INDIAN OCEAN TSUNAMI

Version with MOVIES on NMWW DVD

December 26, 2004

B
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Krabit, Indonesia
TSUNAMI WAVES

• Caused by Earthquakes under Ocean, or

other events – landslides, volcanic
eruptions, asteroid impacts, etc.

• In Deep Ocean the Tsunami Wave is

only about 3 feet high but 100 miles wide
and moving at speed of a jet airplane.
 Alfred Wegner observed that South America and
Africa continents fit like a gig saw puzzle

Proposed Continental Drift of Plates (Plate Tectonics) and that 200 million
Years ago a super continent of Pangaea existed.
SEA FLOOR SPREADING
Occurs along the Mid-
Atlantic Ridge pushing the
African and European
Plates away from the North
and South American
Plates at about 1 inch/year
This then pushes the
Pacific Ocean floor under
the Plates on the opposite
side of America Plates and
Euroasian and Africa
Plates
Earthquakes result from Sea Floor Spreading along the
Mid-Atlantic Ridge that pushes the Continents over the
Pacific Ocean Floor.
Earthquakes since 1990
Mag 9, 0.58 GMT, 10 km Deep, 250 km SSW
of Banda Ache, Indonesia, ~1 m high Tsunami,
20-40 min period, ~350 km wavelength, 200 m/sec
FACTS Model – PMEL - Titov
Depth Gauge Record of Mercator anchored 1 mile from
coast of Phuket, Thailand. Time in hours, Depth in Meters.

Reflected
Off Coast
-2.7, +3.9, -0.5, +1.7, -0.6, +4.9 meters in 41 minutes
Jason 1 Altimetry Satellite Tracks

TSUNAMI
30 Minute Period, 350 km Wave Length, 200 m/s or 750 km/hr
having traveled 1500 km in 2 hours since earthquake –
1 meter max wave height.

TSUNAMI
 Before
Banda
Aceh City,
Sumarta

Digital
Globe After

Satellite
Photos
Damage map of Banda Aceh showing the impact of tsunamis wave fronts from two
directions. The numerals indicate the tsunami elevation in meters near the beach (white)
and flow depth inland (black). (Damage map source: UNOSAT, Tsunami data: Borrero et
al. 2006, Jaffe et al., 2006, Matsutomi et al., 2006).
Tug Boat and Barge
Cement Plant and Survivor
 ___

15 meters

Men holding ___

5 meter
staff
Phuket, Thailand
 Phi Phi, Thailand

Before Tsunami Initial Withdrawal

Phi Phi After Tsunami
Phi Phi After Tsunami
Phi Phi Don Island – Pictures taken from Aragon
Yacht ¾ mile from land of other Yachts and Boats

Withdrawal –
Rocks
normally
underwater

First Wave
Run-up – 3
minutes later
4 minutes later 5 minutes later
Trinkat, Nicobar-Andaman Islands
 Khao Lak, Thailand – Pictures taken by
Canadians – John and Jackie Knill –
before they died

Withdrawal
South India After Tsunami
 Kalutara, Sri Lanka
Digital Globe Satellite Photos

Before

Recession

Flooding
Sri Lanka After Tsunami
Sri Lanka After Tsunami
Sri Lanka After Tsunami
Train traveling from
Colombo to Galle hit
by >30 ft high
Tsunami at Telwatta
about 15 miles from
Galle.
Telwatta, Sri Lanka Train
Over 800 were Killed- Train 200 yards from shore.
People from town climbed on top of train after first
wave then killed by second wave.
Sri
Lanka
10
meter
Regions
in Red
MALDIVES Islands – B. Keating Study

Maldive Islands
Location Map

From Coleman (2000)

 Maldives After Tsunami

Metal Roofing Cut People

 Maldives After Tsunami

Walls carried by flood

injured people
 Maldives After Tsunami

Water Catchment Tank

Krabit, Phuket, Indonesia – THEY ALL SURVIVED!
 PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING
CENTER
Ewa Beach, Hawaii

US Department of Commerce / National Weather Service

WC/ATWC - Palmer, Alaska
WC/ATWC
 Earthquake Data
Processing
• WC/ATWC EarlyBird
Seismic Processing
System
• Developed for Fast
evaluation of Big quakes
• Graphical interaction to
refine automatic results
• Redundant backup
operates concurrently
(communications and
hardware).
 Sea Level Data Display and
Analysis
• Data acquired at
WC/ATWC from NOS,
PTWC, and other
centers’ sites
• 200+ tide gage
signals
• 6 DART stations
• Data displayed with
predicted tide and
residuals
• Data real-time,
triggered, or satellite
delayed (hourly).
 Far-Field Prediction
Approach
• Determine likely fault
parameters for large quakes
in main tsunami generating
zones of the Pacific
• Model quakes of different
magnitudes for each zone
(> 200 total models)
• Save maximum amplitudes
at tide gages, DARTs, and
other places of interest
(100+ saved/model)
 TYPES OF TSUNAMI MESSAGES
• INFORMATION BULLETIN: Large earthquake
but no tsunami threat (6.5 <= Mw < 7.5)
• Watch/Warning: Large, Shallow, under water,
Earthquake (Mw >= 7.5)
WATCH: First wave is 3-6 hours away
WARNING: First wave is < 3 hours away
• Pacific-Warning: Confirmed destructive
waves moving across the Pacific
Sumatra Earthquake
Mw = 9.3
Rupture Length ~ 1200km

Source Duration ~ 600s

Rupture propagated South

To North

=> Generated Basin wide

Destructive tsunami that
killed > 300,000 people
Sumatra Earthquake
PTWC TIMELINE (GMT)

00:59 Sumatra EQ Starts

01:07 Watchstanders paged
by digital alarm
01:09 PTWC has location
01:09 Sumatra EQ Stops
01:14 PTWC issues TIB
with Mw=8.0
02:04 TIB issued with
Revised magnitude 8.5
No Tide Gauges in Region
05:00 Wire reports of deaths
In Thailand and Sri Lanka
 Wave Tracing
Travel TimeBack
Backto Track
Source

SLIP
and
Regional and Tele-Surface PB
Waves.
RAKE
Model
Mw = 9.1

Where was the

Missing Moment P
Released?
S
 4hr
After having learned that
there was a destructive
tsunami, PTWC set about
reaching Nations ahead of
the wave.
March 28, 2005
Mw=8.2 Upgraded
To 8.5 then to 8.7!!

No reports of Tsunami
Damage.
One Degree South of
Where Dec 26 event
Started.
Aftershock?
Faulting continuing
Southwards?
 Conclusions
• The Tsunami caused by the Sumatra EQ
killed >300,000 people because there
was no Warning System.
• Source region for Sumatra Tsunami
extends from Banda Aceh through the
Nicobar Islands.
• We need a method for estimating size of
great earthquakes within a time frame
useful to the Tsunami Warning System.
Tsunami Warnings
• If you are at the beach and feel an earthquake –
GO TO HIGH GROUND (>100 feet above MSL)
• If the water level drops below low tide level –
GO TO HIGH GROUND
• If you hear a siren near the beach – GO TO
HIGH GROUND
• If in or near multi-storied concrete building – GO
UP IN BUILDING ABOVE THIRD FLOOR
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