- It is the largest earthquake known to modern civilization
with a reading of close to 9.2 in Richter scale. It started with a precursor
near the coastline of Sumatra, a series of shocks happened one after the
other and before all was done, 625 miles (1000 Kilometers) of Andaman thrust
or fault line broke. The result was devastation never seen before in modern
times. 45 feet tall Tsunamis (coastal tidal waves) originating from the
epicenter of the earthquakes, crushed onto the shores of Sri Lanka, India,
Maldives, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and other countries in the region.
-
- According to reports we are receiving, this is not a
simple earthquake, it is the mega quake that happens once every thousand
years. No one knows how much after shock will devastate the area. Never
ever in the known human history in modern times, an earthquake happened
that broke 1000 miles of fault line.
-
- More than 25,000 people are dead or missing. The death
toll eventually can rise to 100,000. The damage to economy and crops can
be staggering.
-
- No one is getting any information from Andaman Nicobar
Islands, which is affected the most. Indian Air Force is flying sorties
to help the affected in the region.
-
- In addition, there is no information from many of the
ships in the region at the time.
-
- The survey now says the quake centered off the west coast
of northern Sumatra, has been upgraded to a 9.2 magnitude, making it the
one of the largest earthquake since 1899 and may be the largest since 1600.
-
- It was the largest quake in the world since 1964, Reuters
reports Julie Martinez, geophysicist for the U.S. Geological Survey's Earthquake
Hazards Program in Golden, Colorado, as saying.
-
- That year, an earthquake struck Alaska's Prince William
Sound.
-
- Sunday's quake, first struck at 7:59 a.m (0059 GMT) off
the coast of Aceh province on the northern Indonesian island of Sumatra
and appeared to swing north into the Andaman islands in the Indian Ocean.
It triggered a tsunami that killed hundreds in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia
and India.
-
- "About 1,000 kilometers of the Andaman thrust (or
faultline) broke, which is a huge area," Martinez said. "This
doesn't occur that often. To have a break along that long of a faultline,
that is more unusual."
-
- As the Earth moves and its plates hit each other, the
Earth breaks in one area and pressure is built up in a different area,
Martinez said. When that pressure builds up, another earthquake occurs,
she said.
-
- The quakes that follow, or aftershocks, are minor readjustments
along the fault after the main shock or quake occurs, Martinez explained.
-
- "Usually, aftershocks are in more or less the same
area," she said. "Because of the size of this quake, you will
see more quakes in a larger area because the break or the faultline is
larger."
-
- http://216.132.172.240/indiadaily/editorial/12-27-04.asp
|
