Why the Tsunami Struck in December 2004

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How did the Tsunami occur?

An earthquake had shaken the ocean floor off the coast of Sumatra. It had weighed 9.0 on the Richter scale. This earthquake was the fourth strongest quake recorded in the world since 1900. The Tsunami waves had affected many coastal areas in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India. The east coast of Africa had also a felt the Tsunami.

What is a Tsunami?

A Tsunami is a large wave that can be very destructive. They can hit in a series of large waves which occur when the Earth’s crust starts suddenly moving.

However, a tsunami can also occur by volcanoes, landslides and asteroids which come crashing into the Earth throughout the year. They are too small to do any major damage to our planet.

After an Earthquake occurs, sections of the Ocean floor start rising very quickly. The mass of water is suddenly displaced and when it tries to balance, waves are formed. These waves are much greater because of the deepness of the water unlike the usual waves we see every day.

The Tsunamis can be wide in length spreading across tens of miles. From where the epicentre is located, the water spreads out in circle just the way you get the shape of a circle when raindrops fall onto a puddle.

The wavelength of a Tsunami might be very large and because of this, Tsunamis moves across the ocean very quickly without losing much energy. The waves of the Tsunamis are small in size when they are out in the sea. They can range from a few metres to a few feet. But nothing gets better as they come closer to the shore. The waves grow in size due to the shallow water and the speed of the wave slows down rapidly.

In the middle of the Oceans, Tsunamis can travel for in the speeds of hundreds of miles an hour. They do not lose much energy and can strike very far inland depending on the energy it carries.

The usual waves that we see rolling ashore by the blowing of wind have a wavelength of 150 metres.

These Tsunami waves that crash inland are so strong that nothing can fight against it. It undermines trees, crush buildings and sand off beaches. They travel at a speed of around 30-40 miles per hour when they attack. These Tsunamis are also capable of flooding large areas of dry land.

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The Tsunami had travelled across some parts of the world; it had reached at Atlantic City on the East Coast of the United States 32 hours after the Earthquake struck. It was only around 9 inches high. Afterwards, the Tsunami had gone ashore at Port Canaveral with the wavelength around 13 inches. It was last seen to strike the northern Pacific and Atlantic Oceans 36 hours after the Earthquake had let it off in the Indian Ocean.