The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea megathrust earthquake of moment magnitude 9.5 that struck the Indian Ocean off the western coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia on December 26, 2004 at 00:58:50 UTC (07:58:50 local time in Jakarta and Bangkok).
On January 3 the police published a list with names of 279 missing persons, and that there in addition were 16 confirmed deaths (no list published).
By the afternoon of January 5 the names of missing persons had been lowered to 80, and it was furthermore stated that the number of "confirmed" deaths had been overreported by four (16 instead of 12) due to a typing error.
Many usual sources of water were spoiled by salt water, broken by the force of the tsunami, or contaminated with bodies of dead people or livestock, requiring water purification equipment or trucking potable water into the affected region.
Other high priorities were delivery of medical supplies and personnel to overwhelmed hospitals and clinics, tent shelters and clothing to people who have lost their houses and belongings, and food, especially baby food.
The Israeli humanitarian organisation Latet sent a jumbo jet carrying 18 tonnes of supplies to Colombo, however, and a rescue-and-recovery team from the Jewish ultra-Orthodox organisation Zaka arrived in Colombo with equipment used for identifying bodies, as well as body bags BBC News December 28, 2004.
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