[IMG]                                                                                 

   SEISMIC ALERT: OFF WEST COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA 26 DEC 2004 00:58 UTC MAGNITUDE 9.0

   Devastating tsunamis have swept across the Indian Ocean triggered by a magnitude 9.0
   earthquake. Latest reports indicate that at least 123,000 people have been killed. Affected
   areas include Thailand, Sri Lanka and other coastal areas of the Bay of Bengal, which have all
   reported wide scale damage and deaths. The USGS Earthquake Information Centre gives the
   following parameters for the earthquake location and magnitude.

   DATE : 26 December 2004
   ORIGIN TIME : 00:58 53 s UTC
   LAT/LONG : 3.267° North / 95.821° East
   DEPTH : 10 km
   MAGNITUDE : 9.0
   LOCALITY : 255 km SSE of Banda Aceh, Northern Sumatra

   The earthquake occurred as a result of the convergence of the Indian and Asian tectonic
   plates, with the Indian plate moving approximately northeast at a rate of around 6 cm per year
   at an oblique angle to the Java Trench. As the Indian plate is subducted, this creates a
   thrust zone along the plate boundary. This thrusting motion along the interface between the
   two plates generated the earthquake.

   The aftershock zone extends from Northern Sumatra to the Andaman Islands, some 1000 km to the
   north. This zone delineates the length of mainshock rupture. The width of the rupture zone is
   approximately 100 km and the maximum slip is approximately 20 m. The largest aftershock was
   magnitude 7.1 in the Nicobar Islands at 04:21 UTC on 26 December.

   This is the largest earthquake in the world since a magnitude 9.2 earthquake struck Alaska in
   1964 at Prince William Sound. Similar great earthquakes struck in Chile 1960 (magnitude 9.4)
   and Alaska 1957 (magnitude 9.1).

   The devastating tsunami was a direct consequence of the earthquake, which caused movement of
   the seafloor all along the length of rupture, displacing a huge volume of water and generating
   the tsunami wave. The vertical uplift could have been as much as several metres. In the open
   ocean tsunami waves move very rapidly, 300-500km/hour (about the speed of a jet airliner) and
   are often very small (a few cms). As the wave approaches the coast it slows down and grows in
   height so that it can be many metres high when it strikes the coast.

                                                                          
   Above: The epicentre of the 26           Above: Direction of motion of 
   December 2004 earthquake, marked         the Indian Plate relative to  
   by the star, along with over 70          Eurasia. The length of the    
   associated aftershocks, marked           arrows shows the rate of      
   by red circles, showing the      kkkkk   convergence.                  
   approximate length of the                                              
   rupture zone. The red line shows                                       
   the plate boundary between the                                         
   Indian and Asian plates.                                               

   Click here to see seismograms of the earthquake as recorded on BGS seismometers in the UK.

   Click here to see the historical and instrumental seismicity of Northern Sumatra.

   Tsunami & Earthquake Information Websites:

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   |The 1883 Krakatau Tsunami                |                          |
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   Issued 31 December 2004