|~ ESL.bloggie.com ~|

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/205363_science27.html Biggest earthquake in 40 years devastates Asian coasts A single tsunami wave can be 100 miles long and travel more than 600 mph Monday, December 27, 2004 SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER NEWS SERVICES The chain reaction that sent enormous, deadly seismic sea waves crashing into the coasts of Asia and Africa yesterday started more than six miles beneath the ocean floor off the tip of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The sudden, violent slippage of a 620-mile section along the India and Burma plates caused the most powerful earthquake in 40 years. The U.S. Geological Survey put the magnitude of the underwater quake at 9.0, the biggest since 1964. But that was only the beginning. One hundred fifty-five miles southeast of Banda Aceh, Sumatra, the disturbance generated a powerful series of waves that propagated swiftly to the north and west. Although they are popularly called "tidal waves," tsunamis have little to do with the ebb and flow of the tides. The waves are generated when geologic forces displace sea water in the ocean basin. The bigger the earthquake, the more the Earth's crust shifts and the more seawater begins to move. They also can be caused by landslides, volcanoes and even meteor impacts. A tsunami is not a single wave, but a series of traveling ocean waves. With nothing to stop them, these waves can race across the ocean like the crack of a bullwhip, gaining momentum over thousands of miles. Tsunamis are distinguished from normal coastal surf by their great length and speed. A single wave in a tsunami series might be 100 miles long and race across the ocean at 600 mph. When it approaches a coastline, the wave slows dramatically, but it also rises to great heights because the enormous volume of water piles up in shallow coastal bays. Some tsunamis appear as a tide that doesn't stop rising, while others are turbulent and savagely chew up the coast. Without instrumentation, so little is known about this tsunami that researchers must wait for eyewitness accounts to determine its characteristics. The only hint of yesterday's approaching juggernaut was a 2-foot "ripple" on the surface of a very big ocean -- a ripple capable of transforming itself into a destructive 30-foot wall of water. Sumatra was the first to feel the full force of the wave as it swept ashore just minutes after the quake. In less than 30 minutes, a wall of water swept across the beach resorts of southern Thailand, sweeping away people sunning on the sand and wreaking havoc on Phuket and other popular resorts. Coastal Myanmar and Malaysia were hammered. Within three hours, the tsunami had rippled across more than a thousand miles of open ocean to batter the east coast of Sri Lanka and southern India. Within four hours, the great wave was sweeping across the Indian Ocean, inundating the low-lying Maldives and flooding its capital, Male. Eight hours later, still packing a powerful punch, it struck Somalia and other countries on the east coast of Africa -- more than 3,000 miles from the spot where it had begun its ocean journey. Yesterday's 9.0 earthquake shook unusually far afield, causing buildings to sway hundreds of miles from the epicenter, from Singapore to the city of Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, and in Bangladesh. Enzo Boschi, the head of Italy's National Geophysics Institute, likened the quake's power to detonating a million atomic bombs the size of those dropped on Japan during World War II, and said the shaking was so powerful it even disturbed the Earth's rotation. "All the planet is vibrating" from the quake, he told Italian state radio. Other scientists, however, said it was too early to say whether the rotation was affected by the quake. ? 1998-2004 Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Tsunami Waves Kill Over 19,930 in Asia By DILIP GANGULY, Associated Press Writer COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Rescuers scoured Asia's coastlines for survivors of devastating tidal waves that obliterated seaside towns in nine countries, killing more than 19,930 people. Aid poured into the region, but morgues and hospitals struggled to cope with the tragedy. Hundreds of children were buried in mass graves in India as their grieving parents looked on. The death toll began climbing sharply after Sunday morning's 9.0-magnitude quake that struck deep beneath the Indian Ocean off the coast of Indonesia, the most powerful temblor in four decades. The waves sped away from the epicenter at over 500 mph before crashing into the region's shorelines without warning, sweeping people and fishing villages out to sea. Millions were displaced from their homes and thousands were missing. Officials said the death toll would continue to rise and warned that disease outbreaks were possible. Sri Lanka said just over 10,000 people were killed along its coastlines, and Tamil rebels said 1,500 people died in its territory, bringing that country's toll to more than 11,500. Indonesia and India also reported thousands of deaths, and Thailand — a Western tourist hotspot — said hundreds were dead and thousands missing. Deaths were also reported in Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Bangladesh and even in Somalia, 3,000 miles away in Africa. On the remote Car Nicobar island south of India, Police Chief S.B. Deol told New Delhi Television