IASPEI - Picture Gallery

IUGG XXIV General Assembly July 2-13, 2007 Perugia, Italy
(S) - IASPEI - International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth's
Interior
JSS002 Oral Presentation 1748
The 26 December 2004 Sumatra Tsunami in the Atlantic Ocean:
Observations and Analysis
Dr. Alexander Rabinovich
Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia Tsunami Laboratory, Institute of Oceanology
IASPEI
Philip Woodworth, Richard Thomson
The Mw = 9.3 megathrust earthquake of December 26, 2004 off the west coast of Sumatra in the
Indian Ocean generated a widespread catastrophic tsunami. This was the first global tsunami to occur
during the "instrumental era", and it was accurately recorded by a large number of tide gauges
throughout the World Ocean, including many tide gauges in the Atlantic Ocean, at sites located ten to
twenty five thousand kilometers from the source area. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is shown to have served
as a wave-guide for the 2004 event, efficiently transmitting tsunami energy from the source area to farfield
regions of the Atlantic coasts of South and North America. Statistical characteristics (wave height,
period, and arrival time) and spectral properties of the tsunami waves observed in the Atlantic are
examined and summarized. This is the second part of a three-part study of the Working Group on Tide
Gauge Measurements of the 2004 Sumatra Tsunami, IUGG Tsunami Commission. This first part focused
on the Indian Ocean (PAGEOPH, 2007) while the third part will focus on the Pacific Ocean.
Keywords: 2004, sumatra, atlantic