Indian Ocean Timeline of Events

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Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern...

Timeline of Events

1942

3.23.1942

World War II: In the Indian Ocean, Japanese forces capture the Andaman Islands.

1987

11.28.1987

South African Airways flight 295 crashes into the Indian Ocean, killing all 159 people on-board.

1996

11.23.1996

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 is hijacked, then crashes into the Indian Ocean off the coast of Comoros after running out of fuel, killing 125.

2004

12.26.2004

A 9.3 magnitude earthquake creates a tsunami causing devastation in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Maldives and many other areas around the rim of the Indian Ocean, killing over 250,000 people including over 1700 on a moving train