The Honeymoon From Hell. Stefan and Erika Svanstrom had planned a long trip that would start in Singapore in early December and end in China four months later. But things didn't go exactly as planned. They encountered floods, fires, tsunamis and earthquakes along the way.
posted by mannequito on May 6, 2011 - 14 comments

The Day the Sea Came. The stories of six people caught up in last December's tsunami.

Maisara did not look back. She could hear an odd, ever-louder roar. But she never actually saw what she was running from. Only Anis, looking over her mother's left shoulder, beheld the oncoming water. "Mama, what is that?" the little girl kept yelling.

I know, it's the Times, it's long, it's old news, but it's absolutely riveting. Great reporting by Barry Bearak, and for this you need a reporter, not a novelist, because you can't make this stuff up. Part 1 (printer-friendly), Part 2 (printer), Part 3 (printer), Part 4 (printer).
posted by languagehat on Nov 27, 2005 - 25 comments

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 on Jun 3, 2005 - 4 comments

Located west of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, the tropical Island of Nias is renowned for its traditional buildings and archaic stone sculptures. In the 1920's, Danish doctor Agner Møller studied the local culture and language and created a unique collection of art, artefacts and photographs from Nias for the National Museum of Denmark.
posted by breezeway on Apr 18, 2005 - 4 comments

Eyewitness accounts of today's Tsunami.
posted by Mwongozi on Dec 26, 2004 - 6 comments

A massive earthquake - the largest since 1964 - centred off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra has caused tidal waves that are devastating coastal areas around the Indian Ocean including Sri Lanka, India and Indonesia.

Eyewitness report from the south coast of Sri Lanka. The death tolls are still rising, there is the risk of further tsunamis and it is being estimated that 100,000s of people will be left homeless.
posted by i_cola on Dec 26, 2004 - 193 comments