Boats and houses destroyed during the December 2004 Tsunami. © CARE / Harsha De Silva.

The Indian Ocean tsunami sent shockwaves through the world when it hit on the morning of December 26, 2004.

Triggered by one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded on a seismograph, the tsunami’s impact was staggering; more than a dozen countries were affected, an estimated 250,000 people lost their lives and millions more were left homeless.

In some of the hardest hit coastal villages in Indonesia, around 70 percent of the population was killed.

CARE was among the leading humanitarian agencies that responded to the tsunami, and we have continued to work with affected communities over the past five years to reconstruct homes and livelihoods and promote economic and social development.

Our emergency efforts were buoyed by our long-term presence in the five countries where we responded: India, Indonesia, Somalia, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

In each of these countries, our history of emergency and sustainable poverty-fighting work and strong relationships with communities, governments and other partners enabled us respond quickly and strategically, reaching the most vulnerable, marginalised and hardest-hit communities.

In sum, CARE reached 1,339,464 people affected by the tsunami in five countries. Number of people reached by CARE tsunami programmes:

• India: 242,784 Indonesia: 350,000
• Somalia: 135,372
• Sri Lanka: 560,000
• Thailand: 51,308

Please give to our Rapid Response Fund.

This helps us ensure that money is available immediately in a disaster. Donate now.