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December 29, 2004
Quake's power = million atomic bombs?
Topics: Southeast Asia Earthquake and Tsunami(Cudos to Tsunamihelp.blogspot)
(AP via CNN.com) -- Scientists describe Sunday's devastating earthquake off the island of Sumatra as a "megathrust" -- a grade reserved for the most powerful shifts in the Earth's crust.
The term doesn't entirely capture the awesome power of the fourth largest earthquake since 1900, or the tsunami catastrophes it spawned for coastal areas around the Indian Ocean.
Despite its awesome power, the quake itself was not much of a surprise, scientists said Monday.
Sumatra is one of the most earthquake-prone places in the world, sitting atop one of the handful of sites where several plates of the planet's crust overlap and grind. Colossal pressures build up over decades, only to release in a snap.
"These subduction zones are where all the world's biggest earthquakes are produced," said geologist Kerry Sieh of the California Institute of Technology. "Sunday was one of the biggest earthquakes in the region in the past 200 years."
How powerful? By some estimates, it was equal to detonating a million atomic bombs.
Sieh and other scientists said it probably jolted the planet's rotation. "It causes the planet to wobble a little bit, but it's not going to turn Earth upside down," Sieh said.
Epicenter: More than 5 miles below ocean Continue Reading....
Posted by Hyscience at December 29, 2004 11:30 PM
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