Over the last 4000 years, more than 13 million people have been killed by earthquakes and the fires, landslides, floods that come with them. This program highlights certain events and illustrate how these forces are often interdependent and why they have such power and magnitude.

At 0.58 GMT on 26th December 2004, the Eurasian and Australia tectonic plates clashed together. The resulting earthquake - the biggest for 40 years - triggered a powerful tsunami. This giant wave carved a path of destruction across the Indian Ocean. Entire towns were swept away, popular holiday destinations were completely destroyed, more than 300,000 people were killed and millions were left indesperate need of food and shelter.