he had reports "that maybe 3,000 people are dead." If confirmed, that would raise the death toll past 22,900. In Bandah Aceh, Indonesia, 150 miles from the quake's epicenter, dozens of bloated bodies littered the streets as soldiers and desperate relatives searched for survivors Monday. Some 500 bodies collected by emergency workers lay under plastic tents, rotting in the tropical heat. "We have ordered 15,000 troops into the field to search for survivors," said military spokesman Edy Sulistiadi. "They are mostly retrieving corpses." Refugees in nearby Lhokseumawe, many of whom had spent the night sleeping outside on open ground, complained that little or no aid had reached them. The city's hospital said it was running out of medicine. The Indian state of Tamil Nadu was also hit hard, with thousands of deaths reported. Chief Minister Jayaram Jayalalithaa called the scene "an extraordinary calamity of such colossal proportions that the damage has been unprecedented." Nearby beaches resembled open-air mortuaries as fishermen's bodies washed ashore, and retreating waters left behind others killed inland. In Cuddalore, red-eyed parents held a mass burial for more than 150 children. About half of the nearly 400 who perished in the town were youngsters, leaving townspeople in stunned bereavement. The earthquake's aftereffects came without warning. Witnesses said sea waters at first retreated far out into the ocean, only to return at a vicious pace. Some regions reported a crashing wall of water 20 feet high. "The water went back, back, back, so far away, and everyone wondered what it was — a full moon or what? Then we saw the wave come, and we ran," said Katri Seppanen, who was in Thailand, on Phuket island's popular Patong beach. Sri Lanka and Indonesia had at least a million people each driven from their homes. Warships in Thailand steamed to remote tropical island resorts to search for survivors as air force helicopters in Sri Lanka and India rushed food and medicine to stricken areas. In Indonesia, villagers near northern Lhokseumawe picked through the debris of their ruined houses amid the smell of decomposing bodies. One man, Rajali, said his wife and two children were killed and that he couldn't find dry ground to bury them. Islamic tradition demands that the deceased be buried as soon as possible. "What shall I do?" said the 55-year-old, who like many Indonesians goes by a single name. "I don't know where to bury my wife and children." In Sri Lanka — an island nation some 1,000 miles west of the epicenter — about 25,000 troops were deployed to crack down on sporadic, small-scale looting and to help in rescue efforts. About 200 inmates took advantage of the chaos, escaping from a prison in coastal Matara. The U.S. Geological Survey (news - web sites) said the quake's magnitude was 9.0 — the strongest since a 9.2 magnitude temblor in Alaska in 1964, and the fourth-largest in a century. The quake was nearly 6 miles deep and was followed by a half-dozen powerful aftershocks, some in the 7-magnitude range. The quake occurred where several geological plates push against each other with massive force. The USGS (news - web sites) said a 620-mile section shifted, triggering the sudden displacement of water. Countries around the world were touched. The United States said three Americans were killed. Denmark said two citizens perished, and New Zealand reported one dead. Also among the missing, injured or dead were nationals of South Korea (news - web sites), Japan, Germany, South Africa, Hong Kong, Britain, Australia, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia, Sweden, Chile, Thai media reported. Sri Lanka said 72 foreign tourists were killed there. President Bush (news - web sites) expressed his condolences over the "terrible loss of life and suffering." From the Vatican (news - web sites), Pope John Paul (news - web sites) II led appeals for aid for victims, and the 25-nation European Union (news - web sites) promised to quickly deliver $4 million. Aid agencies and governments around the world began pouring relief supplies into the region on Monday. Japan, China and Russia were among the countries sending teams of experts. Jasmine Whitbread, international director of the aid group Oxfam, warned that without swift action, more people could die. "The flood waters will have contaminated drinking water and food will be scarce," she said. In Thailand, Gen. Chaisit Shinawatra, the army chief, said the United States has offered to send troops stationed in Japan's Okinawa island to assist. Thailand was considering the offer. Tsunamis as large as Sunday's happen only a few times a century. A tsunami is a series of traveling ocean waves generated by geological disturbances near the ocean floor. With nothing to stop them, the waves can race across the ocean like the crack of a bullwhip, gaining momentum over thousands of miles. Some tsunamis appear as a tide that doesn't stop rising, while others are turbulent and savagely chew up the coast. An international tsunami warning system was started in 1965, after the Alaska quake, designed to advise coastal communities of a potentially killer wave. Member states include all the major Pacific rim nations in North America, Asia and South America. But because tsunamis are rare in the Indian Ocean, India and Sri Lanka are not part of the system. Scientists said the death toll would have been reduced if they had been.

posted by SpygirL  # 12/27/2004 06:33:00 AM