Javier Navarro

Stacie Kappen
Vanesa Pelaez
GSC 350

What is an Earthquake?
Earthquake- a sudden

slip of two plates

accompanied by sudden
and violent shaking.
This particular plate
boundary was a
Subduction zone which
caused the Earthquake

What is a tsunami?
Tsunami- A long-high sea wave caused by an earthquake or

other disturbances
Tsunami are triggered by earthquake by the release of plate
pressure causing land movement, displacing the water.
What classifies a wave as a Tsunami?- Increase of wave
height, massive amount of water movement at high speeds.
Tsunamis are generated by large and rapid displacesments
of water, caused by suddenly large changes in the sea floor
The wave height increases as it gets closer to land because
the water slows and the following water catches up and
amplifies

Subduction Zone Earthquake

Leading to Tsunami

Indian Ocean Vs. Pacific

Ocean Warning Systems
Both experience earthquakes
Indian ocean had no warning systems
Pacific ocean has warning systems run by the US

government: 6 sensors
Pacific ocean countries has disaster awareness plans
Less disaster awareness

Geography of Indonesia
Island has two major

geological environments:
Barisan Mountains,
swampy plains.
Island of Sumatra (
hardest hit area) was on
the major edge of three
tectonic plates : IndoAustralian, Eurasian and
the Burma Sub-plate
40 million year old
plates.

Plate Boundary of
Indian Ocean

Warning Signs
Minor earthquakes before
Areas history of large earthquakes
No warning signs to the direct area

of Northern Sumatra
coral shows three distant giant
earthquakes occurring in 1797, 1833,
and 1861 (magnitude 8.5 or greater),
as well as a large emergence due to a
local large earthquake occurring in
1935 (magnitude 7.7).

December 26, 2004

Earthquake 7:59 am

9.2, off the coast of

Sumatra
Earthquake focal point: 30
Kilometer deep
Fault length is 900 miles
The rupture did not break
all at once, instead it
progressed northward
along the fault at 1.2 miles
per second. Lasting 10
minutes

Uplifting and Sinking of Islands

This picture is an example of the uplift of an island in
a subduction zone causing it to double in size during
the earthquake due to the uplift of the plates.

Credit: Kerry Siea, TO

This picture is an example of an island that has

subsidized because of the earthquake.

Characteristics of the Tsunami

Tsunami Height

approximately 10 meters
high at 500 MPH
Displaced 100,000 tons
of water
Immediate damage to
coastal regions, bay
areas suffer the most
damage

Movement of Tsunami Waves

Places the Tsunami affected

Indonesia

Sri Lanka
India
Thailand

Maldives
Somalia
Myanmar

Malaysia
Seychelles
Bangladesh

When
10 minutes after the initial Earthquake the tsunami

swept across Nicobar and Andaman Islands, which are

territories of India)
15 minutes later the tsunami crashed into the western
coast of Northern Sumatra, and Banda Aceh which is
in the lowland valley of Sumatras northern tip
Continued through open waters traveling at speeds up
to 500mph
1.5-2 hours later the tsunami hits Thailand and Burma
(Myanmar)

When cont
2-2.5 hours later the tsunami tackles Sri Lanka and

India to the West across the Indian ocean

3-4 hours later the tsunami continues west toward the
island nations of Maldives and Seychelles
8-10 hours later as the tsunami begins to slow down it
finally hits the coast of East Africa including Somalia,
Kenya, Tanzania and Madagascar

Fault lies 125 miles of the

Western Shore of Sumatra

Damages to property
Along the coastline, most buildings were made of

wood, masonry and concrete which make them more

vulnerable to damages from tsunamis
Although the earthquakes shaking caused damage,
the majority of damage came from the tsunami waves.
Most of the damages occurred in Indonesia since it
was closest to the earthquake

Property cont
The tsunami destroyed every town, village, road and

bridge built at below a 33ft elevation along 106 mile

stretch of the western coast of Aceh Province.
Countries or cities located near the equator (Thailand
and Sri Lanka) in the Indian Ocean do not experience
high winds or large earthquakes so buildings are not
designed to withstand large amounts of pressure.
Unlike the east coastline of India where frequent storm
hazards discourages building buildings higher than 7
to 10 feet above sea level

Damages to people
The largest life loss was

seen along coastlines hit

by 26-33ft waves;
mortality rate was about
40% of the population
275,000 people killed
51,500 people missing
Roughly 1.5 million
people displaced

Economic Losses
$10 billion in losses due to the earthquake and tsunami

damages
This cost includes damages to residential and
commercial buildings including water supply systems,
electricity, schools, hospitals, and other healthcare
facilities

Humanitarian Relief
Government and Humanitarian Aid reliefs first move

was to ensure access to food, clean water and first aid.

Estimated aid was $ 5 Billion
Australia, India, Japan, United States formed a
coalition to co-ordinate aid efforts to streamline
immediate assistance
Total given amount is $ 10 billion, from 54 countries.

Help is on its way!

Aftermath

Aftershocks
Aftershocks are defined as smaller earthquakes that

happen after the large, main earthquake (Note: if the

aftershock is bigger than the main event, then the
aftershock becomes the main event and the other EQ
is now considered a pre-shock)
After shocks can occur weeks or even months after the
main event
As of January 2005, there were about 84 aftershocks
with magnitudes ranging from 5.0-7.0 in 26 regions in
the Indian Ocean

Before and After

Bibliography
http://www.tectonics.caltech.edu/outreach/highlights

/sumatra/
www.rms.com/publications/indianoceantsunamirepor
t.pdf
http://www.tsunami2004.net/
http://www.usaid.gov/locations/asia/tsunami/