The 2204 Indian Ocean Tsunami

The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami

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Introduction

On December 26, 2004 a “megathrust” earthquake –occurred on the floor of the Indian Ocean (Kowalik et al, 2007). This earthquake resulted in a tsunami, or massive series of waves that spread outward from the epicenter of the original quake. This tsunami rushed towards land, bringing devastation to over a dozen countries, including Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India Thailand, and Malaysia. Both the earthquake and the resulting tsunami were among the largest and most destructive disasters of their kind in recorded history.

The Earthquake

According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake that set off the Indian Ocean tsunami was as powerful as 23,000 of the atomic bombs that leveled Hiroshima, Japan in World War II (nationalgeographic.com, 2014). It began where two tectonic plates meet on the bottom of the Indian Ocean. The first plate was subducted by the second plate, which means that as the plates moved against each other the first plate was dragged under the other plate and forced deep into the earth’s mantle (Kowalik et al, 2007). The point of subduction was spread along many miles of the ocean floor, and led to massive ruptures on the seafloor. The earthquake was actually divided into two large events that happened a few minutes apart, with the total time for the event lasting over ten minutes (Kowalik et el, 2007). Officials estimates of the magnitude of the Indian Ocean earthquake vary, but...