How long did 2004 tsunami last

Titov emphasizes that tsunamis look nothing like the giant surfing break-style waves that many of us imagine. An earthquake and tsunami of the magnitude that struck in is so rare that catastrophic tsunamis are all but unknown in the long cultural histories of India and Sri Lanka, explains Jose Borrero, a tsunami researcher with the University of Southern California and director of eCoast , a marine consultancy based in New Zealand.

Both Borrero and Titov took part in U. Geological Survey expeditions in early to measure the full extent of the tsunami that struck Sumatra. It was during these expeditions that scientists confirmed maximum wave heights of more than feet on the northwestern tip of the island.

Borrero remembers coming upon a colossal freighter loaded with bags of cement that had been flipped on its back with its propeller in the air. Titov will never forget the scene of widespread devastation he witnessed on Sumatra even months after the tsunami waters had subsided.

Those killed in received no formal warning of the approaching waves and had almost no chance to get out of the way. Since then, millions of dollars have gone into a vast network of seismic and tsunami information centers, setting up sea and coastal instruments and erecting warning towers.

But doubts linger about how ready countries on the Indian Ocean really are for another giant wave. Some experts say complacency about the maintenance of the system is leaving millions vulnerable and governments still warn of the ever-present risks. The quake ruptured the greatest fault length of any recorded, spanning a distance of an estimated 1,km miles - longer than the US state of California. The length of the rupture meant that the waves reached a wider geographical area - as far afield as Mexico, Chile, and the Arctic.

Computer modelling after the tsunami, estimated that waves had reached a height of almost 20m 65ft in some areas. However, scientists investigating damage in Aceh, Indonesia found subsequent evidence that waves had reached m ft in places. Despite there being several hours between the earthquake and the impact of the tsunami, nearly all the victims were taken completely by surprise.

With no adequate warning systems in place, there was no alert issued to people to seek safety. In the aftermath of the disaster, the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System was formed to detect seismological changes and provide warnings of approaching waves. Acehnese women cry as they pray at mass grave to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Boxing Day tsunami on December 26, in Banda Aceh, Indonesia.

Ruins of a bridge that was hit by the tsunami, seen on December 14, in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Visitors take pictures of the glowing names of tsunami victims at Aceh Tsunami Museum in Banda Aceh on December 26, Survivors of Asia's tsunami and relatives of its victims cried and prayed as they gathered along Indian Ocean shorelines on Friday for memorials to mark the 10th anniversary of a disaster that still leaves an indelible mark on the region.

Personal possessions of tsunami victims are arranged to be photographed outside a police station in Takua Pa, in Phang Nga province, on December 19, Thai police opened a shipping container filled with documents and possessions of victims of the Indian Ocean Tsunami after being asked by Reuters for permission to film its contents. The three meter by 12 meter container was handed over to Thai police in and contains hundreds of plastic police evidence bags - each one holding the precious items found on the body of a victim.

People light candles as survivors, local residents and visitors gather for a ceremony for victims of tsunami in Ban Nam Khem, a southern fishing village destroyed by the wave, on December 26, In Thailand, where 5, people were killed, among them about 2, foreign tourists, commemoration ceremonies will be held in Ban Nam Khem.

Hundreds of lanterns which symbolizes the spirits of victims of the Asian tsunami, are released into the sky during a commemoration service to mark the 10th anniversary of the day this natural disaster happened, on December 26, in Ban Nam Khem, Thailand. Soe, the eight-year-old daughter of a fisherman from Myanmar, rests in a hammock outside her family home in Ban Nam Khem, Thailand, on December 13, Ban Nam Khem, a small fishing village on Thailand's Andaman Sea coast and home to a large migrant workers' community, lost nearly half of its population of 5, in the tsunami.

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