Travel news/2004

Earthquake and tsunami devastates south-east and south Asia
28 December 2004

Travellers are now being warned to revise their travel plans to the affected areas, not merely on account of the devastation and danger of aftershocks, but also on account of threat of disease from contaminated water and unrecovered bodies.

27 December 2004

Although hampered by distance, isolation and poor communications, reports are coming in that tell of potentially hundreds (if not thousands) of tourist deaths in the areas, alongside the horrific toll the waves have taken on local inhabitants.

26 December 2004

An extremely powerful, undersea earthquake of magnitude 9.0 2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake off the north coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra created a devastating tsunami (tidal wave) that has wrought devastation along the coasts of countries neighbouring the north Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal - these include Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and the Maldives.
 * Note : Tsunami were historically referred to as tidal waves because as they approach land they take on the characteristics of a violent onrushing tide, rather than the sort of cresting waves that are formed by wind action upon the ocean. However, as they are caused by uplift earthquakes displacing large volumes of water rather than the tidal action of the Moon's gravitation, the term is considered misleading, and its use is deprecated by experts.