How Big Was The Recent Sumatra Quake?
The recent Sumatra earthquake displaced a section of the ocean floor over 700 miles long and 10 miles wide, nearly 100 feet upward. An equal amount of ocean water on the order of 135 cubic miles was moved violently upward and outward. This massive plunger type motion created huge tsunami waves that brought devastation to coastlines 4,000 miles away. On a map of the world it is hard to gain a sense of how big this thing was. So, on a map of the United States AccuWeather.com has placed the entire length of the fault segment that shifted. As you can clearly see, it is huge covering a distance from Chicago all the way to Denver or from New York City all the way to St Louis.
A devastating earthquake occurred in the Indian Ocean just off the coast of Sumatra Saturday night. The quake, rated at a magnitude 9.0, is the most powerful recorded worldwide since 1964. Taking place at a depth of 6.2 miles below the surface of the ocean, the quake caused a severe deformation in the seafloor which displaced 135 cubic miles of water upward and outward much like what a massive plunger would do. This created massive waves called tsunamis that moved outward in all directions bringing devastation and even death to coastlines up to 4,000 miles away.
