What will you be able to do?
From outcomes to observable evidence
case-tsunami-2004 · v1.0.0Intended outcomes
Knowledge
Distinguish facts and evidence limits in this case.
Skills
Design an audience–channel–support matrix for a fictional coastal community, including message testing and limitations.
Ethics
Explain effects on recipients and people who may be excluded.
Character
Revise reasoning when new evidence or personal limits emerge.
Practise through an activity
Design an audience–channel–support matrix for a fictional coastal community, including message testing and limitations.
Collect evidence for assessment
- Knowledge
A source-linked evidence-scope note.
case-tsunami-2004-K- Skills
The proposed artifact, with assumptions and owners.
case-tsunami-2004-S- Ethics
Choice rationale and an inclusion check.
case-tsunami-2004-E- Character
Before/after reflection and improvement actions.
case-tsunami-2004-C
Project learning synthesis showing proposed outcomes, activity and evidence. This is not a university-endorsed assessment framework.
Module references:[tsunami-review][wmo-warning][chs-2024][who-simex-2017][ocha-data][who-aar-2019][aunqa-2020]
Suggested preparation: HADR foundations and people-centred assistance
Event and evidence
UNDRR's 26 December 2014 retrospective considers lessons ten years after the Indian Ocean tsunami, including warning and community preparedness. This case uses Thailand's Andaman coast as its learning context.
What the evidence supports
The main source is a retrospective article, not a complete AAR. It does not establish every agency's performance or definitive losses.
Connect disciplines for analysis
Proposed analysis: distinguish an available warning from receipt, understanding and ability to act. Consider visitors unfamiliar with routes, people without phones and those requiring mobility assistance. Record what you need to know before designing a plan.
Apply in an exercise
Project-proposed activity: Design an audience–channel–support matrix for a fictional coastal community, including message testing and limitations. Exercise data are fictional and must be separated from historical facts.
See the process at a glance
A synthesized learning diagram. Read it alongside the lesson and original sources.
Set the scope
Record time, geography, evidence type and unresolved claims.
Connect information and roles
Map actors and information handovers in the fictional task.
Create evidence
Develop a plan with assumptions, owners and rationale.
Review and revise
Record what changed, the evidence behind it and an improvement owner.
Explore a decision
Fictional scenario: a phone warning has been sent, but visitors use several languages and some residents have no phone. What should you propose?
Learning rationale: examine audience access and ability to act, beyond whether a message was sent.
From knowledge to evidence
Design an audience–channel–support matrix for a fictional coastal community, including message testing and limitations.
| Criterion | Proficient | Developing |
|---|---|---|
| Evidence and scope | Separates facts, assumptions and limits with sources. | Combines times or areas without limits. |
| Coordination and artifact | Artifact addresses the task with owners and verification points. | Lists actions without coordination or missing information. |
| Access and dignity | Checks exclusion and explains mitigation. | Primarily prioritizes team convenience. |
| Improvement | Shows how evidence changed a decision. | Declares success without checking assumptions. |
A proposed rubric for educators to adapt, not a university accreditation standard.
Check your understanding
Answer all 5 questions, then review the explanations. This score is for self-study.
References & further verification
- A decade after the Indian Ocean tsunami, lessons learned ↗UNDRR · 2014
26 December 2014 retrospective article - Early Warnings for All ↗WMO · web resource
Four pillars; publisher overview - Core Humanitarian Standard ↗CHS Alliance / Groupe URD / Sphere · 2024
Publisher overview of commitments - WHO Simulation Exercise Manual ↗World Health Organization · 1 February 2017; WHO/WHE/CPI/2017.10
Publication overview; manual glossary (exercise project, exercise report); exercise planning/conduct/evaluation - Revised OCHA Data Responsibility Guidelines ↗OCHA Centre for Humanitarian Data · 2025
20 February 2025 announcement; scope paragraphs - Guidance for After Action Review (AAR) ↗World Health Organization · 1 April 2019; WHO/WHE/CPI/2019.4
Overview: purpose and four formats; accompanying AAR toolkits - Guide to AUN-QA Assessment at Programme Level, Version 4.0 ↗ASEAN University Network · October 2020
Sections 2.1–2.4, printed pp. 16–27: outcomes, curriculum, teaching and assessment
Cite this module
PK-Research. (2026). Andaman tsunami 2004: from warning to action (case-tsunami-2004, v1.0.0). HADR–CPX Knowledge Commons. https://hadr-cpx.pk-research.work/en/modules/case-tsunami-2004/