A day the world won’t forget
19 December 2024
On 26 December 2004, a massive earthquake struck an area off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The earthquake triggered tsunami waves that pummelled coastal areas at speeds of more than 500 kilometres an hour.
Waves reached Aceh in northern Sumatra in minutes, the coast of Thailand within an hour, India and Sri Lanka in two hours and the north coast of Somalia after eight hours. The 20-metre-high waves smashed the west coast of Indonesia, destroying everything three kilometres inland. In some areas, the waves reached eight kilometres inland. These scenes were repeated elsewhere, including in Thailand and Sri Lanka.
The world watched in horror as more than 285,000 people were killed and millions more were affected in 14 countries bordering the Indian Ocean.
The Boxing Day Tsunami was the single most devastating disaster in recent history. It was an event of such magnitude and destructive power that its impact on humanity will always be remembered.
What we did overseas
IFRC trucks made journeys without roads in Aceh, as many had been destroyed.
Andrew McKie wore many hats during his 24 years with Red Cross. In December 2004 he was our disaster response manager, and he also managed our international delegates who we send overseas.
“I will never forget Boxing Day 2004,” he said. “I was involved about a quarter of an hour after the earthquake. I was at home, and it came up on my computer. Once it said it was an 8.9, I rang Douglas Clark, one of our delegates, and said ‘there’s been an earthquake, get ready to go overseas’ – and within 10 to 12 hours he was on a plane to Sri Lanka.”
Little did Andrew know, this would become our biggest international assignment since we’d sent welfare teams to Viet Nam between 1968 and 1975.
Douglas arrived in Sri Lanka four days after the tsunami struck the country, which had destroyed everything two kilometres inland.
“It quickly dawned on us all that we were involved in something really big,” Douglas said. “I felt anxious and kept asking myself ‘had my training prepared me for this?’ Then I realised these thoughts were completely irrelevant as no one could possibly prepare for the scale of tragedy we faced on the ground in Sri Lanka. What was relevant was the major task before us. I decided to leave behind my doubts and focus on a 'let’s get on with it' attitude.”
The force of the tsunami pushed these boats more than three kilometres inland in Sri Lanka.
We sent two more delegates to the Maldives and Indonesia in January. By the end of 2005, we’d sent 20 international delegates into the field, and we continued to send delegates to Indonesia and the Maldives until late 2007. More than 30 of our international delegates worked in health, logistics, water and sanitation, construction, air operations, security, and other specialty areas over three years.
Aceh, Indonesia, had been an area of armed civil conflict for almost 30 years before the tsunami struck. Sri Lanka had also been experiencing armed civil conflict for over 20 years before Boxing Day 2004. The combination of the areas being both a disaster and conflict zone made the work for delegates complex and at times dangerous.
The Maldives didn’t have a Red Crescent Society at the time, so the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) delegation — headed by Kiwi Jerry Talbot — established their mission without the help of an in-country National Society and expertise.
- Louisa Akavi – healthcare, Indonesia
- Janet Askew – healthcare, Indonesia
- Peter Cameron – development, Indonesia
- Justine Charman – healthcare, Indonesia
- Bernice Chiam – water and sanitation, the Maldives
- Douglas Clark – field assessment and coordination, Sri Lanka
- Colleen Clarke – healthcare, Indonesia
- Anne Delaney – healthcare, Indonesia
- Kevin Duignan – construction project coordination Indonesia
- John Dyer – security, Indonesia
- Jane Edgar – water and sanitation, the Maldives
- Jeremy Francis – logistics, Indonesia
- Bruce Glasgow – construction, Indonesia
- Greg Johns – information technology and telecommunication, Indonesia
- Malcolm Johnstone – relief administrator, Indonesia
- Andrea Kerr – logistics, Indonesia
- Fleur Kinsella – construction, Indonesia
- Gary Mabey – administration and security, Indonesia
- Andrew MacAlister – liaison, Indonesia
- Dean Manderson – workshop supervisor, Indonesia
- Robert McEwan – logistics, Indonesia
- Andrew McKie – development, Indonesia
- Alan Murphy – air operations, Indonesia
- Judy Owen – healthcare, Indonesia
- Marion Picken – healthcare, Indonesia
- Nikki Rattle – development, the Maldives
- Justine Rollitt – healthcare, Indonesia
- Clare Shave – administration, Indonesia
- Jerry Talbot – Head of IFRC Delegation, the Maldives
- Phil Vine – information management, Indonesia
- Graham Zinsli – healthcare, Indonesia.
What we did in New Zealand
Kandholhudhoo island after the tsunami struct the Maldives. The island was declared uninhabitable.
In New Zealand, Andrew activated the call centre to manage reports for missing New Zealanders in areas hit by the tsunami. Red Cross had run a call centre exercise with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade before Christmas 2004, so everything was still set up. We also launched our South-East Asia Tsunami Appeal, which raised more than $22 million. The appeal remains the biggest for an overseas humanitarian crisis in our history.
Our call centre opened on 29 December 2004. Red Cross volunteers worked around the clock, handling nearly 4,000 calls in the first 24 hours. By the time the call centre closed 21 days later they’d received more than 21,000 calls.
