One of the most fascinating
parts of Physical Geography is the plate tectonics theory
which helps explain volcanic formations and earthquakes,
among other things. This series of caches is dedicated to
some of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded. A great
quake is one that has a magnitude of 8.0 or
greater.
On December 26, 2004, an earthquake
occurred 18.1 miles below the surface of the Earth in the Indian
Ocean with an epicenter off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia.
The magnitude of the earthquake was originally recorded as 9.0, but
has since been upgraded to a 9.3. At this magnitude, it is the
second largest earthquake ever recorded on a seismograph. The
earthquake was unusually large in geographical extent. An estimated
750 mi of faultline slipped about 50 ft along the subduction zone
where the India Plate dives under the Burma Plate. The slip did not
happen instantaneously but took place in two phases over a period
of several minutes. In fact, this earthquake was also reported to
be the longest duration of faulting ever observed, lasting between
8.5 and 10 minutes. It was large enough that it caused the entire
planet to vibrate at least half an inch and slow down by a fraction
of a second. It also triggered earthquakes as far away as
Alaska.
This massive earthquake generated
tsunamis that devastated the shores of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India,
Thailand, and other countries with waves up to 100 feet tall. It
caused serious damage and deaths as far away as the coast of
Africa; the furthest recorded death due to the tsunami was in South
Africa, 5000 miles away from the epicenter. The death toll from the
resulting tsunami is estimated to be about 230,000 people, making
the Indian Ocean Earthquake of 2004 one of the deadliest natural
disasters in recorded history
This earthquake occurred in the
so-called Ring of Fire region, an area around the margins of the
Pacific Ocean where approximately 3/4ths of the Earth’s volcanoes
are located. This is a zone where the Pacific plate meets many
other plates. As a result of the collisions between these plates,
the Ring of Fire is the most seismically active zone in the world.
More earthquakes and volcanic eruptions happen here than anywhere
else on Earth. To see a map of the Ring of Fire, go to (visit link) For more information on the
Indian Ocean Earthquake of 2004, go to (visit link) For more information on
earthquakes in general, go to (visit link) For more information on the plate
tectonic theory, go to (visit link)
In keeping with my philosophy that
Physical Geography affects you every single day of your life, we
have hidden these caches in everyday places. I drive by this
parkette every day on my way to work and think it would be a great
place for a cache. Now it finally has one! The entrance to the
park is on Davis Lane. Please do not go on private property to get
to this one! BYOP
UPDATE: September 24, 2007 I am having a lot of trouble with
several stages of this series. Therefore I have decided to archive
the whole series on Oct 15th. If you plan to do the series, please
do so before Oct 15th. It was fun while it lasted. Thanks for
visiting - hope you learned something.
Congratulations to grn beret 2b on the FTF!