coping with
22:34the sheer number
22:35of bodies there
22:36I think nerves
22:38are a bit
22:39frayed and fraught
22:40at the end of the
22:41day here
22:41in the hospitals
22:42there's some
22:43pretty chaotic
22:44scenes with people
22:45rushing around
22:46wailing
22:46trying to get
22:47any news they
22:48can about
22:48missing relatives
22:49I was down
22:51on the main
22:52beach here in
22:52Madras
22:53just an hour
22:53or two ago
22:54and again
22:55pretty sort of
22:56chaotic
22:56and slightly
22:57tense atmosphere
22:58a lot of people
22:59hanging around
23:00some of them
23:01looking pretty shocked
23:02others sort of
23:03just trying to find
23:04out what's going on
23:05and very
23:06kind of
23:07sort of nervous
23:08atmosphere even now
23:10so people are still
23:12struggling to come
23:13to terms with what
23:14happened
23:14I mean it's just
23:15incredible shock
23:16to this city
23:16the world has never
23:19faced a humanitarian
23:20disaster on this
23:21scale in peacetime
23:22the challenge now
23:23is to help the
23:24survivors in 10
23:25ravaged countries
23:26where infrastructure
23:27has been wrecked
23:28and the dead
23:29cannot be buried
23:29fast enough
23:30wealthy countries
23:31are beginning to
23:32respond
23:33we are committed
23:34to helping the
23:35affected countries
23:36in the difficult
23:38weeks
23:39and months
23:40that lie ahead
23:42president Bush
23:44president Bush
23:44wants the US to lead
23:46a core group of
23:47nations to
23:47coordinate relief
23:48these countries have
23:50already pledged
23:50significant funds
23:52the US itself is
23:53giving 18 million
23:54pounds
23:55Japan 15 million
23:57Australia has pledged
23:5911 million pounds
24:00and India one of the
24:01victims itself
24:03has already launched
24:04its own massive
24:05response
24:06sending large numbers
24:07of helicopters
24:08aircraft and ships
24:09to help the relief
24:10efforts in neighboring
24:11countries
24:12and deploying
24:134,000 troops
24:14Britain has pledged
24:1615 million pounds
24:17and ordinary people
24:18have also responded
24:20quickly
24:20Oxfam received
24:22200,000 pounds
24:24yesterday
24:24more than it's ever
24:26got in one day
24:27and with the launch
24:28of the disasters
24:29emergency committee
24:30appeal tonight
24:31even more donations
24:32are expected
24:33every aspect of this
24:37tragedy is difficult
24:38to take in
24:39the UN estimates
24:41that at least
24:415 million people
24:43are now without
24:44the three basics
24:45of life
24:45water
24:46food
24:47and shelter
24:48the pledges
24:49are there
24:50because we know
24:50they're there
24:51the UN has
24:52immediate needs
24:53and we know
24:54what they are
24:55but matching the
24:56two together
24:56at this crucial
24:58juncture
24:58is quite difficult
25:00yet even if the
25:01aid pledges
25:02are honoured
25:03this won't be
25:04the end of the story
25:04relief efforts
25:06between the UN
25:07aid agencies
25:08donor governments
25:09and the affected
25:09nations will have
25:10to be coordinated
25:11and all of them
25:13will have their own
25:13ideas about how
25:15the money should
25:15be spent
25:16the problem
25:18that will arise
25:18is that each
25:19country will have
25:20the same demands
25:21on what will be
25:22a limited resource
25:23and so the UN
25:24may need to
25:25prioritise
25:26which country
25:27gets the resources
25:28and in what
25:29quantity
25:30emergency relief
25:33can only help
25:34in the short term
25:35one of the
25:36cruelest ironies
25:37of this disaster
25:37is that it has
25:39befallen some
25:39of the poorest
25:40people in the world
25:41decades of
25:42developments
25:43wiped out
25:43in a moment
25:44once the world's
25:46collective shock
25:47has subsided
25:47they will need
25:48long-term
25:49reconstruction
25:50to rebuild
25:51their community
25:51this is the
25:54first attempt
25:55by scientists
25:55to show in
25:56pictures
25:56how the tsunami
25:58waves travelled
25:58from the
25:59earthquake's
25:59epicentre
26:00off the
26:01Sumatran coast
26:02across the
26:03Indian Ocean
26:03to Indonesia
26:04Thailand
26:05Sri Lanka
26:06and on
26:07thousands of
26:08miles
