1. INDIAN OCEAN TSUNAMI Version with MOVIES on NMWW DVD
December 26, 2004
Banda Aceh
Krabit, Indonesia

3. TSUNAMI WAVES
Caused by Earthquakes under Ocean, or other events – landslides, volcanic eruptions, asteroid impacts, etc.
In Deep Ocean the Tsunami Wave is
only about 3 feet high but 100 miles wide
and moving at speed of a jet airplane.

5. Alfred Wegner observed that South America and Africa continents fit like a gig saw puzzle
Proposed Continental Drift of Plates (Plate Tectonics) and that 200 million
Years ago a super continent of Pangaea existed.

7. SEA FLOOR SPREADING
Occurs along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge pushing the African and European Plates away from the North and South American Plates at about 1 inch/year
This then pushes the Pacific Ocean floor under the Plates on the opposite side of America Plates and Euroasian and Africa Plates

9. Earthquakes result from Sea Floor Spreading along the
Mid-Atlantic Ridge that pushes the Continents over the
Pacific Ocean Floor.

11. Earthquakes since 1990

12. Mag 9, 0.58 GMT, 10 km Deep, 250 km SSW of Banda Ache, Indonesia, ~1 m high Tsunami, min period, ~350 km wavelength, 200 m/sec

14. FACTS Model – PMEL - Titov

15. Depth Gauge Record of Mercator anchored 1 mile from coast of Phuket, Thailand. Time in hours, Depth in Meters.
Reflected
Off Coast
-2.7, +3.9, -0.5, +1.7, -0.6, +4.9 meters in 41 minutes

16. Jason 1 Altimetry Satellite Tracks
TSUNAMI

17. 30 Minute Period, 350 km Wave Length, 200 m/s or 750 km/hr having traveled 1500 km in 2 hours since earthquake – 1 meter max wave height.
TSUNAMI

18. Banda Aceh City, Sumarta Digital Globe Satellite Photos
Before
After

19. Damage map of Banda Aceh showing the impact of tsunamis wave fronts from two directions. The numerals indicate the tsunami elevation in meters near the beach (white) and flow depth inland (black). (Damage map source: UNOSAT, Tsunami data: Borrero et al. 2006, Jaffe et al., 2006, Matsutomi et al., 2006).

27. Tug Boat and Barge

28. Cement Plant and Survivor

30. ___
15 meters
Men holding 5 meter staff
___

32. Phuket, Thailand

35. Phi Phi, Thailand
Before Tsunami Initial Withdrawal

39. Phi Phi After Tsunami

40. Phi Phi After Tsunami

41. Phi Phi Don Island – Pictures taken from Aragon Yacht ¾ mile from land of other Yachts and Boats
Withdrawal – Rocks normally underwater
First Wave Run-up – 3 minutes later

42. 4 minutes later 5 minutes later

43. Trinkat, Nicobar-Andaman Islands

44. Khao Lak, Thailand – Pictures taken by Canadians – John and Jackie Knill – before they died
Withdrawal

50. South India After Tsunami

51. Digital Globe Satellite Photos
Kalutara, Sri Lanka
Before
Recession
Flooding

52. Sri Lanka After Tsunami

53. Sri Lanka After Tsunami

54. Sri Lanka After Tsunami

55. Train traveling from Colombo to Galle hit by >30 ft high Tsunami at Telwatta about 15 miles from Galle.

56. Telwatta, Sri Lanka Train

57. Over 800 were Killed- Train 200 yards from shore
Over 800 were Killed- Train 200 yards from shore. People from town climbed on top of train after first wave then killed by second wave.

58. Sri Lanka 10 meter Regions in Red

59. MALDIVES Islands – B. Keating Study
Maldive Islands

60. Location Map
From Coleman (2000)

61. Metal Roofing Cut People
Maldives After Tsunami
Metal Roofing Cut People

62. Walls carried by flood injured people
Maldives After Tsunami
Walls carried by flood injured people

63. Maldives After Tsunami
Water Catchment Tank

65. Krabit, Phuket, Indonesia – THEY ALL SURVIVED!

66. PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER Ewa Beach, Hawaii
US Department of Commerce / National Weather Service

67. WC/ATWC - Palmer, Alaska

68. WC/ATWC

69. Earthquake Data Processing
WC/ATWC EarlyBird Seismic Processing System
Developed for Fast evaluation of Big quakes
Graphical interaction to refine automatic results
Redundant backup operates concurrently (communications and hardware).

70. Sea Level Data Display and Analysis
Data acquired at WC/ATWC from NOS, PTWC, and other centers’ sites
200+ tide gage signals
6 DART stations
Data displayed with predicted tide and residuals
Data real-time, triggered, or satellite delayed (hourly).

73. Far-Field Prediction Approach
Determine likely fault parameters for large quakes in main tsunami generating zones of the Pacific
Model quakes of different magnitudes for each zone (> 200 total models)
Save maximum amplitudes at tide gages, DARTs, and other places of interest (100+ saved/model)

74. TYPES OF TSUNAMI MESSAGES
INFORMATION BULLETIN: Large earthquake but no tsunami threat (6.5 <= Mw < 7.5)
Watch/Warning: Large, Shallow, under water, Earthquake (Mw >= 7.5)
WATCH: First wave is 3-6 hours away
WARNING: First wave is < 3 hours away
Pacific-Warning: Confirmed destructive waves moving across the Pacific

75. Sumatra Earthquake Mw = 9.3 Rupture Length ~ 1200km
Source Duration ~ 600s
Rupture propagated South
To North
=> Generated Basin wide
Destructive tsunami that
killed > 300,000 people

76. Sumatra Earthquake PTWC TIMELINE (GMT) 00:59 Sumatra EQ Starts
01:07 Watchstanders paged
by digital alarm
01:09 PTWC has location
01:09 Sumatra EQ Stops
01:14 PTWC issues TIB
with Mw=8.0
02:04 TIB issued with
Revised magnitude 8.5
No Tide Gauges in Region
05:00 Wire reports of deaths
In Thailand and Sri Lanka

77. Travel Time Back Track Wave Tracing Back to Source SLIP and RAKE ModelPB P S
Travel Time Back Track
Wave Tracing Back to Source
SLIP
and
RAKE
Model
Regional and Tele-Surface
Waves.
Mw = 9.1
Where was the
Missing Moment
Released?

78. 4hr After having learned that there was a destructive
tsunami, PTWC set about
reaching Nations ahead of
the wave.

79. March 28, 2005
Mw=8.2 Upgraded
To 8.5 then to 8.7!!
No reports of Tsunami
Damage.
One Degree South of
Where Dec 26 event
Started.
Aftershock?
Faulting continuing
Southwards?

80. Conclusions
The Tsunami caused by the Sumatra EQ killed >300,000 people because there was no Warning System.
Source region for Sumatra Tsunami extends from Banda Aceh through the Nicobar Islands.
We need a method for estimating size of great earthquakes within a time frame useful to the Tsunami Warning System.

81. Tsunami Warnings
If you are at the beach and feel an earthquake – GO TO HIGH GROUND (>100 feet above MSL)
If the water level drops below low tide level – GO TO HIGH GROUND
If you hear a siren near the beach – GO TO HIGH GROUND
If in or near multi-storied concrete building – GO UP IN BUILDING ABOVE THIRD FLOOR