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2004 Sumatra Earthquake Assignment
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Added on 2019-09-18
2004 Sumatra Earthquake Assignment
Added on 2019-09-18
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2004 SUMATRA EARTHQUAKE1
Table of Contents1.0 Introduction..........................................................................................................................32.0 Discussion and Analysis......................................................................................................32.1 Geological Aspects...............................................................................................................32.2 Impact on People..................................................................................................................52.3 Reasons for Massive destruction..........................................................................................62.4 Long-term and Global impact of Tsunami...........................................................................72.5 Likeliness of Tsunami and earthquake recurrence...............................................................82.6 Contribution to science........................................................................................................83.0 Conclusion............................................................................................................................9References................................................................................................................................112
1.0 IntroductionWhenever discussion on earthquakes takes place; the ferocious earthquake that had taken theform of a Tsunami and struck the Sumatra on 26th December in 2004 comes into mind. Theearthquake seems to have the power of 23,000 such atom bombs that were dropped onHiroshima and Nagasaki. The current report would shed light on the magnitude, displacementand other geological information of the earthquake followed by the damages it created. Thereport would analyse the global impact of the earthquake and its contribution to the newwarning system. 2.0 Discussion and Analysis2.1 Geological AspectsThe epicentre of the discussed 2004 earthquake had its epicentre mainly in Indonesia. Morrespecifically, it is the off the west coast of Sumatra. The power erupted from the underwaterearthquake was so strong that it led to one of the most devastating Tsunamis of 21st century. Sumatra is within the tectonic subduction zone. Due to this geographical situation, theearthquake occurs when the Indian Ocean tectonic plate went over the Burma Microplate(Dosomething.org, 2017). The convergence of the other create tensions in that area and thisresulted in the movement of the Indian plate to the northeast by 2 inches every year ascompared to Burma's plate. The subduction zone in Sumatra can be characterized bydecoupled faulting as illustrated in the image below:3
Figure 1; Decoupled faulting in Sumatra (Source: Walrus.wr.usgs.gov, 2017)The length of rupture caused by the faulting was so vast (600 miles) that displaced the seafloor 10 yards both in horizontal and vertical way. This has resulted in the movement oftrillion rocks resulting in one of the largest earthquakes and subsequently Tsunami in the 21stCentury. The main centre of 2004 quake was near the trench. This showed that most of the energy ofthe earthquake released in deep-water. The vertical displacement of seafloor due to the inter-plate thrust fault resulted in the earthquake with a magnitude of 9.1. The rupture front ofearthquake proceeded at 2.5 km/s for the rapture from the hypocentre (coast of Aceh) toAndaman Island. The sea floor was risen by several meters that displaced 30 cubickilometers of water and triggered shocking tsunami waves. The earthquake was shallow andthe focal depth ranged from 10 to 30 kilometers. The aftershock distribution provided theevidence of main fault rupture zone of 90 km and extended for 1200 km along the AndamanIsland chain. Near Sumatra, the total fault movement was 15m and the displacementdecreased towards the north. Hundreds of aftershock followed the earthquake(RiskManagement Solutions, 2006). 4
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