26:08to the
26:08Somali coast
26:09in Africa
26:09travelling huge
26:11distances
26:11and with so
26:12devastating an impact
26:14the waves may
26:18appear small
26:19but once forced
26:20up onto the
26:21land
26:21the destructive
26:22power of the
26:23immense volume
26:23of water
26:24travelling at
26:25speed
26:25is suddenly
26:26all too
26:27clear
26:27the local
26:30shape of the
26:31coastline
26:31is critical
26:32any inlet
26:33means the
26:33waves land
26:34as dangerous
26:35spinning torrents
26:36just a short
26:37distance away
26:38if the coastline
26:38is smooth
26:39the same waves
26:40can prove
26:41more benign
26:41the earthquake
26:45was at the
26:45boundary of two
26:46of the giant
26:47sections that
26:48make up the
26:48earth's surface
26:49the tectonic
26:49plates
26:50one plate
26:51moves constantly
26:52beneath the
26:53other
26:53creating huge
26:54strain
26:54which eventually
26:55ruptures
26:56here the top
26:57Burma plate
26:58suddenly slipped
26:59pushing a huge
27:00volume of water
27:01above it upwards
27:02like the flick of a
27:03rope
27:03this sent waves
27:04hurtling towards
27:05the coast
27:06at about 600
27:07kilometres an
27:08hour
27:08the waves were
27:09so destructive
27:10because the quake
27:11itself happened
27:12near the surface
27:13just 10 kilometres
27:14under the seabed
27:15any deeper
27:16and its pent-up
27:17energy would have
27:18disappeared
27:19underground
27:19as it was
27:20this energy
27:21had nowhere to go
27:22but up into
27:23the massive
27:23water above
27:24the death toll
27:27is so high
27:27because people
27:28on the ground
27:29had no warning
27:30unlike communities
27:31around the rich
27:32Pacific Basin
27:33the poor coastal
27:34regions of the
27:34Indian Ocean
27:35are unprotected
27:36today the Indian
27:37government said
27:38it will install
27:39a network of
27:40sensors and
27:40satellites to
27:41detect and warn
27:42of tsunami waves
27:43giving people
27:44vital time to
27:45reach high ground
27:46it may seem
27:48too little
27:48too late
27:49but many thousands
27:50of lives could
27:51yet be saved
27:52there's a suggestion
27:55that such massive
27:56earthquakes come
27:57in pairs
27:57there may now be
27:59another in this
27:59very region
28:00sooner than
28:01expected
28:01there's some
28:03evidence that
28:04earthquakes here
28:04occur in pairs
28:05there was one
28:05in 1797
28:06another huge one
28:07in 1833
28:08so there may be
28:11another big one
28:11within decades
28:12we may have
28:13centuries to wait
28:13we may have
28:14any decades
28:14but it's critical
28:15that a warning
28:16system gets up
28:17and running now
28:17because something
28:19may happen again
28:20in the relatively
28:21near future
28:21the scientist
28:23the scientist who built
28:24the tsunami
28:25computer model
28:25says cash-strapped
28:26governments are
28:27reluctant to pay
28:28for such a system
28:29only a week ago
28:30it would be very
28:31difficult to
28:32persuade people
28:33to do that
28:33because 90% of
28:35tsunamis happen
28:36in the pacific
28:36and that's where
28:37our focus of
28:38the effort is
28:39to get people
28:41to do something
28:43for other areas
28:43for Indian Ocean
28:44for example
28:44would be very
28:45very difficult
28:46the critical
28:49link is always
28:50on the ground
28:51at local level
28:52in making sure
28:53the message
28:53gets through
28:54in Bangladesh
28:55for example
28:56there is a
28:57cyclone warning
28:57system which
28:58involves people
28:59on bikes
28:59cycling around
29:00blowing whistles
29:01telling people
29:01get to the
29:02hurricane shelters
29:03get to the
29:03cyclone shelters
29:04to protect
29:04yourselves
29:05and people do
29:06that
29:06if they don't
29:07they know
29:07they will die
29:08because we've
29:08had in the
29:09past enormous
29:10death tolls
29:10hundreds of
29:11thousands of
29:11people killed
29:12in cyclones
29:12so provided
29:13people know
29:14about the hazard
29:14they're aware
29:15of it
29:15they will
29:16respond
29:16to these
29:16warnings
29:17and experts
29:19told us
29:20today
29:20that had
29:21a pacific
29:21style warning
29:22system
29:22been in place
29:23as many
