TSUNAMI ACEH INDONESIA 2004

 

Tsunami, a Japanese word meaning “harbor wave,” is used as the scientific term for a class of abnormal sea waves that can cause catastrophic damage when they hit a coastline. Tsunamis can be generated by an undersea earthquake, an undersea landslide, the eruption of an undersea volcano, or the force of an asteroid crashing into the ocean. The most frequent cause of tsunamis is an undersea earthquake. 

A tsunami can have wavelengths, or widths (the distance between one wave crest to the next), of 100 to 200 km (60 to 120 mi), and may travel hundreds of kilometers across the deep ocean, reaching speeds of about 725 to 800 km/h (about 450 to 500 mph). A tsunami is not one wave but a series of waves. In the deep ocean, the waves may be only about half a meter (a foot or two) high. 

People onboard a ship passing over it would not even notice the tsunami. Upon entering shallow coastal waters, however, the waves may suddenly grow rapidly in height. When the waves reach the shore, they may be 15 m (50 ft) high or more. 

Tsunamis can also take the form of a very fast tide or bore, depending on the shape of the sea floor. Tsunamis have tremendous force because of the great volume of water affected and the speed at which they travel. Just a cubic yard of water, for example, weighs about one ton. Although the tsunami slows to a speed of about 48 km/h (30 mph) as it approaches a coastline, it has a destructive force equal to millions of tons. Tsunamis are capable of obliterating coastal settlements. 

The country, close to the epicenter was Indonesia, or rather, its north-western island of Sumatra, with the province of Aceh, with a distance of only 160 km from the site of the tremor. The wave traveled the first 120 km towards Indonesia in just 10 minutes. It's spread in the deep ocean as an inconspicuous wave crest with a height of a few meters at a speed of around 800 km per hour. Approximately 40 km offshore, the coastal shell began to rise and the wave began to rub more strongly against the ever-rising bottom. This caused its considerable slowdown, but also its hate game. Gradually, a wall of water approximately 30 meters high and 200 km wide was formed as it continued to approach the shore.