Tsunami: how Germany provides both emergency and long-term aid

The tsunami of 26 December 2004 is considered one of the biggest natural disasters in recent history. The seabed off the Indonesian island of Sumatra rose by ten metres. The subsequent magnitude 9.1 earthquake triggered gigantic tidal waves on the coasts of neighbouring countries, in particular in Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India. The effects were even felt in Africa. Around 230,000 people were killed, with helpers from all over the world travelling to the worst-hit areas. To mark the 20th anniversary of this disaster, deutschland.de presents three projects that were initiated in direct response to the tsunami. 

An early warning system for tsunamis – GFZ Helmholtz Centre Potsdam

Jörn Lauterjung was at home near Potsdam when he heard the news. “I just thought: what other bad news might come our way in the next few days?” the physicist recalls. Four days after the disaster, Lauterjung was already looking into solutions. Working at the geosciences research institution GFZ Helmholtz Centre Potsdam at the time, he and his team came up with the idea of developing a Tsunami early warning system for the Indian Ocean. The then German Foreign Minister took the initial concept to the first donor conference, which took place in Jakarta on 5 January 2005. 

A few weeks later it emerged that Indonesia was glad to accept aid from Germany. Working with international partners, the GFZ and nine other German institutions collaborated with Indonesian experts to create the system. As Jörn Lauterjung explains: “80 per cent of tsunamis are triggered by earthquakes. The challenge in Indonesia is that the earthquake zone runs very close to the coast. If the earth trembles, the time between the quake and the impact of the tidal wave is only 30 to 40 minutes.” In order to localise an earthquake as quickly as possible, the scientists stationed 400 seismographs, i.e. vibration detectors, on the coast of Indonesia, as well as in other countries on the Indian Ocean. They also developed software and fed it with 5,000 different scenarios. 

“If an earthquake is recorded, the software detects whether a tsunami will occur, how big it will be and where it will hit land. Then the population is warned”, explains Lauterjung. The early warning system has already been able to detect 15 smaller and five larger tsunamis in recent years and warn the population in good time. In order to ensure that they know what to do in such an event, the Germans worked with Indonesian researchers to draw up evacuation plans and train the population. 

Absolutely nobody was prepared for a tsunami of this magnitude in 2004, says Lauterjung. “If such a tsunami were to occur again today, the early warning system would prevent such a high death toll.” The early warning system has been in Indonesian hands since the end of 2011. The former project manager’s greatest achievement: “For the Indonesians, it’s not some invention from Germany: it’s their own system that they’ve invested a lot of time and resources in – and continue to do so.“ 

Opportunities for disadvantaged children – Yaowawit School in Thailand

The tidal wave left lots of children orphaned. Count Philipp von Hardenberg wanted to help them. In 2006, the German entrepreneur founded a boarding school in the south of Thailand called Yaowawit School, initially for 70 children. Today, 18 years later, the children and young people who suffered hardship as a result of the tsunami have long since graduated and are doing apprenticeships or taking degrees at university. “They’re now going their own way,” says Pissamai Komkirin, who has been a teacher at the school since 2018. 

But the school still pursues the goal of providing refuge and a good education for children from difficult backgrounds who suffer from poverty or abuse. Three-year-olds attend kindergarten on the grounds of the facility – which is located in the middle of the jungle – while six to 15-year-olds go to school. The curriculum includes subjects such as English, maths, science, art and swimming, as well as farm work on the plantations that belong to the site. The children are taught by Thai teachers. Count Philipp von Hardenberg ran the school until 2020 and then handed it over to the Thai royal family. 

Von Hardenberg died in autumn 2023, but the contact with Germany remained: Every year, four young people from Germany complete a voluntary social year at the boarding school, helping in the kindergarten, at the school – and also with leisure activities: when lessons finish at around 4:30 p.m., the children can do theatre, practise Thai dancing or kick a ball around on the football pitch. Sometimes they’re watched by tourists who spend their holidays in the hotel next door, helping to cover the costs of running the school. The government also provides financial support for the boarding school, so the children receive their education free of charge. Pissamai Komkirin says that what she loves most about her job is that she can help the children to overcome the challenges in their lives. 

Faster and more coordinated deployment – the ASB’s FAST unit

Various units of the Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund (ASB) from all over Germany travelled to the worst-hit areas in the days following the tsunami. In the wake of the disaster, the organisation made a decision: “We need to pool and coordinate our resources better so that we can provide emergency aid more quickly,” says Florian Hauke, head of the ASB’s FAST unit, which was founded in 2006 in response to the need for aid following the tsunami. “FAST” stands for “First Assistance Samaritan Team”, but it also refers to the speed with which the emergency services are provided. “On average we’re on site one week after the incident happens.”

The unit itself could respond even more quickly, but it often takes a few days to identify all the locations where help is required. FAST specialises in drinking water treatment and basic medical care. “We’re building a kind of GP surgery out of tents to treat the chronically ill or people who have sustained light injuries,” explains Florian Hauke. “Until the local healthcare system is up and running again.” FAST was officially certified as an “Emergency Medical Team” by the World Health Organisation in 2017. 

The medical team is made up of trained medical staff, with a total of 120 volunteers from all over Germany in the pool: these are people who take paid or unpaid leave to help in places that are sometimes thousands of kilometres away from Germany. “Without the volunteers, FAST wouldn’t exist,” says Hauke. He himself has been with teams to places such as Haiti, Iraq, Mongolia, the Philippines and Turkey. “We get on the plane with a briefing, but when we land the situation is completely different. The greatest source of motivation for me is being able to respond to this as a team, discuss the sometimes terrible things we experience, and observe the reconstruction process.”