Homework Question on The Wave that Shook the World
- Watch this video (pbs nova the wave that shook the world)
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUO0HhMvXnQ
- Write a summary about in two pages.
Homework Answer on The Wave that Shook the World
The video talks about the tsunami of December 26, 2004, that took the lives of at least 250,000 people across more than a dozen nations. The waves also led to science looking for a better comprehension of the waves such as what happened and went wrong for example the lack of warning signs as well as preparations for the future.
December 26, 2004, looked calm and peaceful in the morning, and not even the scientists at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre could predict the forthcoming destruction. The Tsunami begins when a huge earthquake tears the ocean bed at the Sundra Trench in Sumatra creating a magnitude of nine earthquakes. The earthquake is caused by the subduction of the Indo-Australian plate beneath the oceanic plate, building so much strain that the upper plate snaps back into place.
Since the energy travels perpendicular to the strike of the subduction zone, it traveled towards Sri Lanka to the west and Thailand to the east. The earthquake is more powerful than the earthquakes of the preceding five years put together. The PTWC utilizes coastal tide gauges and deep ocean pressure centers to detect and pinpoint earthquakes, but the Indian Ocean lacks such a center, so it took time for the center to be aware.