Tsunami Evaluation Coalition:
The Tsunami catastrophe struck the Indian Ocean region on 26 December 2004. Although the major impact was felt in India, Indonesia, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, several other countries were affected including Bangladesh, Myanmar, Kenya, Malaysia, Seychelles, Somalia and Tanzania. In total, reportedly 226,560 people died or are still missing. Overall, an estimated 2 million people have been directly or indirectly affected of whom 1.7 million are internally displacedi. The earthquake and subsequent waves damaged infrastructure and destroyed people's livelihoods leaving many homeless or without adequate water, sanitation, food or health care facilities.
The world - both governments and individuals - responded with overwhelming generosity, in solidarity with the rescue and relief efforts of the affected communities and local and national authorities. This spontaneous flow of funding is seen by many as the distinctive feature of this disaster and the most determinant factor influencing, for better and for worse, the coordination and sharing of assessment information among the large number of actors present in the field.