This made it the third most powerful earthquake ever recorded on a seismograph. The Seismic Trigger: The Sumatra-Andaman Earthquake The genesis of the 2004 tsunami was a megathrust earthquake with a magnitude estimated between 9.
The Seismic Trigger: Understanding the Earthquake That Sparked the 2004 Tsunami
As the water depth decreased—a process known as shoaling—the wave speed slowed dramatically. However, as these waves traveled across the Indian Ocean at speeds exceeding 800 kilometers per hour, they carried an enormous amount of kinetic energy.
The depth of the ocean played a crucial role; in deep water, the wave energy extends far below the surface, allowing the wave to maintain its speed and power over thousands of kilometers. The phenomenon known as "runup" occurred, where the water rushed inland, often traveling kilometers away from the coastline.
The Seismic Trigger: The Sumatra-Andaman Earthquake Behind the 2004 Tsunami
While ordinary wind-driven ocean waves have wavelengths of about 100 meters, the waves generated by this earthquake had wavelengths exceeding 200 kilometers. The seafloor lifted an estimated 15 meters vertically along a 1,200-kilometer stretch of the fault line, displacing a volume of water equivalent to thousands of cubic kilometers.
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