On 26 December 2004, a massive earthquake under the sea’s surface in the Indian Ocean caused a tsunami – a series of large waves - to travel thousands of kilometres, hitting coastlines throughout south and southeast Asia and East Africa, destroying anything in its path.
With over 150,000 people killed so far by the waves, it's one of the worst natural disasters in the world’s history. Indonesia and Sri Lanka have suffered the worst losses, with death tolls reaching 94,000 and 30,000 respectively.
Tsunami 18 months after A new report from Plan shows how our work in communities affected by the 2004 tsunami has evolved from emergency relief to recovery
One teacher's story: life after the tsunami Teacher M’Nur lost everything when the tsunami waves struck Indonesia's Banda Aceh – his wife, their sons, aged three and six, and their family home. A new school though is helping him rebuild his life
Tsunami poetry
Poems from children affected by the tsunami in Hambantota, Sri Lanka.
Photographs 30/12/2004 From Hambantota, Sri Lanka, in the aftermath of Tsunami
Plan worker survives as tsunami engulfs “The sea is alive” shouted one villager, as a neighbour exclaimed that their 16-year-old son had drowned. Within minutes, the Police told Mr. Perera, a Plan staff member, and his family, to leave their Sri Lankan village
The latest tsunami report from Plan Asia is an objective assessment of our performance and effectiveness by an outside consultant, as well as an honest and introspective look at our work by our staff
Children and the Tsunami (PDF 1.20Mb) 46 pages The counter-intuitive study calls for governments, international institutions and aid agencies to change their perception of child participation and include it in the disaster response, recovery and risk reduction.