“I had volunteers from all over New Zealand, people who just wanted to help. We trained them on the ground floor and once we knew they were capable, we would ship them upstairs. The hotel across the road gave us three floors and fed them all,” Andrew said.
“There was one lady from Remuera – she’d fly down for two days a week, and this went on for three weeks.”
Aceh, Indonesia from above on 30 December 2004.
Volunteers would take calls and note the call information on paper forms which would then be provided to the Ministry. Through the calls, volunteers identified New Zealanders who’d died, which was provided immediately to the Police liaison officer. Seven New Zealanders died in the tsunami.
Donations to our South-East Asia Tsunami Appeal helped us send delegates to impacted areas. They joined more than 22,000 international Red Cross volunteers and employees, who provided immediate help to more than one million people.
The Appeal contributed to IFRC’s Plan of Action, which included:
- building more than 22,000 homes
- rebuilding schools and health clinics, and
- providing water and sanitation facilities.
The legacy of Boxing Day 2004 for our Movement
Sri Lanaka Red Cross volunteers cleaning up debris left by the tsunami.
The tsunami prompted an outpouring of generosity from around the world, with over NZD$5 billion contributed to the response. This enabled IFRC to launch its biggest emergency response and recovery operation since the Second World War, which was supported by more than 100 Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies around the world.
Our Movement was able to respond quickly, setting up field hospitals in tents and distributing food and water to affected people. Lives were saved and — despite the devastation and associated public health hazards — there was no outbreak of epidemic diseases. The enormous challenge to restore survivors’ lives became clearer and in 2005 our Movement turned to planning for a recovery. Early on the focus was on four of the most impacted areas – Indonesia, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. This then expanded to Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Somalia, and Seychelles.
A Belgian Red Cross worker in Sri Lanka, January 2005.
Recovery was a long process. The first Red Cross search and rescue teams were moblised in Aceh in December 2004. The last project in the recovery operation — a major infrastructure project that brings piped water to coastal towns in Sri Lanka — was completed five years later. Where there was little or no tsunami warning systems, there are now, so no community should face the potentially catastrophic forces of a tsunami with no warning again.
Many communities are now stronger, more resilient, and better able to face the risks posed by future hazards. Houses can be rebuilt, but scars remain for people who survived and few people alive at that time will ever forget the disaster.
The massive response came at a time when affected countries had few rules for managing incoming humanitarian assistance.
Food, medicines, radio equipment, and other critical items were stalled in customs — in some cases for months — or charged eye-watering duties and fees. Some inexperienced responders sent inappropriate aid – from expired medicines by the truckload, culturally unacceptable food such as pork, and winter clothes. Douglas Clark encountered this first-hand when he arrived in Sri Lanka.
“Decisions had to be made quickly, ‘do you want 40, 12-tonne trucks ready to be air-freighted from Europe?’ Answer – no, as too heavy with payloads for local bridges. ‘We are making up 40,000 infant/mother kits, do we include milk powder, feeding bottles, etcetera?’ Answer – no, cannot rely on sanitary cleaning methods in camps and breastfeeding is promoted in this country. ‘Do you require 5,000 or 10,000 tents?’ Answer – neither, but can you send us 6,000?’”
Part of our delegates’ work was capacity building with National Societies. Jerry Talbot, Head of the IFRC Delegation in the Maldives, helped to establish the Maldivian Red Crescent. Andrew McKie worked with the Indonesian Red Cross to help them put systems in place and train people to train others. This way, they were prepared for the next disaster.
The initial response to the tsunami showed the need for clearer rules for international humanitarian response. In 2007, international guidelines were adopted by the state parties to the Geneva Conventions at the 30th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent. These were a direct response to the challenges encountered in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami.
New Zealand Special Service Medal – Asian Tsunami
Aceh, Indonesia from above on 30 December 2004.
Announced on Boxing Day 2006, the New Zealand Special Service Medal – Asian Tsunami was awarded to New Zealanders involved in the in rescue, relief, rehabilitation efforts, and other activities in areas devastated by the tsunami.
The length of qualifying service for the medal was at least:
- seven days between 26 December 2004 and 28 February 2005, or
- 14 days between 26 December 2004 and 26 December 2005.
The areas of service to qualify were:
- Banda Aceh, Indonesia
- Phuket, Thailand
- Galle, Sri Lanka
- Malé, the Maldives,
- and the Andaman Islands.
Five of our international delegates received the medal:
- Douglas Clark – location of service: Galle, Sri Lanka
- Colleen Clarke – location of service: Aceh Province, Indonesia
- Robert McEwan – location of service: Aceh Province, Indonesia
- Marion Picken – location of service: Aceh Province, Indonesia
- Jerry Talbot – location of service: Malé, the Maldives.
More information
- In times of disasters, conflict, and other emergencies, we respond to the needs of vulnerable people around the world.
What we do overseas - Our skilled delegates are stationed overseas to help save lives, alleviate suffering, and maintain human dignity on the front line.
International Delegate Programme - Find out more about our Fundamental Principles and how they guide our work.
Our Fundamental Principles - Find out more about the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.
Our Movement - Find out more about international disaster law and how these were improved after the tsunami.
IFRC and disaster law - Donate to support our work, including responding to emergencies, helping former refugees resettle, and delivering meals to people who can’t cook for themselves.
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