29:24as two-thirds
29:24of those
29:25who lost
29:25their lives
29:26need not
29:27have died
29:27Phuket Town
29:29Hall
29:30is a clearing
29:31house for
29:31the living
29:32and the dead
29:32survivors
29:34are fed
29:34and registered
29:35and use
29:36the internet
29:36to reach
29:37their loved
29:37ones
29:38on pinboards
29:39outside
29:40are the photos
29:41of those
29:42who are still
29:42missing
29:43helping to find
29:44Britain's
29:45missing
29:45is ambassador
29:46to Thailand
29:47David Fall
29:48he told me
29:49exact figures
29:50are difficult
29:51to divine
29:51missing is
29:53at least
29:54in scores
29:55and I can't
29:56really be more
29:57exact than that
29:57at the moment
29:58the number of
30:00injured
30:00number of
30:01injured
30:01that's in
30:02hundreds
30:02because we've
30:03had figures
30:03of people
30:03passing through
30:04the hospitals
30:05and they're
30:05passing through
30:05very quickly
30:06so the figure
30:07changes
30:07every day
30:08but that's
30:08in hundreds
30:09and what's
30:10the area
30:10of most
30:11critical need
30:12for British
30:12citizens
30:12at the moment
30:13well it's now
30:13we're now
30:14it's the fourth
30:14day
30:15we're now
30:15into the
30:15sort of
30:16second phase
30:16of this
30:17the first phase
30:17was identifying
30:18how big the
30:19problem was
30:19and where it
30:20was hitting
30:20and where people
30:21were
30:21we've now
30:22had most people
30:23who come in
30:24to tell us
30:25where they are
30:25who's injured
30:26who's missing
30:26who's dead
30:27and so on
30:28so now the
30:29critical thing
30:30for us to do
30:30is to help
30:31these people
30:31who are still
30:32alive
30:32get back
30:33to the UK
30:34or get to
30:34wherever
30:34they're going
30:35at the airport
30:37there are
30:38extra flights
30:38filled with
30:39survivors
30:40Baragita and
30:41Kjell Bolin
30:42hold one another
30:43close as they
30:44wait for a plane
30:44to Sweden
30:45wrenched apart
30:46on a Phuket beach
30:48they faced
30:48anxious days
30:49not knowing
30:50whether the other
30:51was still alive
30:52I don't know
30:53anything
30:54I think
30:56he wasn't there
30:57but then
31:00but you
31:01found him again
31:02tell me
31:02tell me how
31:03you found him
31:04two days later
31:06in the hospital
31:07it's cold now
31:11and you're both
31:13okay
31:14your injuries
31:15aren't too
31:15severe
31:16we are okay
31:19and tonight
31:20a happy ending
31:21to the story
31:22of two-year-old
31:23Hannes Bergström
31:24whose plight
31:25captured the
31:25world's attention
31:26the Scandinavian
31:27toddler was
31:28separated from
31:29his family
31:29by the wave
31:30that hit
31:31Kau Lak
31:31and was found
31:32on the side
31:33of a road
31:33badly bitten
31:34by mosquitoes
31:35after four days
31:37he was finally
31:38reunited with his
31:39father
31:39but his mother
31:40is still missing
31:42and a final word
31:44with Jeremy Bowen
31:45who's in the
31:46Sri Lankan capital
31:46Colombo
31:47Jeremy
31:47your impressions
31:48of the scale
31:48of the devastation
31:49you've seen there
31:50enormous here
31:54it's a catastrophe
31:55I think that the
31:56people in this
31:57country and across
31:58the region
31:58will be delighted
31:59to hear that
32:00so much is in the
32:01pipeline
32:02that so much
32:02money has been
32:04promised
32:04the difficulty
32:05is that they
32:06need food
32:07clean water
32:08and shelter
32:09and safety
32:10for themselves
32:11and their families
32:11not next month
32:13or next week
32:14they need it
32:14tonight and tomorrow
32:16and the night after
32:16that and if they
32:17don't get it
32:18things around here
32:19I think are going
32:19to get even worse
32:21because of the
32:22people is
32:24are hanging out
32:26for themselves
32:27and they need it
32:28to be
32:29in the
32:30the
32:31people
32:31who
32:33are
32:34the
32:34those
32:35who
32:36are
32:36is
32:37the
32:37the
32:37people
32:37who
32:39are
32:39the
32:39the
32:41people
32:41who
32:42are
32:43the
32:43people
32:44who
32:44are
32:45I
32:45the
32:45people
32:46who
32:47are
32:47the
32:47people
32:48who
32:48are
32:48are
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