Book description
On December 26, 2004, a massive tsunami triggered by an underwater
earthquake pummeled the coasts of Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and
other countries along the Indian Ocean. With casualties as far away as
Africa, the aftermath was overwhelming: ships could be spotted miles
inland; cars floated in the ocean; legions of the unidentified dead-an
estimated 225,000-were buried in mass graves; relief organizations
struggled to reach rural areas and provide adequate aid for survivors.
Shortly after this disaster, researchers from around the world traveled
to the region's most devastated areas, observing and documenting the
tsunami's impact. The Indian Ocean Tsunami: The Global Response to a
Natural Disaster offers the first analysis of the response and recovery
effort. Editors Pradyumna P. Karan and S. Subbiah, employing an
interdisciplinary approach, have assembled an international team of top
geographers, geologists, anthropologists, and political scientists to
study the environmental, economic, and political effects of the 2004
Indian Ocean tsunami. The volume includes chapters that address the
tsunami's geo-environmental impact on coastal ecosystems and groundwater
systems. Other chapters offer sociocultural perspectives on religious
power relations in South India and suggest ways to improve government
agencies' response systems for natural disasters. A clear and definitive
analysis of the second deadliest natural disaster on record, The Indian
Ocean Tsunami will be of interest to environmentalists and political
scientists alike, as well as to planners and administrators of
disaster-preparedness programs. Pradyumna P. Karan, University
Research Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of
Kentucky, is the author of Japan in the 21st Century, The Non-Western
World, and coauthor of Local Environmental Movements: A Comparative
Study of the United States and Japan. S. Subbiah, professor emeritus of
geography and director of the Centre for Japanese Studies and Research
at the University of Madras in Chennai, India, is the author of
Challenges to Asian Urbanization in the 21st Century and coauthor of
Natural Hazards and Disasters: Essays on Impacts and Management. He is
the editor of the Indian Geographical Journal and lives in Chennai,
India.
