Many remember the tsunami that swept across Southeast Asia in 2004, killing 400,000 people. It happened before the New Year and became a real disaster for local residents and vacationers. Here we recall the tragic events that took place during tsunami in Thailand 2004 of the year.
Tsunami in Thailand in 2004: how it happened
The super-powerful tsunami in Thailand was caused by an earthquake in the Indian Ocean. As a result, 18 countries were affected by the wave. The aftershock occurred on December 26 at 7.58 local time and went almost unnoticed. This led to huge casualties. tsunami in Thailand 2004 of the year. After 2 hours, the first wave approached the Thai coast. The magnitude of the earthquake was 9.1 - 9.3 points (it was recognized as the 3rd most powerful in history), and the epicenter was only 160 km from Sumatra. As a result, some small islands shifted by as much as 20 meters, and the Earth's rotation around its axis even accelerated slightly.
The wave height was 15 meters and washed away almost everything in its path: trees were torn out, buildings were destroyed, cars were washed away from parking lots, boats and larger ships were thrown onto the shore. The water that swept the beaches of Thailand, among which was the popular Patong, went deeper on land for several hundred meters, and in some places it went 2 kilometers inland. Tsunami in Thailand 2004, which came the first time, washed away almost all the infrastructure, but after that the wave returned twice more and completed the destruction.
Tsunami in Thailand 2004: destruction
Many fled to the mountains, and those who did not have time climbed onto the roofs of hotels. The most affected islands are Phuket, Phi Phi (the island is completely submerged), Krabi and Phangan provinces. In Thailand, about 8,500 people died, who were citizens of 40 countries.
The same wave reached India in 90 minutes, to the African coast in Somalia in 7 hours. Destruction has been reported even in South Africa in Port Elizabeth. Even the state of Kerala in India, also known for the bloody rains there, has suffered, although it is located on the west coast, not the east. The total number of victims varies from 250 to 300 thousand.
it tsunami in Thailand became the largest in 80 years and is in the TOP 10 most destructive in history.
In 2016, in Phuket, there was another, smaller attack - - Portuguese ships. 
Five years ago, on December 26, 2004, a magnitude 9.3 undersea earthquake shook the Indian Ocean, causing huge waves that swept the coasts of 13 countries, leaving behind 230,000 deaths. This natural disaster ranked fifth in terms of the number of lost human lives. About 45,000 dead were never found. Five years have passed - restoration work is still ongoing - 140,000 houses, 1,700 schools, 3,800 temples and 3,700 km of roads were built. Collected in this issue are photographs of survivors, restoration work, and several before and after photographs.
(32 photos total)
1. A resident of Aceh province cries as he prays for the tsunami victims on the fifth anniversary of the 2004 earthquake and tsunami on December 26, 2009 in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Aceh suffered the most, as the province's main city was closest to the epicenter. The tsunami reached it first and caused about 130,000 deaths. In 11 countries, 230,000 people died, making this one of the worst disasters in history. (Ulet Ifansasti / Getty Images)
2. Foreign tourists who choose a beach holiday during the first wave of six tsunami waves at Hat Rai Lei Beach near Krabi in southern Thailand on December 26, 2004. (AFP / AFP / Getty Images)
4. (a) Five years later, a resident of the city collects grass for his goats in the same place on December 4, 2009. (REUTERS / Beawiharta)
Prayer and release offerings into the ocean during a ceremony marking the fifth anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami at Ulhi Lheu Beach in Banda Aceh, Aceh province, Indonesia, December 20, 2009. (AP Photo / Heri Juanda)
12. This photo, taken on December 6, 2009, shows children performing a traditional dance at a shelter in Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province. Of the 230,000 death tolls in the tsunami, more than half died in Aceh, Sumatra, leaving at least 5,200 orphans with whom child psychologists have worked for a long time. (AP Photo / Achmad Ibrahim)
15. Thai authorities make a final check of the tsunami buoy at Cape Panwa in Phuket, southern Thailand, December 1, 2009. Five years after the tsunami that devastated the Asian coast, experts fear that a new generation of coastal residents will be ill-prepared for other huge waves as memories of the tragedy fade away. (PORNCHAI KITTIWONGSAKUL / AFP / Getty Images)
17. Dutch tourist Hans Kuiper photographs images of foreign tourists who wanted to celebrate the new year in a resort hotel and were killed in the 2004 tsunami. Photo taken at Bang Muang Cemetery in Phang Nga province north of Phuket in Thailand on December 26, 2009. (REUTERS / Chaiwat Subprasom)
20. Tsunami survivor Abhilash Jeyaraj, also known as "Child 81," sits in a chair at home while waiting to leave for school in Kurukkalmadam, Batticaloa District, Nov.23, 2009. The 2004 tsunami brought this "child 81" international fame, but the parents of the boy, who was only two months old at the time of the tragedy, say that the fame brought them only misfortune and unwanted attention. The surviving child was found in the rubble on the coast of Sri Lanka. Soon after, nine pairs of parents came for him, each claiming to be their child. (REUTERS / Andrew Caballero-Reynolds)
23. Red Cross volunteers sit with open umbrellas depicting the faces of smiling orphans left without parents in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami on the fifth anniversary of the disaster at the Tsunami Museum in Banda Aceh December 26, 2009. (REUTERS / Beawiharta)
This year will mark 15 years since the tragedy that occurred on December 26. 230,000 deaths in fourteen countries, one of the deadliest natural disasters ever to occur.
