Suchergebnisse

The Indian Ocean tsunami (2004) devastated the Nicobar archipelago, a remote tribal reserve in the Indian Ocean, which the Nicobarese indigenes have traditionally inhabited. The catastrophe attracted a massive humanitarian response from the Government of India (GoI), leading to a sociocultural crisis among the Nicobarese that is inextricably linked to the post-tsunami humanitarian government in the Nicobar, which undermined what was once a self-sustaining community. Using Michel Foucault's analytic of governmentality, this article elucidates how the humanitarian government in the southern Nicobar, motivated by a raison d'état of national security, attempted to discipline the traditional Nicobarese by developing new forms of subjectivities among them.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze how the Swedish mass media constructed Sweden and Swedes during the first days after the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 26, 2004.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative content analysis of newspaper articles from four of the largest newspapers in Sweden was conducted.FindingsThe results show that the tsunami was framed as a Swedish disaster almost exclusively focusing on Sweden, Swedish victims and Thailand, and that there was a division between "us" and "them". Two categories of "us" and "them" were identified in the coverage: on the international level Sweden, i.e. "us", was glorified and contrasted with "inferior" countries such as Thailand, "them"; on the national level, the distinction between "us" and "them" was not as obvious, but by including particular experiences and practices and excluding others, lines are drawn between "us" – ethnic Swedes – and "them" – everyone else. The conclusion of the paper is that mediated frames of catastrophes are influenced by stereotypes and nationalistic values.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is based on a qualitative analysis and it is not possible to generalize to other cases. Additional quantitative studies would therefore be of value.Practical implicationsThis study can be used in the education of crisis and disaster managers to make them aware of how underlying norms guide news coverage and encourage them always to consider information based on mass media reports critically.Originality/valueThis paper gives new theoretical and empirical insights into the way in which disasters contribute to recreating and maintaining the historical division between regions and people, on both a national and an international level.

Abstract. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami caused large-scale topographic changes in coastal areas. Whereas much research has focused on coastlines that have or had large human populations, little focus has been paid to coastlines that have little or no infrastructure. The importance of examining erosional and depositional mechanisms of tsunami events lies in the rapid reorganization that coastlines must undertake immediately after an event. A thorough understanding of the pre-event conditions is paramount to understanding the natural reconstruction of the coastal environment. This study examines the location of sediment erosion and deposition during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami event on the relatively pristine Phra Thong Island, Thailand. Coupled with satellite imagery, we use numerical simulations and sediment transportation models to determine the locations of significant erosion and the areas where much of that sediment was redeposited during the tsunami inundation and backwash processes. Our modeling approach suggests that beaches located in two regions on Phra Thong Island were significantly eroded by the 2004 tsunami, predominantly during the backwash phase of the first and largest wave to strike the island. Although 2004 tsunami deposits are found on the island, we demonstrate that most of the sediment was deposited in the shallow coastal area, facilitating quick recovery of the beach when normal coastal processes resumed.

PurposeThis study aims to conduct the first original research on mass fatality management in nearly 30 years.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative research design captured local perspectives within a culturally‐appropriate context to examine roles and responsibilities of government officials within the State of Tamil Nadu and District of Naggapattinam (spellings reflect the most commonly‐used local choice), India. Research data were gathered in the context of the Indian Ocean Tsunami that claimed nearly 300,000 lives across approximately 13 nations.FindingsLocal officials and residents faced unprecedented challenges during the hours immediately following the tsunami. These included removing debris that covered bodies, body identification, health and sanitation issues, and the necessity of creating mass graves. The findings identify prior experience with disasters, familiarity with the local area, the quality of pre‐existing networks among officials, a strong desire to rescue those yet living and the presence of linkages between government and non‐governmental organizations as critical factors affecting an expedited management process.Practical implicationsPractical implications include the value of general disaster training that can transcend specific circumstances, the pre‐establishment of mutual aid agreements, strong lines of horizontal and vertical cooperation and inter‐organizational coordination and an understanding of local culture and customs.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to scant social science understanding of mass fatality management processes and furthers a line of inquiry applicable to a wide variety of hazards such as pandemics, terrorism and natural events.

Abstract. In the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, it has been proven that mangrove ecosystems provide protection against coastal disasters by acting as bioshields. Satellite data have been effectively used to detect, assess, and monitor the changes in mangroves during the pre- and post- tsunami periods. However, not much information regarding mangrove restoration or reforestation is available. Rather than undertaking time-consuming fieldwork, this study proposed using geoinformatic technologies such as Remote Sensing (RS), Geographic Information System (GIS), and Global Positioning System (GPS) to monitor the mangrove recovery. The analysis focused only on the tsunami-impacted mangrove areas along the western coast of the Tai Muang, Takuapa and Khuraburi Districts of Phang Nga Province, southern region of Thailand. The results consisted of 2 parts, first: the supervised classification of main land uses, namely forest, mangrove, agricultural land, built-up area, bare soil, water body, and miscellaneous covers in ASTER images, was conducted using the maximum likelihood method with higher than 75 % for overall accuracy. Once the confusion between classes was improved in post-processing, the accuracy of mangrove class was greater than 85 % for all dates. The results showed that the mangrove area in 2005 was reduced by approximately 5 % (1054.5 ha) from 2003 due to the impact of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. Although the recovery program (replacing the same species of dead mangrove trees, mainly the Rhizophora apiculata Bl and Rhizophora mucronata Poir, in situ) had started by mid-2005, the areas gradually decreased to approximately 7–8 % in 2006 and 2010 compared with the reference year of 2003. Second, the recovery trend was observed in the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) fluctuation curve and the supporting field survey data. The recovery patterns were summarized into 2 categories: (i) gradually recovery, and (ii) fluctuating recovery. The gradually recovery category that implied the homogeneous pattern or uniform reforestation was observed in the seriously damaged area where most of the mangrove trees were swept away during the tsunami. This pattern covered approximately 50.35 % of the total reforested area. The NDVI time series of the uniform or homogeneous reforested mangrove at the sampled plots has gradually increased after 2005. The fluctuating recovery category that implied the heterogeneous pattern or non-uniform reforestation was observed in partially damaged areas where some of the mangrove trees were swept away and broken but still some trees were remained in the area. The heterogeneous patterns covered approximately 49.65 % of the total reforested area.

Abstract. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami damaged and destroyed numerous buildings and houses in Thailand. Estimation of tsunami impact to buildings from this event and evaluation of the potential risks are important but still in progress. The tsunami fragility curve is a function used to estimate the structural fragility against tsunami hazards. This study was undertaken to develop fragility curves using visual inspection of high-resolution satellite images (IKONOS) taken before and after tsunami events to classify whether the buildings were destroyed or not based on the remaining roof. Then, a tsunami inundation model is created to reconstruct the tsunami features such as inundation depth, current velocity, and hydrodynamic force of the event. It is assumed that the fragility curves are expressed as normal or lognormal distribution functions and the estimation of the median and log-standard deviation is performed using least square fitting. From the results, the developed fragility curves for different types of building materials (mixed type, reinforced concrete and wood) show consistent performance in damage probability and when compared to the existing curves for other locations.