Boxing Day tsunami

Question 1

What countries were affected?

Answer 1

Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, The Maldives, Kenya.

Question 2

Date of Tsunami?

Answer 2

26th December 2004

Question 3

What country was hit first?

Answer 3

Indonesia, Banda Aceh

Question 4

What are the four processes in creating a tsunami?

Answer 4

Subduction, formation of an earth quake, formation of tsunamis and wave formation.

Question 5

Which two tectonic plates causes the tsunami?

Answer 5

The Indo-Australian plate and the Burma plate.

Question 6

How many died in total?

Answer 6

Over 225,000

Question 7

Explain subduction.

Answer 7

Subduction is the action of two tectonic plates colliding and the less dense plate, submerges underneath the denser one.

Question 8

What are the two types of tectonic plates and which is denser?

Answer 8

Continental and oceanic, oceanic plates are denser and will subduct underneath continental plates.

Question 9

How high were the waves when they reached land?

Answer 9

Over 9 meters.

Question 10

How many died in the Maldives?

Answer 10

100

Question 11

How many died in Indonesia?

Answer 11

160,000

Question 12

How many dead in Sri Lanka?

Answer 12

35,000

Question 13

How much of Indonesia was flooded?

Answer 13

70%

Question 14

What are some natural effects?

Answer 14

Coral reefs destroyed, saltation, vegetation destroyed, flooding.

Question 15

What are some cultural effects?

Answer 15

Lives lost, buildings flattened, money lost, damaged income, loss of jobs, millions spent to rebuild.

Question 16

Explain formation of earthquakes.

Answer 16

An earthquake is caused by a sudden slip on a fault. The tectonic plates are always slowly moving, but they get stuck at their edges due to friction. When the stress on the edge overcomes the friction, there is an earthquake that releases energy in waves that travel through the earth’s crust.

Question 17

Explain formation of tsunamis.

Answer 17

A tsunami is a series of extremely long waves caused by a large and sudden displacement of the ocean, usually the result of an earthquake below or near the ocean floor. This force creates waves that radiate outward in all directions away from the epicentre.

Question 18

Explain wave formation.

Answer 18

When the wind begins to blow, friction produces small ripples on the water surface, called capillary waves. The water molecules set in motion by wind begin to travel in small circles that we see at the surface as waves.

Question 19

Where was the epicentre?

Answer 19

Approximately 160 km west of northern Sumatra.

Question 20

How high were the waves when they first formed?

Answer 20

20cm

Question 21

How fast did the small waves move?

Answer 21

900km per hour.

Question 22

What was the magnitude of the earthquake?

Answer 22

9.1