The 2004 Thailand tsunami cannot be forgotten, but there are so many distortions of facts and fiction around this tragedy that it is worthwhile to figure out what is true and what is a clear lie. How many people died and why did the tsunami happen in Thailand? Could it happen again? How dangerous is it to go on vacation to Thailand?
What caused the 2004 Thailand Tsunami?
The 20014 tsunami in Thailand was indeed caused by the largest and deadliest earthquake in history.
The power of the earthquake was estimated at 9.3 points on the Richter scale. The cause of the earthquake that caused the tsunami in several countries is the collision of two tectonic plates: Burmese and Indian off the coast of Sumatra.
An underwater-mega-prospective-earthquake caused a rupture of plates and the appearance of waves with a height of 5-10 storey buildings.
Was it possible to predict it? It is possible, but in those parts there was still no warning equipment and it is quite possible to assume that the number of deaths, subject to the rules, could be reduced several times.
For many years, tectonic plates rested against each other and one was supposed to pass over the other, but instead, it moved head-on and a plate shift of 19 meters occurred, which caused the fracture and displacement of millions of tons of water, which caused the tsunami.
Tsunami of "Christmas gifts"
"Tsunami at Christmas" - so the public called the tragedy that happened exactly on the Catholic Christmas holidays.
Within a few hours from the start of the earthquake, a series of waves up to 30 meters high caused a tsunami, which seriously affected the inhabitants of 7 countries: India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Malaysia, Thailand.
The death toll from the 2004 tsunami:
India - 730,000 people
Indonesia - 572 926 people
Sri Lanka - 516 150 people
Maldives - 11,231 people
Malaysia - 8000 people
Thailand - 8000 people
Myanmar - 3200 people
And that's not counting the people who are still missing. Due to the fact that the victims spent a long time in the water, many were simply not identified.
In the scientific community, the event that we know as the tsunami in Thailand was called the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake.
Tsunami in Thailand 2004 - how it happened
December 26, 2004 began like an ordinary morning in Thailand. Someone was in a hurry to work, someone was going to the beach, nothing boded trouble. According to eyewitnesses of that day, at about 7 am people felt tremors, it became clear that there was an earthquake. But since it was short-lived, no one really attached any importance to it.
The most powerful waves in history took about two hours to reach the shores of Thailand and hit the western coast of the country.
The first were the Similan Islands. A famous diving site where diving enthusiasts from all over the world gather. Divers eyewitnesses were the first to know about the tsunami, because at the depth of the waves they behaved in such a way that a person was as if inside a huge washing centrifuge.
The biggest blow was taken by the island of Khao Lak. It was hit by the biggest wave impact, which literally swept away all the bungalows and hotels on the shore. Because of the topography of the seabed, coastline and coastal reefs, the tsunami waves depicted the infamous “disappearing sea effect” that seduced many tourists and led them to death.
The tsunami looked like this: the water abruptly went deep into the depths and exposed the seabed. Many tourists ran to look at fish, marine life and collect outlandish shells.
The moment the waves became visible, it was already too late. There were only 1-3 minutes before their fall, it was impossible to escape.
Among those killed at Khao Lak was the grandson of the King of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadett, which once again confirms the fact that even the Thai authorities were not aware of the impending tragedy. Hundreds of people were simply washed away into the sea, and then thrown into the nearest houses, hotels, barriers with a powerful blow.
