The timing of the waves, arriving just before high tide in many places, further increased the inland penetration and the sheer volume of destruction. The Undersea Earthquake: The Primary Trigger The immediate cause of the Thailand tsunami was the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake, one of the most powerful ever recorded.
The Undersea Earthquake: The Primary Trigger
The Sunda Trench is a known subduction zone with a history of generating large earthquakes. Resorts and villages in areas like Khao Lak and Phuket were directly in the path of these waves, which climbed over beaches and low-lying coastal land with little natural barrier to stop them.
This variability explains why neighboring resorts could see drastically different levels of damage during the same event. On December 26, 2004, the world watched in horror as a massive undersea earthquake triggered a series of devastating tsunami that struck coastlines across the Indian Ocean.
The Undersea Earthquake: The Primary Trigger
This megathrust event occurred along the Sunda Trench, where the Indian Plate dives beneath the Burma Plate. The absence of sea-level monitoring stations and public alert systems meant that many people had only minutes—or mere seconds—between the strong ground shaking and the arrival of the waves.
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