An Important Reason for the Extraordinarily High Death Toll in the Indonesian

An important reason for the extraordinarily high death toll in the Indonesian tsunami of 2004 around the Indian Ocean was that

A) people ignored warning sirens that were sounding and instead went to coastal areas to watch the incoming tsunami.
B) panicking elephants created a stampede that crushed many people.
C) there was no warning system to alert people to evacuate.
D) buildings were not built to withstand a tsunami.
E) tsunamis had never occurred in that area before.