Photo and video of the 2004 tsunami in Thailand
2004 Thailand Tsunami Video
Photos of eyewitnesses to the tsunami in Thailand:
People flee as a tsunami wave hits the coast of Koh Raya Island, part of Thailand's Andaman Islands, 23 kilometers from Phuket Island, southern Thailand, December 26, 2004. The photographer who took this photo escaped without injury but retreated into the first wave and watched as the second wave ripped apart wooden buildings, while the third and largest wave came forward and “ripped apart cement buildings as if they were made of balsa wood”.
On December 26, 2004, waves hit Maddampegama, 60 kilometers (38 miles) south of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Earthquake-triggered tsunami waves hit villages along Sri Lanka's wide coastline, killing more than 35,300 people
An aerial view of Marina Beach after the Indian Ocean earthquake tsunami hit the southern Indian city of Madras on December 26, 2004
Archive photo taken on January 5, 2005 in the destroyed area of \u200b\u200bBanda Aceh in Aceh province, located on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia after the powerful tsunam on December 26, 2004
Tsunami in Thailand 2004 in Phuket
Contrary to popular rumors, Phuket has suffered the least of all Thailand's provinces. Less destruction, less fatalities. In Thailand, there were villages by the sea, in which 80% of the inhabitants died, but Phuket was not one of them.
According to official figures, about 250 people died from the tsunami in Phuket, including foreign tourists. Of course, there were many more victims. Many received lacerations with dirt and branches. Residents suffered from a lack of water, medicines and timely medical assistance.
Approximately east of Phuket, 80 km, the consequences were much more serious: 3,950 deaths were confirmed, and more than 4,500 on Khao Lak. This is due to the fact that, in contrast to the high-mountainous Phuket, there are almost no hills in the Khao Lak resort where one could hide from the elements.
Why did not many have time to evacuate?
The fact is that a tsunami of this magnitude has not happened in Thailand in modern history. The 30-meter waves that went ashore at a speed of up to 1000 km / h merged with the horizon line and they were simply not visible, since they were without a white ridge.
People simply did not understand what had happened, and during the impact of the wave, only a few managed to escape.
There were several waves, and the ebb tide caused huge damage, which dragged everything into the sea: concrete structures, fittings, cars and houses. All this mixed together created a mortal threat to the people who got into this mess.
The waves that did the most damage were slow, steep, and dense. This is because the sea around the west coast of Thailand is relatively shallow, which has slowed the waves considerably.
The tsunami hit six provinces in Thailand. The final death toll was 5,395, of whom 1,953 were considered foreigners. Another 2,929 people were listed as missing. It is estimated that around 2,000 people were killed in the fishing village of Ban Nam Khem. The village has lost half of its inhabitants.
Thailand was in the middle of the tourist season. There were hundreds of thousands of foreigners in the country. The hotels were filled with foreigners. In many places the sea retreated a great distance before the biggest waves hit. When the water came out, many thought it had something to do with the moon.
Bill O'Leary, an employee at the Amanuri Resort, knew this was a sign of a tsunami. He is credited with saving dozens of lives by warning people to flee inland before the waves arrive. But others were killed because they had no idea what was going on.
The New York Times reported in those days: “Once crowded beach resorts are littered with bodies. Near the devastated beach and spa resort Similan, where mostly German tourists stayed, a naked corpse is suspended from a tree as if crucified. "
Many coral reefs were destroyed by the tsunami. Powerful waves hit hundreds of sea reefs. Debris from the tsunami littered natural areas. The green turtle was washed almost a mile offshore and laid in a pond north of Phuket. Some people in boats rescued survivors thrown into the sea.
What happened after?
In Thailand, the whole country came to the aid of the injured by raking garbage, evacuating those who were left homeless and helping the wounded.
Royal elephants were attracted to clear large rubble, 6 of which were filmed in the Hollywood film Alexander.
An interesting fact - the elephant during the tsunami saved the life of a girl who rode it on the shore. The animal felt the danger and carried towards the mountains, which saved the life of the tourist.
Not without looting.
Inhumans (they cannot be called otherwise), taking advantage of the general panic and confusion, stole children who were disoriented and could not find loved ones. There are known facts of selling babies abroad and recruiting children into sexual slavery.
They plundered houses, hotels, hotels and what could be stolen using the opportunity. Unfortunately, tragedy not only unites but also divides people. "No-man's" property intoxicates the head.
The aftermath of the tsunami in Thailand
The consequences of the tsunami were simply catastrophic not only for Indonesia, India, Myanmar and Malaysia, but also for Thailand.
