Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

was affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami on 26 December 2004. Despite its proximity to the epicentre of the earthquake, Malaysia escaped the kind of damage that struck countries hundreds of miles further away. Since the epicentre was on the western coast of Sumatra, the island largely protected the country from the worst of the

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater exp ...

. The country's worst affected areas were the northern coastal areas and outlying islands like Penang and

Langkawi Langkawi, officially known by its sobriquet Langkawi, the Jewel of Kedah ( ms, Langkawi Permata Kedah ), is a duty-free island and an archipelago of 99 islands (plus five small islands visible only at low tide in the Strait of Malacca) loc ...

. The simple red flag warning system used by lifeguards on beaches in some resort areas in Penang was credited to reducing the number of fatalities. The number of deaths currently stands at 67 with 52 in Penang, 12 in

Kedah Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman and historically as Queda, is a state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state covers a total area of over 9,000 km2, and it consists of the mainland ...

, 2 in Perak and 1 in

Selangor Selangor (; ), also known by its Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 Malaysian states. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east ...

. The deaths at Penang were reported to include many picnickers and children who were playing on open public beaches. No deaths were reported among foreign tourists. Houses in fishing villages along coastal areas were damaged in Batu Ferringhi and Balik Pulau in Penang. Coastal areas in

Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia ( ms, Semenanjung Malaysia; Jawi: سمننجڠ مليسيا), or the States of Malaya ( ms, Negeri-negeri Tanah Melayu; Jawi: نڬري-نڬري تانه ملايو), also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, ...

e.g. 13 villages in Kuala Muda, Kedah and Kuala Triang in Langkawi island were also affected. About a quarter of holiday vessels anchored in Rebak and Telaga harbour in Langkawi were also damaged. The waves sent parked motorcycles crashing and cars washed with mud at stretches along Gurney Drive in George Town, Penang. The biggest loss from a single family was when five of Zulkifli Mohamad Noor's seven children were killed when the tsunami struck at Pasir Panjang beach.

Sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...

s which were reported in Kampar and Ipoh for three days running have been investigated and determined not to be earthquake related. It was disaster for the people there on that day.

Aftermath

The Prime Minister,

Dato' Seri The Malay language has a complex system of styles, titles and honorifics which are used extensively in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the southern Philippines. Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and several provinces in Indonesia regul ...

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, cut short his holiday in Spain after five days of the diplomatic trip to India and returned to Malaysia. He instructed the government to cancel all New Year celebrations and urged all parties, including the private sector, to hold prayers and remembrance services instead. The government also postponed the deportation of illegal immigrants and extended an amnesty so that they may exit the country by 31 January 2005 instead of 31 December 2004. It was announced that MYR 1,000 (US$260) would be given to the families of victims while MYR 200 (US$50) would be paid to those who had sustained injuries from the tsunami. Displaced residents would be given MYR 200 to alleviate their hardship, MYR 2,000 for every house damaged, and MYR 5,000 for every destroyed house. Fishermen whose boats were lost would be given MYR 1,000 for smaller boats and MYR 3,000 for larger boats.

References

External links

Tsunami in Penang Malaysia, video taken on 26 December
(WMV file)

* ttp://tsunamipenang.blogspot.com Tsunami Disaster in Malaysia : Missing persons and updates
Tsunami Tragedy Updates

{{DEFAULTSORT:Effect of the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake On Malaysia

Tsunamis in Malaysia 2004 in Malaysia