GG231 Chapter 3: Chapter 3 .docx
Document Summary
Catastrophe in the indian ocean: close to 230,000 people killed on december 26, 2004, moment magnitude 9. 1 quake just off the island of sumatra along a fault, the fault ruptured a distance over 1200 km, seafloor slipped as much as 5m vertically and 15m horizontally, no warning system in bordering countries, waves took over 7 hours to cross the entire indian ocean, tsunamis are much more common in the pacific ocean than the indian ocean. Several metres to several tens of metres high: common misconception: tsunami is only one wave, the run up of the tsunami is the maximum horizontal and vertical distances that the largest wave reaches, edge waves that travel along the shore interact with tsunami waves to create a complex amplification, causing the 2nd or 3rd waves to be larger than the 1st, distant tsunami or tele tsunami travels thousands of kms and strikes remote shorelines.