Tourists threw things and flew away on the very first flight, the credibility of Thai resorts was completely undermined, and given that the tsunami happened at the height of the tourist season, in December, Thailand suffered billions of dollars in losses.
It took years to rebuild trust and many actions to bring tourists back to the islands.
The first thing the authorities did was install the most powerful deep-sea tsunami warning system. The siren starts howling and notifies about the approach of waves 1-2 hours before the incident. It was already tested on April 11, 2012, when it took just an hour to evacuate absolutely all residents of Phuket to the mountains.
Residents of smaller islands such as Phi Phi also have nothing to worry about. And everything is prepared for evacuation there, fortunately the mountains are of such size that no waves are terrible.
Thousands of Thais, dependent on tourism-related industries, have lost their jobs not only in the south, but also in the poorest part of Thailand, Isan in the northeast, from where many of the tourism industry has come.
By January 12, some of the affected resorts in the south had reopened, and the Thai government launched an advertising campaign to bring tourists back to the area as soon as possible, although everyone knew it would be a long time before Thailand was back to normal. (it took almost 5 years).
Damage and losses from the 2004 tsunami in Thailand
The fishing industry suffered from extensive destruction of fishing vessels and gear that individual fishing families could not afford to replace, especially as many also lost their homes.
According to the information, more than 500 fishing vessels and ten trawlers were destroyed, as well as many piers and fish processing enterprises. Again, grants or loans from the government were needed to allow the industry to retool itself.
Ridiculous losses
Another problem was the public aversion in Thailand for eating fish caught locally, out of fear that the fish were eating human corpses that were thrown into the sea by the tsunami.
Thais found this opportunity offensive for both health and religious reasons.
Fish distributors refused to buy fish and crustaceans from ports in the Andaman Sea and preferred to buy from ports in the Gulf of Thailand or even Malaysia or Vietnam so that they could convince consumers that there was no chance of such contamination.
As a result, even those fishing families who could fish could not sell their catch.
It got better after the Director General of the World Health Organization, Dr. Lee Jong-wook, appeared on Thai TV to say that he eats fish every day.
About a month after the tsunami, the Thai cabinet approved a $ 1.79 billion tsunami relief bill.
Most of the money was in the form of soft loans for business recovery. Some of the money came in the form of grants to people who lost relatives and property in the disaster.
Could Thailand be tsunami again?
Can. Closest to Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, India, Malaysia, shakes almost constantly.
Modern warning systems will not allow death and casualties, as people will be evacuated on time. But! If, in principle, you are not close to the idea of \u200b\u200brelaxing on the coast with high seismic activity, then you should choose resorts located in the Gulf of Thailand, for example: Pattaya, Rayong, Samet Island, Hua Hin, Cha Am or Ko Lan Island.
They are closed from the tsunami by the Malacca Peninsula and Vietnam and Cambodia.
The most that can happen here is the exit of the Mekong or Chao Phraya from the banks, which does not pose a mortal danger.
How to act during a natural disaster?
1 - Collect all the necessary things, documents, drinking water, keep children nearby
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3 - do not go down until the cataclysm has completely passed, since the first wave is not always the strongest
Hello! Vladimir Raichev is in touch. This Friday morning, I invite you to talk again about disaster history. One of the worst cataclysms of our century is the 2004 tsunami. December 26, 2004 is a truly fateful day for several countries of our planet at once. Today we will have to talk about what happened.
- The most destructive volcanoes of the past, future and present.
According to scientists, the first earthquake occurred in the depths of the Indian Ocean, near the islands of Indonesia. The magnitude of the tremors was, according to various sources, from 8.0 to 9.3. This cataclysm was included in the list of the most powerful in the history of our planet. It shook harder only in 1960 in Chile and in 1964 in Alaska. But the death toll in those years was insignificant, since the affected areas were not densely populated.
A large section of the earth's crust (Indian plate) that morning moved immediately by almost 1,500 km (although it usually moves no further than 7 cm annually). As a result, the Indian plate "drove" under the neighboring plate. With such a sharp movement, the ocean floor rose - this was the cause of that large-scale tsunami. Under the extraordinary pressure, water gushed in all directions.
To understand how great the pressure released then was, it is enough to imagine that with all the energy received it was possible to boil more than 150 liters of water for every person on our planet.
The force of the catastrophe was so great that it affected the speed of the Earth! Scientists have not yet been able to determine the exact figure, but it is believed that as a result of what happened, the duration of the earth's day decreased by more than 2 microseconds.
It may seem like a trifle, but on the scale of an entire planet, such an indicator is impressive. In addition, for a couple of minutes, the Earth "wagged" around its orbit (this is a rare phenomenon).
