Tsunamis Flashcards
Definition
Tsunamis are tidal waves which are trigger by an underwater earthquake. The rate of travel in tsunamis is between 400-600 miles per hour. The primary effect of an earthquake under the ocean is the shifting of the oceanic crust, and the secondary effect is the displacement of water above.
Banda Aceh
On the 26th December 2004 a tsunami occurred in south East Asia. The earthquake measured a 9.0 on the Richter scale and occurred off the northern tip of Sumatra, in Banda Aceh. It spread across the Indian ocean, hitting the coastal areas of Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia etc. The death toll is believed to be 220,000, with 650,000 injured and 2 million made homeless. After this tsunami occurred, authorities said there should be an early warning system around the Indian Ocean so people could be warned of any seismic activity in the future and could be evacuated from coastal areas. The earth quake occurred at the point where the Indian plate descends beneath the Burmese plate, called the Sundra trench. Approximately 1500 settlements were completely wiped out, especially in the Banda Aceh region. The emergency services could not cope with the scale of the disaster, and even help from other MDCs was not enough. Many injured people were left without medication for days, and sometimes because life threatening with infections like gangrene moving in. bodies were put into mass graves, mostly unidentified.
