Quake Lifted The Surface Of The Globe

[Tornado]

Quake lifted the surface of the globe

By William J. Broad The New York Times

Friday, January 14, 2005

NEW YORK New studies of the giant earthquake that produced devastating tsunamis in the Indian Ocean show that its shock waves ricocheted around the globe for hours and lifted the earth's surface nearly an inch even half a world away.

Rick Aster, a geologist at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, compiled seismograms to measure the shock waves at increasing distances from the quake's epicenter. The waves were 1,000 times the size of those that seismologists customarily measure, Aster said.

The quake struck on Dec. 26 off the west coast of northern Sumatra, and the shock waves radiated out through the earth's rocky interior, traveling faster than waves do in air or water. The waves were eventually picked up by seismometers, which measure vibrations in the ground. Aster used data gathered by a global network of seismometers run by the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology, or IRIS, a consortium based in Washington that is financed mainly by the National Science Foundation. IRIS has nearly 150 member institutions at universities in the United States and abroad.

The closest readings came from the Cocos Islands, an Australian territory south of Sumatra, and from Sri Lanka, and the farthest from Ecuador. The seismic data show the waves traveling around the earth for six hours.

Aster said that even in Ecuador, the shock wave displaced the Earth's surface more than two centimeters, or nearly an inch, but the movement was too slow to be perceptible to humans. The jolt was much sharper in Pallekele, Sri Lanka, and shook the ground over a range of nearly four inches, he said.

Waves from the quake weakened as they bounced around the globe but were still discernible after making a complete loop. The seismogram from Tristan da Cunha, a group of British islands in the South Atlantic, shows the main wave arriving after a little more than 60 minutes, then two smaller ones that circled the earth in two directions arriving after about 120 minutes and 230 minutes.

[The_Moog]

Given that Australia was once Gondwanaland - and all the continents were once somewhere else - there must have been a helluva lot of earthquakes to re-arrange everything to its current position.

If this quake shifted the continents just a matter of metres, its all quite mind boggling.

[gburns57au]

Given that Australia was once Gondwanaland - and all the continents were once somewhere else - there must have been a helluva lot of earthquakes to re-arrange everything to its current position.

If this quake shifted the continents just a matter of metres, its all quite mind boggling.

Moving Australia away from the rest of the world......

Now thats an act of God......

[britmaveric]

The Pangaea theory is one that states that all present continents were once together and collectively known as a 'supercontinent' called a Pangaea. The word 'Pangaea' means 'all lands' in Greek, accurately defining the way the continents were 200 millions years ago before it split up. These split-up pieces drifted slowly apart and became the way they are today. Even until now, the shape of the Earth surface is still changing, and it will be forever, as long as the mantle underneath the Earth's crust gets heated and convection currents in the magma keeps dragging the plates.

[The_Moog]

Yeah, but 'drifting' isn't the word. They didn't merely meander apart - it was as a result of this kind of geological event - over and over and over again. Its quite humbling.

[britmaveric]

drifting---well I think the implications are seismic activity, but I could be wrong!

[aaaaaa]

Asian Quake Made Water Levels Jump in Florida Wells

35 minutes ago U.S. National - Reuters

By Jane Sutton

MIAMI (Reuters) - The undersea earthquake that triggered last month's deadly tsunami in Asia caused water levels to jump by up to 4 inches (10 cm) in monitoring wells deep under Florida some 8,000 miles away, scientists said on Friday.

Hydrogeologists with the South Florida Water Management District saw the spike about an hour after the 9.0-magnitude quake struck off the coast of northern Sumatra on Dec. 26.

Water levels jumped, then receded quickly in some monitoring wells deep within the Florida aquifer, the underground layer of porous limestone that covers most of the state and provides water for millions of people, businesses and farms.

"Normally, water level changes in the Florida aquifer happen slowly," said John Mulliken, who oversees the district's water supply planners, environmental scientists and hydrogeologists. "The spikes were sudden and very unusual. The speed at which the shock wave moved was absolutely awesome."

Scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey (news - web sites) estimated that seismic waves from the earthquake traveled across the globe at approximately 7,400 mph (11,840 kph), causing small water-filled crevices in the Florida aquifer to expand and contract.

That forced water in and out of the wells, which ranged in depth from 1,350 to 1,900 feet in southern Florida, the scientists said.

The quake did not cause any damage to the aquifer or affect the water supply, the scientists said.

Scientists in other states reported similar readings in deep wells, resulting from the earthquake off Sumatra.

Florida scientists have recorded smaller spikes in the aquifer wells after previous far-away earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, "but this one really rocked it," water district spokesman Randy Smith (news - web sites) said.

"This is certainly one of the larger ones that the (Florida) scientists have ever seen," Smith said.

The quake and tsunami killed more than 225,000 people in Indian Ocean nations.

[mouse]

Does anyone remember the U.S. Submarine that recently ran aground by running into an undersea mountain, when nothing was on the charts at all. I think that we will find that the entire topography of the oceans bottoms has changed as a result of the recent Earthquake.

I am not a Geologist, however, all the stories about the changes in underwater georgraphy etc. in additon to the other tremendous geological changes that took place, lead me t believe that another quake is coming somewhere else to eleviate the stress released by this one causing buildup at other locations.

If you look at quakes that happen in Asia, you will find that there are usually other quakes in Europe or other locations within weeks.