The day the earth wobbled...
One fateful morning off the coast of Banda Aceh; Indonesia
7.30 am 261204
Earthquake
Where it happened?
I read that the magnitude of the undersea earthquake that happened off the coast of Aceh; Indonesia, registered 9.0 on the Richter scale. The epicentre of the quake is a few hundred metres off the coast of Bandar Aceh; capital of Ache.
How it happened?
The Eurasian plate subdued or overlapped the Indo-Australian plate, causing it to sink about 30 m beneath the crust. The extent of the quake stretched for 1000 km; this is one of the longest and most extensive in recent times. Impact was so severe, it caused the earth to wobble on its axis and forever changed the map of Asia. Some islands in the Indian ocean have risen about 20 m higher, and the Northern tip of Sumatra have risen by about 30 m.
The result of an earthquake = a Tsunami
When the Indo-Australian plate went under the Eurasian plate, it caused water in the sea to rise to a massive height upon displacement. The water returned to the ocean with great impact, causing a rippling effect which extended outwards into the far reaches of the Indian ocean; hitting countries like Sri Lanka, India, Myanmar, Maldives, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Closer to home, the North-western States of Malaysia; Penang and Perlis were hit and also popular tourist hotspots like Phi Phi and Phuket. Damaged and losses in Sri Lanka and indian states; such as Tamil Nadu are by far the most devastating. These regions are one of the lowest lying regions on Earth, just a couple of meters above sea level. That together with mostly low rised structures made it difficult for people to escape to higher ground. Hence, the exceptionally high death toll.
What should have been done...
The countries worst hit by the tsunami; India and Sri Lanka did not have any tsunami warning system. Neither were they part of a global network of 26 countries in the Pacific rim which are part of the NOAA; an agency in Hawaii which sent out tsunami warnings to member countries. Singapore and Thailand are part of this membership. Unfortunately, the buoys with sensors capable of detecting wave activity was not available in Phuket, Krabi and the surrounding tourist locales. Therefore, people there were not informed early about the onslaught of the tsunami.
============================================
an unabridged statement of what i said in the msn to Eugene this morning...
“man-made terror is borne out of things that could have been prevented; if only there was more love amongst people; more understanding towards culture, race n religion etc...fighting might be prevented....this is unlike a natural disaster which is totally unpredictable...hence we should devote more time, effort n money to fine-tune or come up with ways to lessen its impact...basically, had we been more peaceful earthlings...our energy would be more focused on mother nature instead of weeding out those terrorists today.”
sad but true...food for thought, yar?
7.30 am 261204
Earthquake
Where it happened?
I read that the magnitude of the undersea earthquake that happened off the coast of Aceh; Indonesia, registered 9.0 on the Richter scale. The epicentre of the quake is a few hundred metres off the coast of Bandar Aceh; capital of Ache.
How it happened?
The Eurasian plate subdued or overlapped the Indo-Australian plate, causing it to sink about 30 m beneath the crust. The extent of the quake stretched for 1000 km; this is one of the longest and most extensive in recent times. Impact was so severe, it caused the earth to wobble on its axis and forever changed the map of Asia. Some islands in the Indian ocean have risen about 20 m higher, and the Northern tip of Sumatra have risen by about 30 m.
The result of an earthquake = a Tsunami
When the Indo-Australian plate went under the Eurasian plate, it caused water in the sea to rise to a massive height upon displacement. The water returned to the ocean with great impact, causing a rippling effect which extended outwards into the far reaches of the Indian ocean; hitting countries like Sri Lanka, India, Myanmar, Maldives, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Closer to home, the North-western States of Malaysia; Penang and Perlis were hit and also popular tourist hotspots like Phi Phi and Phuket. Damaged and losses in Sri Lanka and indian states; such as Tamil Nadu are by far the most devastating. These regions are one of the lowest lying regions on Earth, just a couple of meters above sea level. That together with mostly low rised structures made it difficult for people to escape to higher ground. Hence, the exceptionally high death toll.
What should have been done...
The countries worst hit by the tsunami; India and Sri Lanka did not have any tsunami warning system. Neither were they part of a global network of 26 countries in the Pacific rim which are part of the NOAA; an agency in Hawaii which sent out tsunami warnings to member countries. Singapore and Thailand are part of this membership. Unfortunately, the buoys with sensors capable of detecting wave activity was not available in Phuket, Krabi and the surrounding tourist locales. Therefore, people there were not informed early about the onslaught of the tsunami.
============================================
an unabridged statement of what i said in the msn to Eugene this morning...
“man-made terror is borne out of things that could have been prevented; if only there was more love amongst people; more understanding towards culture, race n religion etc...fighting might be prevented....this is unlike a natural disaster which is totally unpredictable...hence we should devote more time, effort n money to fine-tune or come up with ways to lessen its impact...basically, had we been more peaceful earthlings...our energy would be more focused on mother nature instead of weeding out those terrorists today.”
sad but true...food for thought, yar?
posted by VERNON at
9:58 PM
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