BEST OF (#53 of 507) TSUNAMI! : WAVES OF DEATH: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE DEVASTATING 2004 AND 2011 TSUNAMIS

1001 Heroes, Legends, Histories & Mysteries Podcast

Jon Hagadorn

Society & Culture, History

4.4 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 16 February 2025

⏱️ 62 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

TSUNAMI WAVES OF DEATH: Deep below the surface of the Indian Ocean, near the island of Sumatra, two portions of the Earth's crust which had been pushing against each other for the past milennia, one plate, actually the India Plate, gave way along a 1,000 mile faultline, creating a huge fissure in the sea floor as it subducted beneath the pressing Burma Plate, suddenly displacing trillions of tons of water, and causing powerful shock waves in every direction, waves that would introduce untold death and destruction to 14 countries within the coming minutes and hours, causing between 230,000 and 280,000 deaths and unimaginable destruction of property. It was December 26th, 2004. Less than 7 years later, a 8.9 earthquake in Japan set another group of Tsunami waves in motion which caused the loss of 5,000 lives and billions of dollars in losses, despite Japan's awareness of the threat. This episode covers the stories of the 2004 and 2011 Tsunamis, as well as giving us the science of how Tsunamis are created. I

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0:00.0	Good evening. More than 11,000 people are now thought to have been killed in southern Asia after an undersea earthquake sent enormous waves rolling across the Indian Ocean.
0:16.0	The quake measured 8.9 on the Richter scale, the biggest in the world for 40 years.
0:22.6	Waves up to 10 meters high engulfed the coasts of many countries.
0:26.6	The quake's epicenter was off the island of Sumatra in northwestern Indonesia, where more than 4,000 people are thought to have died.
0:34.6	In Sri Lanka, officials say more than 3,000 people have been killed
0:38.9	and more than a million affected. In southern India, 3,000 people mostly fishermen, are reported
0:45.3	dead. At least 300 have been killed in southern Thailand, including some tourists, and
0:51.5	hundreds of people are missing. And waves swamped the low-lying Maldive
0:56.4	islands leaving the capital Mali two-thirds underwater. Gareth Furby reports.
1:02.4	This was Sri Lanka as the seawater flooded in land. Thousands have lost their lives here, and government officials say more than one million people,
1:17.6	around 5% of the island's population have been affected.
1:22.6	The flood water came inland for several hundred meters. Some victims were washed away as friends and relatives screamed.
1:35.3	Sri Lanka's natural disaster management centre says it may be the worst disaster they've experienced.
1:43.3	A wave, another tsunami wave, moving toward the Japanese coast.
1:49.0	It was so strong that I knew there was going to be tsunami.
1:55.0	That's why I told my uncle, we have to be prepared within five minutes, the worst case, tsunami. So let's run.
2:07.6	When I saw tsunami actually, I'm overwhelming the river bank, it was completely
2:16.6	unanticipated.
2:18.3	You know, there was some information telling us
2:22.3	three meter high or six meter high.
2:25.3	But in fact, it turned out to be 16 meters high.
2:29.3	So 10 meters more, you know.
	...

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