2004 Tsunami Resilience Study

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Pages: 7

In 2004, the tsunami that hit the coasts of Indonesia, Thailand, and Sri Lanka was one of the most devastating natural disaster in history (SOURCE). One of the areas that were tremendously affected was the Aceh province located on the west end of Indonesia. In a horrific tragedy like this case, many psychologists and psychiatrists are particularly interested in the impact of the catastrophe on the emotional states of young victims (Agustini et al., 2011; Du et al. 2012). This paper will be focused on the resilience rates of adolescents who were affected by the Aceh tsunami, from Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and the correlation of the resilience rates with the proximity to the area of impact. In order to understand the pattern of resilience …show more content…
Small-scale earthquakes are always expected in Aceh, Indonesia; however, the 2004 tsunami came as a shock with its massive scale (McCaffrey, 2009). No one had expected any large-scale disasters because of the immature understanding of the geological movements of the plates; thus, there was lack of evacuation alert by the Indonesian Government prior to the tsunami (Rachmalia et al., 2011). Around 130,000 people lost their lives to the catastrophe (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDCP], 2006; Frankenberg et al., …show more content…
Factors such as the degree of social support, individual motivation, economical support, and many others have integral roles in the resilience of youths. Youths who are described as resilient were the ones who show positive attitude towards life, are open to religious activities, and kind hearted (Hestiyanti, 2006). According to Hestiyanti (2006), support form people surrounding the adolescents also has positively affected the resilience rates. Other factors including involvement in communal activities helped the youths to connect with people and feel a sense of safeness in a community (Hestiyanti,