Wikipedia:Today's featured article/June 12, 2006



The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on December 26 2004. The earthquake triggered a series of lethal tsunamis that spread throughout the Indian Ocean, killing large numbers of people and devastating coastal communities across South and South East Asia, including parts of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and elsewhere. Initial estimates put the death toll at over 275,000 with thousands of others missing. However, recent analysis indicates the number of casualties were 186,983 dead and 42,883 missing, for a total of 229,866 affected. The catastrophe was one of the deadliest disasters in modern history. The magnitude of the earthquake was originally recorded as 9.0 on the Richter scale, but has been upgraded to between 9.1 and 9.3. At this magnitude, it is the second largest earthquake ever recorded on a seismograph. The plight of the many affected people and countries prompted a widespread humanitarian response. In all, the worldwide community donated more than US$7 billion in humanitarian aid to those affected by the earthquake. (More...)

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