The tsunami from the 2004 M=9.1 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake was primarily caused by vertical displacement of the seafloor, in response to slip on the inter-plate thrust fault (see Tectonics section above).
What caused the December 26 2004 tsunami to form?
A powerful undersea earthquake that struck off the coast of Sumatra island, Indonesia, set off the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, also known as the Christmas or Boxing Day tsunami, on Sunday morning, Dec. 26, 2004. The quake caused the ocean floor to suddenly rise by as much as 40 meters, triggering a massive tsunami.
What happened on the 26th December 2004 tsunami?
A powerful earthquake off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, on December 26, 2004 sets off a tsunami that wreaks death and devastation across the Indian Ocean coastline. The quake was the second strongest ever recorded and the estimated 230,000 dead made this disaster one of the 10 worst of all time.
How much damage did the 2004 tsunami cause?
An astonishing roughly quarter million people (227,899) were killed or missing and presumed dead, including tourists, making this the deadliest tsunami in history. About 1.7 million people were displaced. Total damage was estimated at roughly $13 billion (2017 dollars).
How long did the 2004 earthquake last?
10 minutes
The 2004 quake ruptured a 900-mile stretch along the Indian and Australian plates 31 miles below the ocean floor. Rather than delivering one violent jolt, the quake lasted an unrelenting 10 minutes, releasing as much pent-up power as several thousand atomic bombs.
Will a life jacket help in a tsunami?
As our experiments demonstrated, it can be concluded that when people are engulfed within tsunami waves, PFDs will provide them with a higher chance of survival because they will remain on the surface of tsunami waves and are still able to breathe.
Are there sharks in tsunamis?
Over a hundred adult sharks can be seen just off the shore. Happy news though: improved fisheries management is helping both leopard and white shark numbers to recover along the California coast.
What happened in the Indian Ocean on December 26 2004?
The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami (also known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake) occurred at 07:58:53 in local time (UTC+7) on 26 December, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia.
