Tsunami

Preparation and Planning

Film footage and photography lend colour to the tsunami incident in this lesson. Ensure that you have access to an overhead projector or an interactive whiteboard to allow for display.

There are four Student Worksheets to supplement the lesson, of which you will need to make copies. Worksheets 1 and 2 are to be used in groups.

Ensure that you have paper, coloured pens and / or pencils for students to use for the leaflet-making activity in Episode 3.

About the MOD Topic

On 26th December 2004, an earthquake occurred just off the coast of Indonesia. The earthquake was the most powerful for 40 years and triggered a vast tsunami that swept across the Indian Ocean over a period of about seven hours.

Indonesia sustained the worst loss of life and physical damage. More than 130,000 people died, while at least 37,000 others remain missing. Sri Lanka was also very badly hit. Around 35,000 people died and more than half a million were made homeless. The International Labour Organization estimates more than 400,000 people lost their jobs as a result. India's South East coast, Thailand, the Maldives, Malaysia, Burma, Bangladesh, the Seychelles and some areas of Africa were also affected.

The Royal Navy, the British Army and the Royal Air Force assisted in the humanitarian aid effort in consultation with the Department for International Development (DFID) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The operation title was Op. Garron*. In total, the UK Government allocated around 290 million pounds to disaster relief and reconstruction in the affected countries.

Royal Navy:
HMS Chatham and Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) Diligence** were deployed to Sri Lanka under Op. Garron. HMS Chatham came off Christmas stand-down in Dubai and sailed on 30th December, arriving off the west coast of Sri Lanka, near Colombo on 3rd January 2005. They then sailed around to the devastated south and east coasts, including areas where the Sri Lankan government found it difficult to operate due to Tamil separatists. The ships' priority was to restore homes and help repair fishing boats so the locals could begin to get their lives back together. Teams from both vessels cleared houses, a church, schools, orphanages, erected tents, cleaned drinking wells and repaired 25 fishing boats. They also cleared and cleaned a hospital in a small village 20 miles inland that had been cut off by the tsunami, and medics from both ships began holding vital clinics.

Royal Navy engineers from RFA Diligence also carried out work in the Maldives, repairing 28 generators to restore electrical power. Following the tsunami, the survey ship HMS Scott collected unique images of the Indian Ocean seabed in the vicinity of the devastating tsunami earthquake epicentre in order to further the understanding of earthquakes and assist prediction of such events in the future.

Royal Air Force:
RAF aircraft delivered humanitarian aid and support equipment to Indonesia. Hundreds of tonnes of equipment and aid was flown into the disaster area by the RAF C-17, Tristar and Hercules aircraft. The RAF C-17 aircraft were singled out by the UN as the most effective aircraft contribution from around the world. RAF personnel helped Australian military experts re-open the vital airport at Banda Aceh (Indonesia).

Army:
A pair of Army Air Corps Bell 212 helicopters, normally based in Brunei, were also operational in northern Sumatra. Despite their relatively small size, they moved some 12,000lbs (5,443 kilos) of humanitarian aid, as well as providing vital air-mobility to aid workers.

Two military logistic planning experts were also sent from the UK to reinforce the World Food Programme coordination team working in Jakarta.

*The MoD creates a working title for each of its operations so it can be easily identified.
**The Royal Fleet Auxiliary Service (RFA) is a civilian manned fleet, owned by the Ministry of Defence. Its main task is to supply warships of the Royal Navy at sea with essential fuel, food, stores and ammunition. It also provides aviation support for the Royal Navy, together with amphibious support and secure sea transport for Army units and their equipment.

Further Opportunities for Learning

Ask students to imagine that they are an aid worker in Sri Lanka after the tsunami. They should write a letter home to their family or a friend, explaining the scene of devastation.

Using the data below, ask students to create a pie chart showing loss of life in the various countries hit by the tsunami. Ask them to calculate total loss of life. Figures given are estimated and are subject to change. Many thousands of people, in addition to those confirmed dead are still considered missing.

Indonesia (130,736)
Sri Lanka (35,322)
South India (12,405)
Thailand (5,395)
Somalia (78)
Burma (61)
Malaysia (69)
Maldives (82)
Tanzania (10)
South Africa (2)
Yemen (2)
Kenya (1)
Seychelles (3)
Bangladesh (2)

One of the major problems for many of the countries hit by the tsunami is that it continues to affect one of their major industries; tourism. Since the tsunami, many coastal tourist destinations such as those in Thailand, Sri Lanka and Indonesia have suffered a real decrease in the numbers of visitors and this comes at a time when they desperately need the revenue to lift their economy, and to help them rebuild.

Students to list three reasons why these destinations appeal to tourists.

All three listed countries are less economically developed. Tourism brings both advantages and disadvantages to less economically developed countries. Make a list of both the advantages and disadvantages you think apply in the case of one of these countries.

Ask students to further research British Armed forces' involvement after the tsunami. Direct them to www.mod.uk for further information.

Ask students to write a letter from an aid worker to their family or friends at home, describing the effects of the tsunami and their experiences during the aid operation.

Student worksheet answers

Download the teachers notes PDF to access the answers for this lesson.