The quake felt 'round the world

June 3, 2005 1:12 AM

Worth picking up if you have a library with a subscription. The May 20th issue of Science was devoted to the Sumatra-Andaman Earthquake of December 24 describing the full power of that event, the most powerful recorded since the deployment of modern electronic sensors. The multiple effects claimed include swarm earthquakes in Alaska, a shock wave that moved every place on Earth a centimeter, and resonant waves continuing weeks after the event. It is also the the longest rupture recorded and took over an hour to complete. Animated simulations of aspects of the event are linked through PhysOrg.com.
posted by KirkJobSluder (4 comments total)

Is this The Rupture that everybody's talking about?
posted by dhruva at 1:59 AM on June 3, 2005

interesting post KirkJobSluder.

a sidenote to this seismigraphic data was the agreement by the international monitoring system - the network of seismographic, chemical, and radiological sensors developed to verify compliance with the comprehensive test ban treaty (CTBT) - to release seisomographic data that could be useful for future tsunami detection and early warning.

The earthquake was detected by 78 IMS stations. The information was transmitted in near-real time to those countries that have signed the CTBT and subscribe to the data service of its International Data Center. Among those countries afflicted by the tsunami, Australia, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Oman, South Africa, and Thailand are equipped with data receiving centers and received data from the CTBTO’s International Data Center, which is based in Vienna. However, under current procedures, India, one of the countries most heavily affected by the tsunami, cannot receive IMS data because its government has refused to sign the CTBT.

pity none of the countries that did receive the data had any emergency procedures in place to make effective use of it.
posted by three blind mice at 3:42 AM on June 3, 2005

Direct link to videos of simulations:

Sumatra Event Global Velocity
Sumatra Event Localized Velocity
Sumatra Event Localized Displacement
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 8:36 AM on June 3, 2005

So, it took 2 days for the tsunami to come ashore?
posted by bz at 11:47 AM on June 3, 2005