2004 tsunami in the Maldives: what happened and what changed

The earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra, about 2,500 km east of the Maldives. A field survey published in the journal *Earthquake Spectra* (Fritz, Synolakis and McAdoo, 2006) gives its magnitude as 9.0. The waves took a few hours to cross the Indian Ocean.

They reached the Maldives a little after 9am local time. Each year the nation observes a minute of silence at 9:23am, which the President’s Office describes as the recorded time the waves struck.

There was no earthquake to feel and, at the time, no Indian Ocean tsunami warning system. Most people had never heard the word “tsunami”.

How big were the waves?

Compared with Sri Lanka or Aceh, the waves were lower. The international survey teams who visited 13 badly damaged islands in January 2005 recorded heights of up to about 4 m, the highest on Vilufushi in Thaa Atoll, measured from debris in trees and water marks on buildings.

The researchers concluded that the shape of the atolls and the steep sea floor around them largely explain why the Maldives escaped the far greater losses seen on continental coasts. That was little comfort on islands where the highest ground is only a metre or two above the sea. Read more on how low the islands are in our guide to whether the Maldives is sinking.

The figures below come from official and UN sources. They vary slightly depending on when and how they were counted.

• Deaths: 82 people.
• Missing: 26 people, presumed dead (the National Disaster Management Authority lists 24).
• Homes: more than 15,000 people were left homeless or displaced.
• Islands: the National Disaster Management Authority says every island except nine was hit.
• Malé: about two-thirds of the capital flooded in the first hours.

Fourteen islands were evacuated straight after the waves, according to national news reporting. More than 5,200 houses needed repairs and 2,878 had to be rebuilt from scratch. Seawater also soaked into the ground, and about half of the cultivated land was damaged by salt.

With communication to many islands cut, it took time to learn which communities needed help most. The government declared a national disaster and set up a special task force to deliver aid.

A joint needs assessment by the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the United Nations, carried out in January 2005, put total damage at about US$470 million, roughly 62% of the country’s GDP. The National Disaster Management Authority gives a similar figure of nearly US$460 million.

• Most of the losses were in housing and tourism.
• Fishing boats and equipment, schools, health centres and transport were also badly hit.
• The assessment expected growth in 2005 to slow to around 1%, against a pre-tsunami forecast of 7.5%.

Tourism and fishing, the two pillars of the economy, were hit at once; some resort islands were submerged at the height of the waves. For the longer story of how the industry grew and recovered, see our history of tourism in the Maldives.

The recovery was not only about repairing houses. In several places the government decided whole communities should move, or that islands should be rebuilt higher and larger.

Vilufushi, Thaa Atoll

Vilufushi was one of the worst-hit islands. Eighteen people died there and the entire population was displaced, many of them to neighbouring Buruni. With support from the Dutch government, the island was rebuilt on reclaimed land: it grew from about 16 to 61 hectares, was raised by around one metre, and was given a rock sea wall and a new harbour. Residents later moved back. Read more in our Thaa Atoll guide.

Kandholhudhoo and Dhuvaafaru, Raa Atoll

Kandholhudhoo, in Raa Atoll, was already one of the most crowded islands in the country. After the tsunami its roughly 3,700 people were scattered across five islands, and rebuilding on the same small patch of land was judged unworkable. In 2009 the community was resettled on Dhuvaafaru, a previously uninhabited island, with new homes, schools, a health centre and a mosque. See our Raa Atoll guide.

Safer islands

After 2004, the government adopted a “safer island” approach: concentrating people on fewer, better-protected islands with sea walls, raised ground and evacuation points. Backed by international funding, it has been debated ever since, because moving communities is hard and some new sites have had their own flooding and erosion problems. The thinking still shapes today’s land reclamation projects.

The biggest lesson of 2004 was that there was no warning at all. That has changed.

• The Maldives Meteorological Service set up a National Tsunami Warning Centre after the disaster. It monitors earthquakes in real time using seismometers at Hanimaadhoo and Kaadedhdhoo, linked by satellite to a regional hub.
• Alerts are issued in colour-coded levels, from a look-out through advisory and warning to cancellation.
• Warnings go by hotline to the National Disaster Management Authority, the police, the Maldives National Defence Force and other agencies, then out to councils and the public through television, radio and social media. The Met Service’s official app, Moosun, carries forecasts and alerts.
• The Maldives was one of the first countries to adopt a national roadmap under the UN’s Early Warnings for All initiative, launched nationally in July 2023.
• In October 2023 the island of Kendhoo in Baa Atoll held the country’s first community drill as part of the Indian Ocean-wide tsunami exercise, run by the NDMA with the Met Service, the Maldivian Red Crescent and the island council.

Island councils play a part in passing on warnings and organising local preparedness. Our guide to island councils and local government explains how they work.

What to do if you hear a warning

Tsunamis are rare, but it helps to know the basics. UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission advises:

• If the sea suddenly draws back a long way, or you hear a loud roar from the ocean, move away from the shore at once. Do not wait for an official alert.
• On a flat island with no hill, go to the upper floor of a strong concrete building.
• Follow instructions from the island council, police and your accommodation.
• Stay away from the beach until the authorities say it is safe; more than one wave can arrive.

For everyday sea and weather risks, see our weather hazards guide.

Since the disaster, 26 December has been marked as National Unity Day, honouring the way people across the islands helped one another in the days and weeks that followed. At 9:23am, people across the country stop for a minute of silence.

A memorial park known locally as Tsunami Binaa Maizaan honours those affected; the President’s Office reported its reopening after renovation.

On many islands the memory is more personal. Older residents remember where they were standing when the water came, which houses were lost and which neighbours took them in. If you are staying on a local island, you may hear these stories, but let people share them in their own time. On Dhiffushi, the island’s history page gives a sense of how island life has changed over the decades.

Visiting with respect

• 26 December is a sombre day for many families. Keep celebrations low-key on local islands if you are visiting then.
• Don’t ask people directly whether they lost relatives. Listen if they choose to talk.
• Rebuilt islands such as Vilufushi and Dhuvaafaru are ordinary, living communities, not attractions. Follow the usual local island etiquette.