Honoring the memory of the Indian Ocean tsunami in literature
By Elyssa Tappero
Tsunami Program Manager
The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami remains the deadliest tsunami event in recorded history and the deadliest natural disaster of the 21st century. On Dec. 26, 2004, a magnitude 9.2 earthquake – the third most powerful ever recorded – struck off the coast of northern Sumatra along the Sumatra-Andaman subduction zone. Ground shaking was felt in Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. The resulting tsunami struck local communities as little as 15 minutes later, then traveled across the Indian Ocean, reaching shores as far as 5,300 miles away. By the time the waves settled, more than 227,890 people across 15 countries had perished and a worldwide humanitarian response was underway.
For us in Washington state, the disaster helped us build out our tsunami siren network and brought local attention to this global crisis. It helped residents and government officials both recognize that we also have a tsunami threat and brought attention to the differences between a distant tsunami event and a local one.
With citizens of 53 different countries losing their lives in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, this disaster had uniquely global impacts. As we approach its 20th anniversary, one way we can continue to honor the lives taken or irrevocably changed is by ensuring their experiences aren’t lost to history as newer disasters claim our attention. I would therefore like to share some of my favorite written works about the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. There can be no better way to honor those who lost their lives to this tragedy, nor to show our respect to the survivors who worked so hard rebuilding their communities, than to ensure their stories and lessons continue to inform the way we approach disaster resilience.
The Golden Wave: Culture and Politics After Sri Lanka’s Tsunami Disaster by Michele Ruth Gamburd
As a non-fiction political ethnography of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, The Golden Wave may not be for everyone. However, for those interested in how disasters can change not just the physical landscape of a community and country, but also social identities, economic dynamics, and political structures, this book is a fascinating read. The Golden Wave reaches beyond the standard narrative of tsunami disasters to delve into the way low-frequency, high-impact events reverberate across sectors through the months, years, and decades to follow. Using years of data collected before and after the tsunami, Gamburd highlights the complexities of post-tsunami response and recovery in Sri Lanka while grounding the text in stories from those directly impacted.
The Splintered Face: Tsunami Poems by Indran Amirthanayagam
Poetry often captures emotion in a way prose cannot, and this collection of tsunami poems by Indran Amirthanayagam is no exception. A child of both Sri Lanka and the United States, Amirthanayagam wrote these poems as a way to process his complex mix of emotions and “overcome the natural and shocked silence that results from tragedy” in the days and weeks after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The Splintered Face is a short yet exceedingly eloquent meditation on the nature of disaster, chance, anger, grief and community by a poet whose words easily bridge the thousands of miles between his two homes.
Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala
The New York Times dubbed Wave one of the ten best books of the year in 2013, and it is easy to understand why. Where the other books on this list cover the tsunami’s impacts on a larger scale, Wave is an utterly unflinching autobiography of how the disaster forever changed one woman’s life. Deraniyagala, a native of Sri Lanka living in London in 2004, lost her husband, two young sons and both parents to the tsunami. She nearly lost her own life as well. What follows in the book is a wrenchingly honest accounting of her anger and grief as she struggles to make sense of a world without those she loves most. While Wave is by no means a light read, it is a powerful one which illuminates the very human need to carry the past with us in some way.
Tara and the Towering Wave: An Indian Ocean Tsunami Survival Story (Girls Survive) by Cristina Oxtra
The story of Tilly Smith, who at 10 years old saved over 100 lives during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami thanks to her knowledge of natural tsunami warning signs, attests to the importance of geohazard education for children. Tara and the Towering Wave, part of the Girls Survive series of historical fiction books, does a wonderful job presenting the 2004 tsunami disaster to young readers at a fourth to sixth grade reading level. Alongside the fictional story of Tara, a 12-year-old girl exploring her Thai heritage with her mother while on vacation when the Indian Ocean tsunami hits, the book also includes a glossary of terms, facts about the disaster and question prompts to get kids thinking about disaster preparedness and response. Kids can learn about the danger of tsunamis while taking inspiration from Tara’s courage, strength and determination.
Personal Effects: What Recovering the Dead Teaches Me About Caring for the Living by Robert A. Jensen
Personal Effects is not strictly a tsunami book, but it earns its place on this list for good reason. It’s part memoir and part disaster relief text with many lessons on leadership. Personal Effects follows the life and career of Robert A. Jensen, owner of the world’s largest disaster management company and expert in mass fatality response. His experience includes fatality management for major disasters like the Oklahoma City bombing, 9/11, and Hurricane Katrina and he dedicates an entire chapter in his book to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Personal Effects is a captivating, if oftentimes difficult, read for those interested in the details of fatality management and how responders ensure disaster victims are recovered, identified and returned, along with their personal effects, to surviving family members with utmost dignity – no matter the size of the disaster.