Boxing Day, 2004

I stumbled across an interesting set of videos last week on YouTube. If it turns out your interest is piqued, the title is “Tsunami, Caught on Camera.” The content was assembled, in the main, from amateur video captured by individuals who survived the onslaught.

The tsunami in question is the Indonesian Tsunami of 2004. It was caused by a large earthquake off the coast of Sumatra on the morning of December 26, or Boxing Day as it is known in some parts of the world.  For perspective, the massive tsunami which devastated the coast of Japan in 2011 is estimated to have taken between 20,000 and 30,000 lives. The Boxing Day Tsunami of 2004 killed 10 times as many, with estimates ranging from 260,000 to 290,000 dead.

Over a quarter-million fatalities.

Much of the footage was captured by tourists who were staying at resorts in Indonesia, Thailand and Sri Lanka. Of course they are the ones standing around with cameras all day so it makes sense that they become our cinematographers. Unfortunately, they also became the victims and in some cases the casualties.

The images are by turns stunning, compelling, mesmerizing, awe-inducing, horrific, terrifying, mystifying and confounding. As I watched, unable to turn away, I was astounded by the power of Nature’s fury, the very inevitability of the unstoppable water as it swept away everything in its path. I was amazed that so many people seemed completely unaware of the warning signs of the impending destruction. As the water receded to an incredible degree, the video showed many who followed the ocean out only to be gathered up by returning waves and swallowed in a heartbeat.  

Although the scenes were actually not as dynamic as the recent video from the Eastern Japanese coast, I found them even more disturbing because of the nature of the places depicted. Most were resorts on beautiful tropical beaches. When we go on holiday, we don’t expect to have our lives changed forever or suddenly ended by a so called Act of God.

All of the commentary was from survivors in the form of interviews, years after the fact. Most of the people had stories of their personal struggle for survival, and stories of the struggles of those around them, some of whom survived and many that didn’t. Particularly poignant was the testimony of a young mother on vacation with her family who had her 5 year-old daughter swept away by the flood and then came very close to drowning herself. Imagine, if you will, swimming for your life with your child’s arms wrapped around your neck one instant and just….. gone the next. If you survive, you spend the next days or weeks trying to find your child, praying she will be alive and unharmed while you look through thousands of photos of the ones who didn’t make it hoping against hope that you won’t find her there.

So many people lost not only their homes and jobs, but many lost their entire families as well. I am not sure how one continues following such a tragedy. I hope I never have to figure out the answer to that one.