woda: 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami

Evidence: 100 • authority: 72

On 26 December 2004, at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7), a Mw 9.2–9.3 earthquake struck with its epicenter off the west coast of Aceh, in northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The undersea megathrust earthquake, known in the scientific community as the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, was caused by a rupture along the fault boundary between the Burma plate and the Indian plate, and reached a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX in some areas. The earthquake caused a massive tsunami with waves up to 30 m (100 ft) high, referred to by British and Commonwealth media as the Boxing Day tsunami, after the Boxing Day holiday, or the Asian tsunami, which devastated communities along the surrounding coasts of the Indian…

Evidence: 25 • authority: 88

Runup Measurements of the December 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. We summarize some of the findings and observations from the field surveys conducted in the aftermath of the horrific tsunami of 26 December 2004 and reported in this issue. All these field surveys represent an unprecedented scientific undertaking and involved both local and international scientists working side by side. The 26 December tsunami was the first with transoceanic impact, since comprehensive postevent hydrodynamic surveys began to be conducted in the early 1990s with modern measurement tools. The tsunami impacted at least 16 nations directly: Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, India, Sri Lanka, Oman, Somalia, Keny…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

On 24 June 2026, doublet large strike-slip earthquakes affected northwestern and central Venezuela. The epicenter of the first earthquake was in Veroes Municipality, west of San Felipe, the capital city of Yaracuy. This earthquake, which measured Mw 7.2, occurred at 18:04 VET and was classified as a foreshock. It was followed by a Mw 7.5 mainshock 30 seconds later centered off the coast of La Guaira, west of Catia La Mar. The two earthquakes caused widespread damage across the country, particularly in the capital Caracas and especially the state of La Guaira, where 80% of buildings collapsed. As of August 2026, at least 6,500 fatalities were officially confirmed, about 226,700 were injured…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

On 6 February 2023, two earthquakes devastated southern and central Turkey and northern and western Syria. The first earthquake occurred at 04:17:35 TRT (01:17:35 UTC), measuring moment magnitude (Mw) of 7.8. The epicenter was 37 km (23 mi) west–northwest of Gaziantep. This strike-slip shock achieved a Mercalli intensity of XII (Extreme) around the epicenter and in Antakya. It was followed by a Mw 7.7 earthquake, at 13:24:49 TRT (10:24:49 UTC). This earthquake was centered 95 km (59 mi) north-northeast from the first. There was widespread severe damage and tens of thousands of fatalities. The Mw 7.8 earthquake is the largest to strike Turkey since the 1939 Erzincan earthquake of the same ma…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

The 21st century is the current century in the Anno Domini or Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. It began on 1 January 2001, and will end on 31 December 2100. It is the first century of the 3rd millennium. The rise of a global economy and Third World consumerism marked the beginning of the century, along with increased private enterprise and deepening concern over terrorism after the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001. The NATO intervention in Afghanistan and the United States-led coalition intervention in Iraq in the early 2000s, as well as the overthrow of several regimes during the Arab Spring in the early 2010s, led to mixed outcomes in the Arab world,…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

The following is a summary of significant earthquakes during the 21st century. In terms of fatalities, the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was the most destructive event with 227,898 confirmed fatalities, followed by the 2010 Haiti earthquake with about 160,000 fatalities, the 2008 Sichuan earthquake with 87,587 fatalities, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake suffered by Pakistan with 87,351 fatalities, and the 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes with 62,013 fatalities. The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami became the costliest natural disaster, resulting in approximately $360 billion in property damage at the time, followed by the 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes and the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, which result…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

On 11 March 2011, at 14:46:24 local time (UTC+9), a Mw 9.0–9.1 undersea megathrust earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean, 72 km (45 mi) east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region of Japan. It lasted approximately six minutes and caused a tsunami. It is sometimes known in Japan as the "Great East Japan Earthquake" (東日本大震災, Higashi Nihon Daishinsai), among other names. It is often referred to by its numerical date, 3.11 (read San ten Ichi-ichi in Japanese). The earthquake was the most powerful ever recorded in Japan, and the fourth most powerful recorded in the world since modern seismography began in 1900. It triggered powerful tsunami waves that may have reached heights of up to 4…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

Megathrust earthquakes occur at convergent plate boundaries, where one tectonic plate is forced underneath another. The earthquakes are caused by slip along the thrust fault that forms the contact between the two plates. These interplate earthquakes are the planet's most powerful, with moment magnitudes (Mw) that can exceed 9.0. Since 1900, all earthquakes of magnitude 9.0 or greater have been megathrust earthquakes. The thrust faults responsible for megathrust earthquakes often lie at the bottom of oceanic trenches; in such cases, the earthquakes can abruptly displace the sea floor over a large area. As a result, megathrust earthquakes often generate tsunamis that are considerably more des…

Evidence: — • authority: 92

Discrepancy between countries most mentioned in earthquake-related articles and those most affected by major earthquakes since 1965: A bibliometric analysis.. Background Major earthquakes are commonly visualized using Geographic Information Systems (GIS), with bubble maps scaled according to magnitude, depth, or casualty counts. This study investigates the hypothesis that countries most frequently mentioned in earthquake-related academic articles (CMEAs) correspond to those most impacted by significant seismic events. Methods Data on 27,100 major earthquakes (magnitude ≥ 5.5) from 1965 to March 2025 were obtained from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Earthquake magnitudes were visualized…