The epicenter of the 9.0 magnitude quake that led to the tsunami of December 26 2004 was under the Indian Ocean near the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. A violent movement of the Earth's tectonic plates displaced an enormous amount of water, sending powerful shock waves in every direction.
From this epicenter, the water gained incredible heights and collided with the coastline of 11 Indian Ocean countries, killing between 150 000 and 250 000 people. It killed and caused devastation all the way from Thailand to Africa.
Thankfully tsunamis are relatively rare but they have happened throughout history. Scientists have found traces of an asteroid-collision that caused a giant tsunami that swept around the Earth several times, overwhelming everything except the mountains 3.5 billion years ago. This was extremely drastic and eliminated all the life that was on Earth at the time, apart from a few aquatic single celled organisms.
From this epicenter, the water gained incredible heights and collided with the coastline of 11 Indian Ocean countries, killing between 150 000 and 250 000 people. It killed and caused devastation all the way from Thailand to Africa.
Thankfully tsunamis are relatively rare but they have happened throughout history. Scientists have found traces of an asteroid-collision that caused a giant tsunami that swept around the Earth several times, overwhelming everything except the mountains 3.5 billion years ago. This was extremely drastic and eliminated all the life that was on Earth at the time, apart from a few aquatic single celled organisms.