Largest earthquake in modern times breaks 625 miles of Andaman fault line, creates 45 feet Tsunami and kills more than 25000 in South Asia
Balaji Reddy, Special Correspondent
December 27, 2004

It is the largest earthquake known to modern civilization with a reading of close to 9.2 in Richter scale. It started with a precursor near the coastline of Sumatra, a series of shocks happened one after the other and before all was done, 625 miles (1000 Kilometers) of Andaman thrust or fault line broke. The result was devastation never seen before in modern times. 45 feet tall Tsunamis (coastal tidal waves) originating from the epicenter of the earthquakes, crushed onto the shores of Sri Lanka, India, Maldives, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and other countries in the region.

According to reports we are receiving, this is not a simple earthquake, it is the mega quake that happens once every thousand years. No one knows how much after shock will devastate the area. Never ever in the known human history in modern times, an earthquake happened that broke 1000 miles of fault line.

More than 25,000 people are dead or missing. The death toll eventually can rise to 100,000. The damage to economy and crops can be staggering. 

No one is getting any information from Andaman Nicobar Islands, which is affected the most. Indian Air Force is flying sorties to help the affected in the region.

In addition, there is no information from many of the ships in the region at the time.

The survey now says the quake centered off the west coast of northern Sumatra, has been upgraded to a 9.2 magnitude, making it the one of the largest earthquake since 1899 and may be the largest since 1600.
It was the largest quake in the world since 1964, Reuters reports Julie Martinez, geophysicist for the U.S. Geological Survey's Earthquake Hazards Program in Golden, Colorado, as saying. 

That year, an earthquake struck Alaska's Prince William Sound.

Sunday's quake, first struck at 7:59 a.m (0059 GMT) off the coast of Aceh province on the northern Indonesian island of Sumatra and appeared to swing north into the Andaman islands in the Indian Ocean. It triggered a tsunami that killed hundreds in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia and India.
"About 1,000 kilometers of the Andaman thrust (or faultline) broke, which is a huge area," Martinez said. "This doesn't occur that often. To have a break along that long of a faultline, that is more unusual."

As the Earth moves and its plates hit each other, the Earth breaks in one area and pressure is built up in a different area, Martinez said. When that pressure builds up, another earthquake occurs, she said.

The quakes that follow, or aftershocks, are minor readjustments along the fault after the main shock or quake occurs, Martinez explained.

"Usually, aftershocks are in more or less the same area," she said. "Because of the size of this quake, you will see more quakes in a larger area because the break or the faultline is larger."