Several Indonesian islands have been literally budged. The movement was not only horizontal: many coastal areas were flooded with water and remain under it to this day.
What was the tsunami like?
The waves formed gradually, only a couple of hours after the shock, the crest height was more than 60 cm. The water overtook the Indonesian coastal islands, the Indian coast, Thailand, Sri Lanka and even South Africa (having covered more than 8000 km).
The impact was terrifying. For comparison: the energy released by the strike was several times greater than the amount of energy obtained from the explosion of all ammunition during the Second World War (taking into account the nuclear bombs that destroyed two cities in Japan). It is difficult for the human mind to even imagine such a thing.
The height of the water killer in some areas reached 20 meters. The water passed more than 2 km of the coast, sweeping away everything in its path.
How did all this affect people?
At the beginning of the 21st century, mankind has already managed to explore space, visit the Moon, destroy several hundred species of animals and plants, invent medicines for many diseases ... But they did not come up with a tsunami detection system.
On that day, people were completely unprepared for disaster, despite the fact that it took more than 7 hours to reach some countries! And in 7 hours it was possible to have time to evacuate almost the whole country. Surprisingly, most of the animals inhabiting the affected countries escaped by climbing the hills in time.
The last large-scale tsunami occurred more than half a century ago, without claiming many lives. Therefore, the world was not particularly familiar with the very concept of "tsunami". People saw how animals flee from the shore, how the water recedes, revealing the seabed.
According to surviving eyewitnesses, a suspicious silence hung in the air: the usual sound of the surf, the cries of birds were not heard. But all these oddities did not make people run away from the ocean, but only spurred curiosity. In whole crowds, onlookers wandered along the crumbling bottom, collecting discarded shells and fish.
Meanwhile, the tsunami was approaching, sweeping at a speed of over 100 km / h. The water was insidious: the crest of the wave was not the usual white color, so people saw the deadly wall only when it came too close.
Houses, hotels and the entire coastline as a whole were not able to withstand the blow of the elements: the walls crumbled like toys. Thus, the tsunami became even more deadly: more than tons of water rushed through the streets. It was a stream of mud, debris, trees and cars. People were simply crushed by rubbish.
The wave has already hit the province of Aceh (Indonesia), killing thousands of people, and on the beaches of Thailand, people were still basking in the sun. There was absolutely no warning system and evacuation scheme.
The exact death toll is unknown. According to official data - more than 225,000 people (for comparison: the population of Veliky Novgorod is 220,000 people). The calculations were complicated by the fact that people disappeared in whole settlements, streets, families. That is, no one could announce their loss, there was no one left at all who would remember them.
The authorities could only rely on the population census. Moreover, Thailand, Somalia and India are home to a colossal number of undocumented residents leading a semi-nomadic lifestyle. A third of all those killed and missing are children, since they were the ones who physically lacked the strength to rescue.
Thousands of people were carried off into the open ocean. December is the peak of the tourist season in Thailand, so the tsunami claimed the lives of citizens of Europe and even Australia.
The situation was aggravated by the fact that the search work had to be carried out as soon as possible, because when the water left, the bodies of people lay everywhere, decomposing in the terrible heat. All this could lead to the development of whole epidemics, so the authorities were in a hurry as best they could.
Those who miraculously survived the first wave made two mistakes. Errors that later turned out to be fatal:
- One part was in a state of shock and was afraid to even move. People remained in their hiding places, not daring to leave. But after the first wave came the second. And then the third, which in turn "finished off" those who did not have time to escape;
- Another part of the people, having waited out the first wave in the shelter, left it, rushing to the coastline. Someone was looking for their family and friends, someone wanted to see if there was anything left of his home, and many rushed to help the victims. The repeated waves found those who managed to escape first.
Amid all this chaos, stories of miraculous salvation were met. Those who didn't seem to have a single chance managed to survive and start living anew:
8 - year old girl Vati was carried into the ocean by a stream of water. Relatives could not find her anywhere and had already resigned themselves to the loss, when one day, after as much as 7 years, an already grown-up child was brought home by an acquaintance. It turned out that somehow Wati was able to survive. She was washed ashore in a nearby town, a few kilometers from her home. From the shock experienced, the baby lost her memory. The only thing that eventually managed to remember is the name of her grandfather. A waiter from a local cafe knew the girl's family and, after comparing two tragic stories, brought Vati to her family;
An American family went diving with their coach. The most powerful wave hit right above their heads, while the group went deeper. All they managed to notice was that the water suddenly became cloudy. The coach gave the command to rise. Once on the surface, the divers found corpses of people and the remains of buildings around them;
One of the eyewitnesses said that he saw how a large elephant helped the children: with his trunk he twisted their small bodies, put them on his back and carried them out of the whirlpool of water. And another victim swears that a real crocodile saved his life that day! Mr. Gunasekeru was literally carried out of the house by the water stream, but he was not taken aback and grabbed the nearest log. But it turned out to be not a log, but a crocodile. The man assures that the reptile did not show even a hint of aggression, allowing him to grab his tail and dragging the person to the very shore.
