Tsunamis Disaster

[megaprober]

coming soon. i plan to do write up here and on my site as soon as i can grasp the entire situation and put all the facts together. quite honestly i'm shocked in amazement.

[lgreeanz]

i just looking through some website and news stuffs, they are saying that the mentawais , hinakos and nias region were the ground zero for the earthquake.

the island of sumatra moved 100 feet to the south.

so far the reports from the mentawais is that there were some unusual tidal changes around padang harbor but nothing catastrophic.

Nias village looks like it was washed away and there were hundreds of deaths.
I saw some pictures from Nias , but I didn't have it in me to post the link.
the images were way was to hideous .

[maleko]

My thoughts go out to those affected.

but on a lighter side, it was Bush's fault.

[neosponge]

Whipped up an article for my Road Runner surfing column:

The Indonesian Tsunami

Introduction

The Indonesian earthquakes and tsunami on December 26 have been described as a catastrophe of biblical proportions. When all is said and done, the number of dead could surpass 100,000. As surfers and fellow humans, it is important that we all understand what happened.

What is a tsunami?

Per the NOAA tsunami web page, tsunami are a series of very long waves generated by any rapid, large-scale disturbance of the sea. Most are generated by sea floor displacements from large undersea earthquakes. Tsunami can cause great destruction and loss of life within minutes on shores near their source, and some tsunami can cause destruction within hours across an entire ocean basin.

In the open ocean, tsunami are barely perceptible, traveling upwards of 500 mph (think jet airliner speed) with swell height of maybe only a few feet. However, once it reaches shallow water, it slows down, rears up, and wreaks havoc.

The Indonesian earthquake/tsunami: cause and effect

The earth's surface is made up of tectonic plates that slowly move (typically in the order of centimeters per year). When the plates "interact," they cause seismic activities (earthquakes). (For more info, read "This Dynamic Earth: the Story of Plate Tectonics [link to http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/text/dynamic.html].)

In Indonesia last month, the India Plate subducted under the Burma Plate. Given the information so far, it seems that 1200 km of the plate boundary slipped, causing an uplifting of a large area of the sea floor by several meters [link to http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/bulletin/neic_slav_ts.html]. The earthquakes and accompanying seafloor movements generated the powerful, long period tsunami.

How powerful was the earthquake/tsunami?

I've read that the plate shift actually moved the island of Sumatra 100 feet to the southwest. Entire islands were permanently lifted several feet up. The earthquake created a measurable shift in the earth's rotation. The effects were even registered in Hawaii where there was a tidal shift at Hilo of just over two inches [link to http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/wmsg].

With respect to the tsunami, reports vary considerably, but swell/wave heights as high as 40 feet was observed. The tsunami devastation stretched across the Indian Ocean from Thailand all the way to Africa. The tsunami actually completely washed over many islands in the Maldives and elsewhere.

Is a tsunami surfable?

No, they are NOT surfable. Although it can curl and break, tsunami typically manifests itself as a huge surge of water, like a rapidly rising tide. It is also usually filled with debris.

Can it happen in Hawaii?

In a sense it already has. The Pacific's Ring of Fire actually has the most seismic activity in the world. Hilo has been especially hard hit [link to http://www.drgeorgepc.com/TsunamiCatalogHawaii.html], most notably in 1946 and 1960.

Because of this, NOAA has established the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Ewa Beach [link to http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/] which provides early warning alerts worldwide (the PTWC did provide alerts for the Indonesian tsunami, but the countries could not or did not pass on the warnings to the masses. (Part of the reason why the Indonesian tsunami was so deadly was because there has never been a documented tsunami in the Indian Ocean in recorded history.)

Jose of USC

I recently talked with fellow surfer Jose Borrero [link to http://www.hisurfadvisory.com/sesh/new4/sesh448.htm], a research professor at the USC Tsunami Research Group [link to http://www.usc.edu/dept/tsunamis/], the nation's preeminent tsunami research center. Jose thought the Papua New Guinea tsunami of 1998 would be the worst he would see in his lifetime. Sadly, it was not.

"Nothing this big (the Indonesian tsunami) has happened with so many people watching," said Borrero. "The Alaskan tsunami of 1964 was the last big one, but the technology just wasn't there at the time. This time, we will have lots of information to study."

Jose is going on site in a month or so, probably to Sri Lanka and/or India. The USC research team will be a part of a multinational group to analyze the tsunami. The research teams traditionally delay their trip so as not to be a burden to rescue efforts. Said Borrero, "A lot will be learned, and hopefully disasters can be minimized in the future."

The surfing community

Indonesia is an exceptional surfing region that many people say surpasses Hawaii for consistency and quality (not necessarily size). Many local surfers have friends and family there and are concerned for their well-being. At this time, it looks like areas like Bali and the Mentawais were not severely impacted. Other places weren't so lucky. Only time will tell the full extent and ramifications of the catastrophe.

How to help

The best way to provide support is through the Red Cross [link to http://www.redcross.org/]. Another organization that you might consider supporting is Surf Aid International [link to http://www.surfaidinternational.org/index.html], whose charter is to improve the health of the people of the Mentawais.

Summary

This sort of event really puts things into perspective on many levels. Humans pale in comparison to the awesome power of Mother Nature. It goes without saying that waves can be absolutely devastating. In the scheme of things, surfing is a "trivial pursuit"--we are fortunate to lead lives that allow us to participate in such pleasures. Our thoughts and prayers are with those touched by this catastrophe.

[neosponge]

[o]

i heard the last major one to hit oahu killed most people as they walked out on the reef. like any other wave, the water receedes before coming in, but on a much larger scale... it's really your last warning to run to higher ground. those pics show it there where the water as receeded and then all surges in. people in oahu were killed when they walked out inquisitive about the newly exposed reef. then the wave hit. those pictures are terrifying.

