2004 Sumatra Quake Vibrated Entire Planet

Posted on May 20, 2005

Last year's massive earthquake near Sumatra which generated the killer tsunami was also the longest earthquake ever recorded. CNN reports that the quake released energy equivalent to a 100 gigaton bomb. The magnitude of the quake has also been increased from the original estimate of 9.0 to somewhere between 9.1 and 9.3.

"Normally, a small earthquake might last less than a second; a moderate sized earthquake might last a few seconds. This earthquake lasted between 500 and 600 seconds," said Charles Ammon, associate professor of geosciences at Penn State University.
The quake released an amount of energy equal to a 100 gigaton bomb, according to Roger Bilham, professor of geological sciences at the University of Colorado.

The article also says that the earthquake was picked up all over the world -- everywhere that scientists had instruments they were able to detect the massive earthquake.

EARTH
TSUNAMI