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Indian Ocean
December 26, 2004
One of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded unleashed a colossal tsunami—and no one saw it coming.
What happened?
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Just before 8 a.m., the seafloor off the coast of Sumatra snapped upwards as much as 50 feet, leaving a gash the length of California.
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The magnitude 9.3 quake launched a wave that inundated coastlines of 11 countries around the Indian Ocean.
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Close to 187,000 people perished, with almost 43,000 others still missing. |
People, buildings, and entire communities were swept away by the tsunami. But the wave took hours to reach land. Why was there no warning?
Because we hadn’t seen it happen here before. We’ve seen undersea earthquakes trigger tsunamis, but usually in the Pacific Ocean, where 85 percent of tsunamis occur. In the Indian Ocean, no response systems were in place because communities were unaware they were at risk.
Today, that has changed. A system that includes seismic technology to detect earthquakes, buoys that transmit data on wave size, and radio and siren alerts help protect people who live along the Indian Ocean.
Continue to Earthquakes and Tsunamis. >>
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