Frequently Asked Questions

A tsunami is a series of ocean waves that are generated by a large-scale disturbance of seawater. Most tsunamis are generated from earthquakes, but they can also occur after volcanic eruptions, landslides and meteor impacts. The most destructive tsunamis are created by large earthquakes with an epicenter or fault line near or on the ocean floor. Usually, it takes an earthquake with a strength above 7.5 on the Richter scale to generate a destructive tsunami. The term tsunami was adopted for general use in 1963 by an international scientific conference. Tsunami is a Japanese word represented by two characters: "tsu" and "nami." The character "tsu" means harbor, and the character "nami" means wave.

The Pacific Ocean. The ocean covers more than one-third of the earth's surface and is surrounded by a region with many earthquakes and volcanoes known as the 'ring of fire." Tsunamis in the Indian Ocean are much more rare -the last big one was in the 19th Century. While tsunamis occur in the Atlantic Ocean, they are infrequent.

The earth's crust consists of slowly-moving tectonic plates, and two of these plates collided deep under the Indian Ocean about 155 miles southeast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, with the Indian plate diving under the Eurasian plate. The collision suddenly lifted a strip of seafloor hundreds of miles long, by an estimated 20 to 50 feet, which displaced a massive amount of water and started the tsunami. The earthquake registered 9.0 on the Richter scale, the most powerful in 40 years and fourth strongest in the last 100 years.

After an underwater earthquake, waves spread out in all directions, much like the ripples a rock creates when it is thrown into a lake. The widely spaced tsunami waves, carrying an enormous amount of energy, travel unobstructed and often unnoticeable in the deep ocean at speeds of around 500 miles per hour. When these waves approach coastal areas, the sloping seafloor redirects the wave's energy upward. Some waves can reach 50 feet or higher and travel inland a mile or more. Some eyewitnesses reported this week's tsunami reached heights of 22 to 25 feet.

Thousands of miles. The waves are so powerful they can cause devastation thousands of miles from the earthquake's epicenter. For example, a 1960 Chilean earthquake caused devastating tsunami waves as far away as Hawaii and Japan. The recent Indian Ocean tsunami caused deaths in Somalia, 3,000 miles from the quake's epicenter.

People might feel an earthquake that causes them to fall or hold onto something, although not all tsunamis are preceded by a noticeable tremor. If a tsunami-generating earthquake occurs a short distance from shore, waves could arrive within five or 10 minutes, with little time for warning. If an earthquake occurs thousands of miles away, it could take hours to reach shore, giving scientists time to issue warnings.

Because a tsunami is a series of waves, sometimes the trough -the lowest point in a wave -reaches shore first and the sea looks like it is emptying, an effect often called a drawdown. Minutes later, the crest of the wave hits. This cycle can be repeated for several waves, with each full wave separated by time spans between 10 minutes and many hours. The first wave is often not the most powerful.

Warning systems exist in high-risk tsunami regions such as the Pacific.

You should arrange for the local authorities to issue the death certificate and make arrangements to have to body returned to your home country. Usually, only relatives are entitled to apply for the death certificate but because of the extent of this disaster, the authorities in many of the affected countries are simplifying the process.

As an example, the authorities in Thailand have set up a special centre to assist in the issue of death certificates and official translations into English.

The regulations vary from country to country.

For Singapore, they are basically as follows:-

1. The body of a Singapore Citizen/Permanent Resident may be brought back to Singapore for cremation or burial. However, a Coffin (Import) Permit is required to import a body into Singapore. A funeral director should be able to assist you in the procedures.

2. Application of Coffin (Import) Permit

a) You may apply for a coffin permit at any time from the following offices:

Port Health Office
7 Keppel Road, #02-14
Tanjong Pagar Complex
Tel: 6222 2585 Fax: 6222 8543
OR
Airport Health Office
Singapore Changi Airport
Tel: 6543 2515 Fax: 6543 1973

• Death Certificate issued by the country where death occurred (copy of English translation is required if the death certificate is in ethnic languages), Cause of Death Certificate or a Statutory Declaration
• Sealing Certificate for the coffin
• Embalming Certificate, where applicable
• Coffin Export Permit from the country exporting the body
• Air Waybill (Air Consignment Note) if by air

• Death Certificate issued by the foreign authorities (copy of English translation is required if the death certificate is in ethnic languages)
• Coffin (Import/Export) permit
• Permit to Bury/Cremate
• Deceased's Singapore identity card, passport, Citizenship Certificate (if any), and
• Informant's identification documents.

Without a body, its is not likely that the authorities will issue a death certificate. Thus it will be necessary to have that person declared dead.

In Singapore, under section 110 of the Evidence Act, if a person has not been heard of for 7 years by those who would naturally have heard of him if he had been alive, the court is prepared to presume that he is dead. However this does not mean that you have to wait out the 7 years.

If circumstances can be shown to the satisfaction of the court that a person is dead, the court is prepared to declare that person as legally dead. The tsunami disaster and evidence from witnesses who saw that person being swept away by the waves would probably be circumstances that the court would accept without having to wait the 7 years.

From reports. the relatives of the victims of the New York World Trade Centre Disaster, with the appropriate proof, could and did apply to the New York court for the required orders within weeks of the disaster. It could similarly happen in the present circumstances.

The question of who died first is relevant for issues of inheritance. In circumstances like this disaster, it is not possible to medically determine who died first. So the law has a presumption that death have occurred in order of seniority and accordingly the younger shall be deemed to have survived the elder.

His assets have to be administered according to law (if there is no will) or his wishes expressed in his will has to be carried out. There are legal procedures to follow. Greater detail is found in our FAQ on Death of a Loved One.

If the surviving wife is a muslim, then the provisions of Section 54 of the Administration of Muslim Law Act applies. It states:

"If the husband of any married woman has died or is believed to have died or has not been heard of over a prolonged period, in such circumstances that he might for the purpose of enabling his wife to remarry be presumed in accordance with the Muslim law to be dead, but a death certificate cannot be obtained, the Court may on the application of the wife and after such inquiry as may be proper issue in accordance with the Muslim law a certificate of presumption of the death of the husband and thereafter the wife shall be at liberty to remarry. "

"(1) Any married person who alleges that reasonable grounds exist for supposing that the other party to the marriage is dead may present a petition to the court to have it presumed that the other party is dead and to have the marriage dissolved, and the court, if satisfied that such reasonable grounds exist, may make a decree nisi of presumption of death and of divorce.

(2) In any such proceedings, the fact that for a period of 7 years or more the other party to the marriage has been continually absent from the petitioner, and the petitioner has no reason to believe that the other party has been living within that time, shall be evidence that he or she is dead until the contrary is proved."