NOAA visual of Tsunami
 

it's a very short computer model of the path of destruction. But it shows where the quake started and where the tsunami traveled.

You can see Sri Lanka got really nailed.


http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/video/t...esia12-2004.qt

The power of nature is truly incredible. I can't even imagine what it would be like to have been caught in that.

Whooooah...that's nasty.

The video footage that they've been running of the real deal on the various news networks is just horrendous. I agree with you onodrim I couldn't imagine what it would have been like to be in the middle of this. Eye witeness accounts say that they had fractions of seconds to react and try and escape. Very sad...:(

Here's another video that shows how far across the Indian Ocean this thing went... it's being blamed for deaths in Somalia, Tanzania and Kenya. This one's over 5MB, be warned.

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/video/t...onesia2004.mov

-Mikey

Wow, that wave was flying. It took only 2 hours to reach India. Based on that time and watching the video it took about 6-7 hours to get to Africa. :eek:

Those little videos really help you get an idea of what happened.

6 hours to Somalia - 3,000 miles!!!! :eek:

You're telling me the wave went 500 MPH? Somehow I find that hard to believe. I mean, it's feasible the pressure wave traveled that fast underwater, but I still have trouble believing it.

Believe it or not, it happened. There are several references out there, at NOAA and other places, that cite Tsunamis as being capable of travelling 500 MPH.

-Mikey

I've read that the tsunami that ensued after Krakatoa actually went around the world (detected in the English Channel).

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When the ocean water suddenly sucks out to see, don't walk out into the shallows to pick up the fish ... just run away... as fast as your legs can take you. Climb something tall and sturdy.... pray...

I can't even begin to image the terror those people must have felt.

After reading about episodic waves in high school. I completely understand how dangerous Tsunami and the unrelated Tidal Waves are.

It's a pity from what it seems that alarm systems didn't activate. Hindsight being 20/20 it looks like the best savior for those people were their governments, and they may of failed.

I hope the path to recovery for those affected be a swift and painless one.

They do. As I understand it, water particles, molecules, what have you, don't move that fast, but the wave form itself does.

I'm told they can be imperceptible in open water. It's when they reach the shallows and crest that they get impressive.

I thought they were the same. What's the difference?

The differences being the cause of the wave. Tidal being created by the moon, while tsunami mostly from siesmic activity

Wow...that's really interesting to see how far it went and how strong it still was at that point. Shame that what leads to understanding about catastrophic events are the events themselves...

that's awsome, thanks man, I was wondering what it really looked like