What happened after the tsunami?
Having mourned all the dead, humanity began to analyze the disaster that had occurred.
Thailand has joined the international tectonic activity tracking system. Special sensors have been created that can capture tremors even at great depths in the middle of the ocean.
Many countries have developed public warning systems and emergency evacuation schemes. A colossal work was also carried out to inform the population: they taught the rules of behavior in case of earthquakes, tsunamis and other disasters. Now detailed instructions can be seen even on the door of any hotel.
The authorities rebuilt new buildings that can withstand the force of the shock wave of the elements: powerful beams, reinforced concrete frames, a special angle of inclination.
Gradually, the cities were able to come to their senses: houses were rebuilt, people returned. Even tourists, over time, were able to reimburse their favorite paradise beaches. Only the families of the victims still remember that fatal day for all mankind.
Such a disaster happened in the Indian Ocean. It is a pity that they could not prevent it or at least minimize losses. That's all for me, subscribe to the blog news to be among the first to receive the latest news. Share the article with your friends on social networks, I'm sure it will be interesting for them to read. Until next time, bye, bye.
In 2004, one of the three most devastating earthquakes in its history of observing this phenomenon occurred. The magnitude of the earthquake is 9.3 points. It happened on New Year's Eve, on December 26, at about one in the morning in the Indian Ocean, near the island of Shimolue.
The only more powerful earthquake in history happened only once - in 1960 in Chile. It had a magnitude of 9.5 points. But even this disaster was not as devastating as the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.
Earthquake prevalence
According to rough estimates, the disaster claimed the lives of 300 thousand people. There could probably be many more, but the exact number of victims is impossible to calculate. Many could have simply been washed into the ocean, so no bodies were found. The population of 18 countries was affected, including Sri Lanka, Thailand, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Seychelles, South Africa, Kenya, etc.
The echoes of the earthquake reached the distant shores of Australia. The waves traveled colossal distances to deal damage even on the other side of the world. The destruction took place at a distance of 6.9 thousand km from the epicenter of the disaster. The colossal magnitude of the Earth's underwater shifts led to the formation of monstrous waves that rose to a height of 15 meters or more. They washed away all life on the nearby islands and rolled in a deadly storm to the distant continents.
Natural disaster power
The hypocenter - the point where the lithospheric shift itself occurs - is fixed at a place with geographic coordinates of 3 ° 19 ′ s. lat., 95 ° 51.24 ′ E e. It is located in the infamous "Pacific Ring of Fire". This unfavorable territory accounts for 80% of all earthquakes that generally occur in the world. The depth where the earthquake took place is 30 km from the surface of the world ocean.
Even such a column of water could not damp the power of the tremors. The tsunami waves that they raised in the ocean had a force of 5 megatons in TNT equivalent. This power can only be compared with the doubled force of all the explosions of the Second World War, together with the atomic bombs dropped on Japan. Waves on the nearby islands covered up to 4 km of land, burying entire cities under them and then washing them into the ocean. Nothing more monstrous has happened, at least for several centuries.
What happened to the lithosphere
In the hypocenter of the disaster, sharp and very long tectonic plate shifts occurred. Two plates have moved: Indian and Eurasian. The rock rose sharply upward. A giant rift with a length of 1200-1600 km was formed. The seabed rose several meters in this place. This triggered the formation of a colossal tsunami.
Nature warnings
The described movement of the earth's crust occurred in 2 stages. The interval between the tremors was approximately several hours. Despite this, residents of all affected countries were taken by surprise. It is interesting that the animals immediately felt the approach of trouble. Birds and animals left all coastal zones and went deep into the continents. But people did not pay attention to it.
As a result, 235 thousand people died, up to 100 thousand were missing. Material damage is estimated at billions of dollars. According to the UN, the rescue operation and the elimination of damage caused by the earthquake are the most expensive in the history of mankind.
