Get What Ya' Ask For

Danger zone

Thousands have died after a violent earthquake under the sea near northern Indonesia
sent huge waves crashing into coastal resorts across south and east Asia.
Indonesia is prone to seismic upheaval because of its proximity to the "Ring of Fire", an
area around the Pacific Ocean basin where tectonic plates intersect and volcanoes erupt.

Violent rupture

The quake occurred close to the island of Sumatra.
Two tectonic plates, the Australian and Eurasian plates, meet just off Sumatra's south-
west coast, grinding together and sending periodic seismic tremors through the region.
At 0759 (0059 GMT) a violent rupture occurred on the sea floor along a fault about 1,000km long.

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Deadly wave

All along the rupture the seafloor was shunted vertically by about 10 metres.
This movement displaced hundreds of cubic kilometres of the
overlaying water, generating a massive tsunami, or sea surge.
The wave then fanned out across the Indian Ocean at enormous speed.
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Area affected

The 9 magnitude quake, which was the strongest in the world
for at least 40 years, wreaked havoc across the whole region.
Walls of water, tens of metres high, slammed into coastal resorts thousands of miles apart.
Surging seas and floods were reported as far away as east Africa.

Scale of devastation

Thousands are reported to have been killed, but there has been little news from
the worst-hit areas where all transport and communication links were destroyed.
Hundreds are still thought to be missing from coastal regions and, in Sri Lanka alone,
officials say more than a million people have been forced from their homes.

Day of Reckoning

December 2004