Tsunami - A report to the nation

 The Nation will never forget the day of 26th December, 2004 when the deadly tsunami triggered by an earthquake of magnitude 8.6 off the coast of Sumatra snatched away thousands of precious lives and caused huge damage to the agriculture, livestock and infrastructure. The Nation shared the grief alongwith other countries in the Indian Ocean namely – Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Thailand for more than 3,00,000 human lives lost of which 12,405: 107 in Andhra Pradesh, 177 in Kerala, 8009 in Tamil Nadu, 599 in Pondicherry and 3513 in Andaman & Nicobar Islands were in India. 14 Indians abroad; 13 in Sri Lanka and 1 in Maldives also lost their lives. The tsunami tidal waves traveled at a speed of 700-800 km per hour and reached as far as the coast of Africa. The Nicobar Group of Islands being in the immediate vicinity of the Sumatra coast suffered maximum damage. The coral reefs, the beautiful coastline, the agriculture and coconut plants were all washed away.