[Puerto_Rico_Surfer]

I must say after viewing more images and video I have to revise my decision to if your caught in a tsunami Run Your Ass off to the highest ground possible. And if your caught in the water you can basically kiss your ass good bye.

The only reason I got that impression of it possibly looking surfable was because of the video of the beach of Phuket, Thailand but even though there was loss of life there it was not even nearly as close to the devastation other areas received even though it was closer to the epicenter than say Sri Lanka. I believe that alot of the waves surge and the way waves hit are affected by the bottoms topography and the fact that the tidal wave that hit Thailand had to pass though the Nicobar Islands where there is also a ridge under water after that the wave enters the sea between Indo and Thailand which is shallow, all these factors probably diminishing the power somewhat and that main force seemed to radiate to the west and not east from the epicenter. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:2004_Indonesia_Tsunami.gif
The destruction in Banda Aceh province seems to me due to the fact it was so close to the epicenter the wave lost no power. And also that the coastal area remains nearly at sea level for miles inland. Also getting back to the tsunami that hit Phuket it had to also wrap around a headland which probably lowered the power http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/thailand.jpg
all said it still devastated the region.

I am looking forward to Mega's take on the whole disaster. From purely an academic stand point the tsunami and the destruction it caused is fascinating and will be studied for decades, especially as was said earlier that amount of data available now is enormous.

[Puerto_Rico_Surfer]

Something I found on a news service, this is in Sri lanka.

In the coastal town of Matara, locals said some 30 to 40 Western tourists were surfing when the tsunami hit, and all are missing and presumed dead.

[Puerto_Rico_Surfer]

I wanted to point out that even Puerto Rico and the East Coast of the Americas are in danger of a mega tsunami.

http://www.underreported.com/modules.ph ... e&sid=1124

[goro]

Whipped up an article for my Road Runner surfing column:

The Indonesian Tsunami

(Part of the reason why the Indonesian tsunami was so deadly was because there has never been a documented tsunami in the Indian Ocean in recorded history.)

i think there have been documented tsunamis in the indian ocean...
the eruption and basically disintegration of krakatoa created tsunamis which killed tens of thousands of people...i have a book with some of the documented notes, etc. and the following link talks about some of the results of this explosion:
http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/fre ... on879.html

i also dunno about the impact of the distance from the epicenter and the sea floor characteristics being a reliable estimate of the size of the tidal wave...i was reading in the jakarta post the other day that when the military helicopters arrived at nias and the other surrounding barrier islands off of sumatra, they were pleasantly suprised to find the destruction and casaulties way, way lower than estimated...the report says that these islands which are the closest to the epicenter only saw a tidal wave of less than 3m...some said 1m if i recall correctly...they were expecting everything to be wiped out completely...but communications and sources are very difficult in this area and often not totally reliable...

[neosponge]

Thanks Goro. Will see if I can revise the story a bit.

[slap a dap]

...........great job neil for the research. Those pics made my heart sink into my stomach!!!

.........I finally got word from my friend that was staying on the east coast of sri lanka that he has survived. He didn't say much but it sounds like a living hell their.

[acrorrusd]

Here is an amazing satalite photo I found online of the Tsunami.
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[LGREANZ]

thats white wash ?

looks like cloud cover to me. but I could be wrong.

what islands are they ?

[megaprober]

the last few days in the world of earth science have been exciting to say the least. i have personally experienced both exhileration and horror both of which were mixed with facination. the video footage keeps coming in and although i wait in anticipation i also am soberly aware that the incredible natural phenomena that just happened came at the expence of many lives. to be honest i as a geologist find that anytime the earth wants to deliver i get excited and for once in my life i get focused and become of a pure frame of mind. i always wanted to see what can really happen when the earth flexes its muscle, but sadly to say i didn't want it at the expence of what will probably be close to 150,000 lives.

having said that there are so many thoughts that ran amuck in my brain and the best way to sum it up is "what has happened is so huge it crosses the limit to what a human brain can comprehend". here's a couple facts to chew on.

the earth's rotation was affected by the quake. how? imagine spinning a top then flick the top and see what happens. the top wobbles and depending on the direction of the strike of the flick the flick will either be in favor of the rotation, thus quickening the spin or in retrograde to it, thus slowing it down. the quake sped up the rotation by a few fractions of second and now are days are slightly shorter. not much to affect one day, but believe me it does adds up.

physically what happened?
true the indian ocean plate did slip one step further beneath the burma plate. what is going on is that the indonesian archapelico is a juvenile mountain range practically in its infancy. the entire area will eventually become the next section of the himalayas or look eventually like the western coast of south america, a deep trench with a 20,000ft mountain range jutting up out of the ocean surface. so from present day for the next at leat 100 million years the whole indonesian area is going to continue to lift out of the water only to finally slam into southeast asia. to get an idea of what transpired imagine the size of the big island.

now think about the big island from bottom of the ocean to the highest point. now think about how much that weighs. now add 30 depth miles of earth crust to the that huge chunk of earth. now extend that visible land mass to kauai with both below water land mass and 30 miles of oceanic crust. finally blow that up to a size just slightly smaller than the state of california. that was the size of the plate that was lifted up the indian ocean plate is 10 times the size of the that.

if anybody out there can comprehend the amount of stress occuring between these two massive peices of earth building up over god knows how many thousands of years only to finally go POP!!! in only a few seconds. the end result a new landscape. some islands on the downside of the thrust fault are now below water and the western part of sumatra (upside) has gained as much as 36ft i'm told in some places.

as i said there's so much to write about this and so much to research. i definitely will have more stuff to post so stay tuned. i'm thinking the next subject will be the affected surf spots because some may be gone. especially in the mentawais.