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.
""Provides an assessment of what went right-- and what
didn't-- with the mammoth aid and reconstruction effort."--The
Hindu" --
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.
