Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
By Times staff writersQ&A: TSUNAMIS
What do we know so far about what happened?
At 6:58 a.m. on Sunday (7:58 p.m. Saturday, our time) an earthquake occurred in the Indian Ocean, in water about 18 miles deep just 155 miles off the west coast of Sumatra. The earthquake was measured at a magnitude of 9, the fourth largest in a century and the biggest since 1964. Small aftershocks continued through Wednesday.
The initial quake sent towering waves known as tsunamis crashing into coastal areas as far away as Africa. As of Thursday, the death toll from the tsunamis had surpassed 117,000. Indonesia, with around 80,000 dead, was the worst hit, followed by Sri Lanka, India and Thailand. Thousands were still missing in 11 nations across southern Asia and East Africa.
Will the death toll continue to rise?
Probably. Government officials are still counting the dead on Sumatra, where entire villages were wiped out. Officials also have yet to search India's remote Andaman and Nicobar islands, just northwest of Sumatra. With only 400 bodies found so far, the region's administrator estimated Thursday that 10,000 people were missing on those islands alone.
How many Americans are dead? What European nations suffered the worst casualties?
As of Thursday, 14 Americans were identified as dead and U.S. embassy officials continue to search for 2,000 to 3,000 who remain missing. So far 44 Swedes, 33 Germans and 27 British tourists have been confirmed dead. In Thailand alone, where the tsunamis hit a resort popular with Europeans, the government said 473 foreigners of 36 nationalities had already been confirmed dead. Thousands were still missing, including at least 2,500 Swedes, more than 1,000 Germans and 500 each from France and Denmark.
Is this the worst natural disaster of all time?
No. In October 1887 the Yellow River overflowed its banks in China, killing some 900,000 people. It's not even the worst natural disaster in the last 30 years. The 1976 Tangshan earthquake in China killed at least 255,000 people, and maybe more than 500,000. This is, however, the highest death toll from a tsunami. Previously the record was 27,000 people who drowned when a tsunami estimated to be 80 to 110 feet high hit a Japanese village in the middle of a religious festival in 1896. Fishermen at sea didn't notice the deadly wave as it passed beneath their boats. They returned to a shore strewn with corpses.
What aid is being provided?
Aid groups struggled to mount what they described as the largest relief operation the world has seen. Governments around the world have so far donated some $500-million for victims of the disaster, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said. The United States has pledged $35-million, which Secretary of State Colin Powell called "just the beginning."
The United States has already dispatched four C-130 cargo planes to Thailand with food, water and sheltering material, and a large supply of rice and other food and assistance sent by the United States was due to arrive in Indonesia today. American planes have delivered 1,400 body bags to southern islands in Thailand. France, Australia, Greece, Italy, Germany and Sweden were also flying in supplies. However, providing aid to some areas in Sumatra and other disaster areas may be difficult because of mountainous terrain, debris-clogged roads and other obstacles.
Was there another tsunami Thursday?
No. But tens of thousands fled for higher ground in hard-hit Tamil Nadu state in southern India after a false warning from that country's government that another tsunami was approaching. Indian officials said they acted on information from a research group in Oregon.
Could the aftermath of the disaster prove as deadly as the tsunamis?
Yes, because of unsanitary conditions and the spread of diseases. Where water supplies are polluted by bodies and debris, health officials fear an outbreak of cholera and malaria epidemics that could wipe out hundreds of thousands of people. The next few days will be critical in controlling any potential outbreak of waterborne diseases in affected areas, said Dr. David Nabarro, head of crisis operations at the World Health Organization.
Is a tsunami the same thing as a tidal wave?
No. It has nothing to do with tides, which are caused by the gravitational pull of the moon. The word tsunami (pronounced tsoo-nah'-mee) is composed of the Japanese words "tsu" (which means harbor) and "nami" (which means "wave"). Tsunamis can be generated by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions or underwater landslides.
Why haven't the numerous aftershocks from the earthquake triggered additional tsunamis?
Usually, it takes an earthquake with a magnitude exceeding 7.5 to produce a tsunami. None of the aftershocks have reached that magnitude.
What might be some of the long-term environmental effects of the earthquake and tsunamis?
Precious coral reefs and mangrove areas would have been crushed by the huge tsunami waves that have devastated southern Asia, an environmental and economic setback that could take years to reverse. On land, wildlife officials in Sri Lanka expressed surprise that they found no evidence of large-scale animal deaths from the tsunami - indicating that animals may have sensed the wave coming and fled to higher ground. An Associated Press photographer who flew over Sri Lanka's Yala National Park in a helicopter saw abundant wildlife, including elephants, buffalo and deer, and not a single animal corpse, even though the tsunami uprooted trees, toppled cars and destroyed a hotel.
Did the earthquake really affect the Earth's rotation?
Yes. This quake was strong enough to affect the Earth's rotation slightly. It also redistributed Earth's mass, moving the North Pole 1 inch and causing the length of a day to shrink permanently by 3-millionths of a second, according to geophysicist Richard Gross of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Is there a warning system for tsunamis, like we have for hurricanes?
Yes, but only in the Pacific Ocean. Most tsunamis occur in the Pacific because its boundary, known as the Pacific Ring of Fire, experiences frequent earthquakes and hosts explosive volcanoes. After a 1946 tsunami devastated coastal areas in Hawaii, scientists and governmental agencies established a warning system for Hawaii, headquartered at Ewa Beach. A 1960 tsunami that hit both Hawaii and Japan prompted the expansion of the system to cover the entire Pacific.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning System is a network of seismic-monitoring stations and sea-level gauges that detects earthquakes and abnormal changes in sea level. There is no tsunami warning system in place for the Indian Ocean.
The Pacific alert system didn't have the phone numbers nor staff to alert all Indian Ocean coastal countries when its forecasters saw the first signs that tsunamis could be heading their way, a U.S. official said Thursday.
Is it possible to surf a tsunami?
Not really. For one thing, a tsunami does not curl. For another, it tends to be moving too fast - more than 100 mph - as opposed to the typical surfing wave speed of 35 mph. Still, Hawaii officials say 10 years ago a tsunami warning drew more than 400 surfers off Oahu's North Shore. In September, state officials there distributed a DVD through local surf shops warning against even attempting such a stunt.
Compiled by Times staff writer Craig Pittman and staff researcher Caryn Baird using information from Times wires, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Guinness Book of World Records, Slate and Geoscience Australia.