01 - Asian Tsunami - CBS News - 20041227

The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on December 26, 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The earthquake was caused by subduction and triggered a series of devastating tsunamis along the coasts of most landmasses bordering the Indian Ocean, killing more than 225,000 people in eleven countries, and inundating coastal communities with waves up to 30 meters (100 feet) high. It was one of the deadliest natural disasters in history. Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand were hardest hit.

With a magnitude of between 9.1 and 9.3, it is the second largest earthquake ever recorded on a seismograph. This earthquake had the longest duration of faulting ever observed, between 8.3 and 10 minutes. It caused the entire planet to vibrate as much as 1 cm (0.5 inches)[3] and triggered other earthquakes as far away as Alaska. The disaster is known by the scientific community as the Great Sumatra-Andaman earthquake, and is also known as the Asian Tsunami and the Boxing Day Tsunami.

The plight of the many affected people and countries prompted a widespread humanitarian response. In all, the worldwide community donated more than $7 billion (2004 U.S. dollars) in humanitarian aid.
The earthquake was initially reported as moment magnitude 9.0. In February 2005 scientists revised the estimate of the magnitude to 9.3.[6] Although the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has accepted these new numbers, the United States Geological Survey has so far not changed its estimate of 9.1. The most recent studies in 2006 have obtained a magnitude of Mw 9.1 to 9.3. Dr. Hiroo Kanamori of the California Institute of Technology believes that Mw = 9.2 is a good representative value for the size of this great earthquake.[7]

The hypocentre of the main earthquake was at [show location on an interactive map] 3°18′58″N 95°51′14″E / 3.316, 95.854, approximately 160 km (100 mi), in the Indian Ocean just north of Simeulue island, off the western coast of northern Sumatra, at a depth of 30 km (19 mi) below mean sea level (initially reported as 10 km). The earthquake itself (apart from the tsunami) was felt as far away as Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore and the Maldives.

Indonesia lies between the Pacific Ring of Fire along the north-eastern islands adjacent to and including New Guinea and the Alpide belt along the south and west from Sumatra, Java, Bali, Flores, and Timor.

Great earthquakes such as the Sumatra-Andaman event, which are invariably associated with megathrust events in subduction zones, have seismic moments that can account for a significant fraction of the global earthquake moment across century-scale time periods. The Sumatra-Andaman earthquake was the largest earthquake since 1964, and the second largest since the Kamchatka earthquake of October 16, 1737.

Of all the seismic moment released by earthquakes in the 100 years from 1906 through 2005, roughly one-eighth was due to the Sumatra-Andaman event. This quake, together with the Good Friday Earthquake (Alaska, 1964) and the Great Chilean Earthquake (1960), account for almost half of the total moment. The much smaller but still catastrophic 1906 San Francisco earthquake is included in the diagram at right for perspective. Mw denotes the magnitude of an earthquake on the moment magnitude scale.

Since 1900 the only earthquakes recorded with a greater magnitude were the 1960 Great Chilean Earthquake (magnitude 9.5) and the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake in Prince William Sound (9.2). The only other recorded earthquake of magnitude 9.0 or greater was off Kamchatka, Russia, on November 4, 1952 (magnitude 9.0).[8] Each of these megathrust earthquakes also spawned tsunamis in the Pacific Ocean, but the death toll from these was significantly lower. The worst of these caused only a few thousand deaths, primarily because of the lower population density along the coasts near affected areas and the much greater distances to more populated coasts.

Other very large megathrust earthquakes occurred in 1868 (Peru, Nazca Plate and South American Plate); 1827 (Colombia, Nazca Plate and South American Plate); 1812 (Venezuela, Caribbean Plate and South American Plate) and 1700 (Cascadia Earthquake, western U.S. and Canada, Juan de Fuca Plate and North American Plate). These are all believed to have been of greater than magnitude 9, but no accurate measurements were available at the time.

Category:

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• Sumatra-Andaman
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• Asian
• Tsunami
• Boxing
• Day
• Tsunami.

[ShutupHollywood]

The dinosaurs being wiped off the earth was conspiracy. George Bush did it. He caused every problem the last 3 million years.

[felipequimico]

asiantsunami51: my friend, this video has an error. The most powerfull Earthquake and Tsunami is not in 1964 in Alaska. The most powerfull is in Chile (valdivia city) in 1960 with 9.4 in the Richter scale with a tsunami. You can see that in the same webpage of the hawaian oficce. Thanks.

[xFLAMeHD]

@felipequimico its was 9.5 !

[MrCooldude12319]

So now i know why there are earthqake they want to move the island of the earth

[KidShuffle1001]

DAMN NATURE U SCARY!!!!

[number7ministries]

Please watch the 2 videos about the truth of Japan:

Number 7 Ministries "Spiritual Tsunami"

Number 7 Ministries "The Good News About Tsunami 2011"

May God Bless Japan, and make the people stronger!

[MSWindows30]

@bxs0099 , you are right. But, sea levels would cause tsunami to move more far inland. Higher sea level can cause landslides. One of the volcanoes from canary islands that will in the future cause a massive landslide and mega-tsunami that will race and hit the east coast of the US. Strangely, the volcano is inside is filled with water. Global warming may have an impact on it. Sea levels would make the land more loose. The Big Island of Hawaii also have a future tsunami threat from landslide.

[MSWindows30]

@felipequimico , although the most powerful earthquake and tsunami was from Chile but the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami was the most powerful earthquake and tsunami SINCE 1964! The duration from 1964 and 2004 is 40 years. That was a long time ago. That means the world haven't seen a mega-thrust earthquake for 40 years. Last year, the 8.8 Chile earthquake was the most powerful since the 2004 earthquake. The next one could come from Alaska, Japan, or Cascadia.

[gokworld]

@bxs0099

the increasing heat outside the crust makes the heat inside also to increase as a result there will be plate installable which would lead to more earthquakes

more quakes under the sea finally causes tsunami.

[bxs0099]

Hands down the most retarded part of this video is the claim that global warming may make tsunamis more common. How exactly does global warming induce the seismic activity -- i.e., earthquake, volcanic eruption, landslide, meteor impact -- necessary to cause more tsunamis?

[bxs0099]

Hands down the most retarded part of this video is the claim that global warming may make tsunamis more common. How exactly does glbal warming induce the seismic activity -- i.e., earthquake, volcanic eruption, landslide, meteor impact -- necessary to cause more tsunamis?

[theprinceofportugal]

U all wrong: Powerful does not mean how many people die... the most powerful tsunami happened in 1755: known as the Lisbon earthquake. The tsunami followed a 9.5 Richter scale earthquake with epicenter 50 kms from the St. Vincent cape South West of the region of The Algarve. Europe has never seen anything like that, the waves reached as far as Gibraltar and Morocco, it was powerful and swept all away in 3 gigantic waves.