Status
of Coral Reefs
in Tsunami Affected Countries: 2005
Edited by
Clive Wilkinson
David Souter and
Jeremy Goldberg
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Abstract
The tsunamis of Sunday 26 December
2004 caught many people unprepared and unaware in Indian Ocean
countries. This unexpected event struck without apparent warning
on a clear day; many local people and tourists were on the beach
and some walked over coral reef flats as the water receded to
investigate a hidden realm. Within minutes, a series of massive
waves returned to carry them away and invade the land. The
tsunamis resulted in more than 250,000 people killed or missing
and caused massive destruction to coastal resources and
infrastructure. Our focus in this book is on the impacts on the
natural coastal resources, especially the coral reefs and
associated ecosystems, and the responses by the international
community. But we cannot ignore that far more damage was done to
the lives of people of the region and the world.
The tsunamis however were not totally novel and there has been
a long history of previous earthquakes and tsunamis in the Indian
Ocean (summarised in Chapter 1, p 17). These are firmly embedded
in the folk lore of many indigenous communities, who retreated to
higher ground before the waves; most of the victims, however,
lacked experience of the potential consequences of earthquakes and
tsunamis.
Status
of coral reefs
in Tsunami
Affected Countries:
2005
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December 18, 2008
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Status
of coral reefs in Tsunami Affected Countries: 2005
20060120
