Effects of the tsunami on waste management in Sri Lanka

摘要

The tsunami: At 00:59 GMT, on December 26th 2004, a massive earthquake registering 9.0 on the Richter scale struck off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. This was followed by a series of more than 67 aftershocks, the largest of which occurred approximately 3 h after the first earthquake and registered 7.1 on the Richter scale. The earthquake triggered a series of tsunami waves that radiated through the Bay of Bengal at a rate of more than 500 km/h, directly impacting coastal areas of Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, the Maldives, Mauritius, Myanmar, Reunion, Seychelles, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, and Thailand. The tsunami first impacted the eastern coastline of Sri Lanka shortly after 8:00 am and then swept along the southern and south-western shores over the following 90 min or so. Its effects were inconsistent from place to place, but in general the eastern, north-eastern and south eastern coastline was particularly hard hit, while the waves refracted around the island to devastate the southern and south-western coast in a patchy manner. In all, about 32,000 people lost their lives and about 99,500 houses were destroyed with about 46,300 houses suffering damage. In addition, other buildings and vehicles were destroyed or damaged along with much of the nation's coastal infrastructure, such as roads, railways, power, communications, water supply and sanitation facilities, and fishing ports.