Twenty Years Later – Remembering the Huge Tsunami Created by the Sumatra Earthquake – by Jan Wondra

From AP file photos shared in their memory this morning: An aerial shot taken from a helicopter shows villagers searching for missing people along the railway tracks of an overcrowded train that was swept off the tracks in Talawat, about 100 kilometers (63 miles) south of Colombo, Sri Lanka , photo taken on December 29, 2004. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian, File)

For most of us, we remember Christmas 2004 in a blurry memory of family, presents, maybe snow and holiday cheer.

But for the more than 230,000 people caught up in the powerful 9.1-magnitude earthquake off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra on December 26, 2004, it was a deadly day. The huge tsunami it caused hit dozens of countries. In fact, the tsunami that sunny morning crossed the Indian Ocean and reached East Africa.

Just for the four countries that suffered the greatest impact – Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand – it displaced 1.7 million people. It destroyed villages, ports, hotels and beach resorts, reaching miles inland.

Thousands of tourists from all over the world, enjoying the legendary beaches of Southeast Asia, were arrested without any warning (including people I know). Survivors remember that the ocean suddenly receded far out to sea, and they took the opportunity to search for shells on sandy beaches that are usually under deeper water. To see a huge wave heading towards the shore and run for their lives. From stumbling down hotel stairs and climbing trees, or being unable to save loved ones, or the sheer horror of the day when over a quarter of a million people died in a single event.

Perhaps we should remember that although this earthquake occurred off the coast of Sumatra, it is not the strongest earthquake the Earth has ever seen. The largest earthquake ever recorded on Earth was a magnitude 9.5 off the coast of South America. But from the standpoint of death tolls, the Sumatra earthquake far exceeds anything in history.

As recorded in Geography, these are the three most powerful earthquakes ever recorded:

Great Chilean Earthquake: Magnitude: 9.5

Deaths: 1,655 • Date: May 22, 1960

The largest earthquake ever recorded occurred at 3.11 pm on May 22, 1960, about 160 kilometers off the coast of Chile, opposite the city of Valdivia. It started in the subduction zone (the place where one tectonic plate slides under another) of the Nazca and South America plates. Most of the resulting casualties and much of the damage were caused by large tsunami waves generated by the earthquake that struck locations as far away as Hawaii, Japan, California, and the Philippines. Two days after the quake, nearby Puihu volcano erupted, spewing ash and steam up to six kilometers into the atmosphere over several weeks.

Great Alaska Earthquake: Magnitude: 9.2

Deaths: 128 • Date: March 28, 1964

It occurred on Good Friday at 5.30pm and was the largest earthquake ever recorded in the USA. The quake was centered offshore southeast of Anchorage in Prince William Sound and triggered a tsunami that caused deaths as far away as California. Landslides destroyed the anchorage and parts of Kodiak 320 kilometers (200 mi) away were permanently raised by nine meters (30 ft).

Sumatra Earthquake: Magnitude: 9.1

Deaths: 227,900 • December 26, 2004

One of the most destructive earthquakes in recorded history began at the boundary between the broad Indo-Australian plate and the smaller Burma plate, where the former subducts beneath the latter. On Boxing Day 2004, a sudden release of pressure at this boundary caused the Indian Ocean floor to tilt about 15 meters toward Indonesia, pushing the Burma plate up and generating a tsunami.

But in terms of death toll, the first earthquake to cause loss of human life was the January 2010 earthquake that struck the small island of Haiti in the Caribbean Sea. About 316,000 people lost their lives, not because of the tsunami but because of catastrophic building collapses.

An estimated 500,000 detectable earthquakes occur worldwide each year, but only about 100,000 of them can be felt and 100 of them cause damage. They are caused by the sudden rupture and release of the Earth's tectonic plates rubbing against each other – and their sudden release as they give way and move closer together causes earthquakes.

Most earthquakes occur underwater, and the majority of earthquakes, about 80 percent, occur on the outskirts of the Pacific Ocean. Known as the “Ring of Fire,” this area is the most volcanically and seismically active area in the world.

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