Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

Hard to believe. But it was four years ago today that a tsunami triggered by a powerful earthquake beneath the Indian Ocean left more than 227,000 people dead or missing, mostly in southern Asia.

(Note: The quake hit at 7:58:53 a.m., Dec. 26. It would have been 7:58:53 p.m. on Dec. 25 in Rhode Island due to the time difference).

The 9.1 quake off the coast off the Indonesian island of Sumatra was the fourth largest earthquake in the world since 1900 and is the largest since the 1964 Prince William Sound, Alaska earthquake, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, which monitors earthquakes worldwide.

The earthquake is estimated to have released the energy of 23,000 Hiroshima-type atomic bombs, according to estimates from the USGS.

In total, some 227,898 people were killed or were missing and presumed dead and about 1.7 million people were displaced. by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami in 14 countries in South Asia and East Africa.

Many survivors reported the water receded, in some cases as much as a mile, before it came raging back. Survivors described the noise of the fast approaching, devastating wave as a loud freight train. The resulting giant wave ultimately travelled some 3,000 miles nearly 5,000 kilometers.

News of the disaster quickly spread worldwide, triggering a large-scale humanitarian response. Four years later, many of the areas affected are still recovering.

Read a special report on tsunamis and how they happen.

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