Tsunami.orst.edu

On 26th December 2004 off the coast of Northern Sumatra the fourth largest earthquake this century occurred at 00:58 UTC. The quake occurred at 10 km depth, and was measured to 9.0 on the open ended Richter scale. A displacement of the tectonic plates will always generate a wave at the surface of the ocean - a so-called Tsunami. In this case, the tectonic plates are estimated to have been displaced as much as 30 metres - thus, the energy released is equivalent to 10.000 Hiroshima atomic bombs. The location of the earthquake is shown in the image below.