Since the mid 1960s, UNESCO has had the responsibility of coordinating the Tsunami Early Warning System in the Pacific and following the devastating Sumatra earthquake in 2004, which resulted in widespread death and destruction across the region, UNESCO has been responsible for the Indian Ocean system as well.

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The government has clearly learnt some lessons from the much larger earthquake off the coast of north Sumatra in December 2004, which triggered a huge tsunami and killed more than 150, 000 people in Aceh province and another 60, 000 in a dozen countries around the Indian Ocean.

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Exercise IOWave11 re-enacted the 26 December 2004 earthquake event, with a 9.2 magnitude earthquake off the North West coast of Sumatra (Indonesia), followed by an ocean-wide tsunami.

UNESCO: THEMES

Imagine if India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Sumatra all had nuclear power plants along their shores, when the 2004 9.2 magnitude earthquake and tsunami, with waves up to 98 feet hit those shores.

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The scenario established for the "Exercise IOWAVE 11" re-enacts the events of 26 December 2004, with a 9.2 magnitude earthquake off the North West coast of Sumatra (Indonesia), followed by an ocean-wide tsunami.

UNESCO: Social and Human Sciences