Have you ever seen a tsunami, or actually heard of it? There's one that stroked the whole world mad. This unusually powerful earthquake was the worst one since the last 40 years. Undersea earthquakes are mainly called the god of destruction as tsunamis add a powerful force devastating land.
It happened on 26th December 2004. This calamity measured 8.9 on the Richter scale and raised a series of crashing waves up to 30ft high. These killer waves bordered the Indian Ocean at a speed of a jet plane and ripped through the coastline killing more than an estimated 275,000 people, which included about 187,000 dead and 43,000 missing and this cause about 1 million homeless. The Indian Ocean tsunami journeyed 3000 miles as far as I know, departing with enough force to destroy people and property. This could be recalled the deadliest disasters of modern history as the tsunamis reached far west, ruining part of South Africa as well.
The magnitude of the catastrophe was recorded as 9.0 on the scale at first and went up to about 9.2. At this magnitude, it is the second largest earthquake ever recorded on the seismograph. The epicenter of the earthquake which is where the earthquake started was 160km western coast of Sumatra at a depth of 19 miles. The reason to this was the motion of Earth's crust, tectonic plates, displacing a vast amount of water, sending powerful waves in every direction. One thing you should know is not all earthquakes cause tsunami, it depends on how much the crust moves. Scientists have found out that the power of the earthquake is equivalent to the power of electricity used in U.S for 11 days.
A tsunami is a series of large waves caused by disruption underwater. These waves traveled like ripples after throwing a rock. These waves can travel as fast as 500 miles. As the water approach land, it goes higher and crushes into the shore. It can cause lots of damage.
The tsunami first hit a main tourism beach in Thailand, Kata Noi Beach, and the waters first retreated and then left fishes on the floor. Thailand citizens rarely see this kind of phenomenon and went down the beach to pick up the washed up fishes, but there was doom ahead. The waves of destruction came with speed, swirling the people out to the deep sea, resulting in death and poverty. The waves also spread to India, and South Africa.
There are a lot of aftershocks after the tsunamis, which were reported from Andaman Islands and Nicobar Islands. The biggest aftershock was located off the Sumatran Islands where the death took 300 souls on 25th March 2005. Other aftershocks in nearby countries lasted for 3-4 months.
Now let's return to where the waves hit the beach, homes are demolished, people sank, and torrents of water flushed through the helpless villages. Death toll went to about 20,000 on the first day, and dramatically rose on the second day. Families went there and cried for the loved ones.
Why death did come so sudden on Christmas Day when Thailand is a holiday spot? Was this our fate? Nobody knows. The news soared over the television and panicked the people round the world. Some of these people donated money to help to homeless. The total amount donated was much more than they expected which was of course enough.
This tsunami made me furious and I knew that there would be more devastating disasters.
