-------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Goanetters annual meet in Goa is scheduled for Dec 27, 2005 @ 4pm | | | | Watch this space for more details | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 'US may face tsunami in 40 years' New Delhi | December 21, 2005 12:17:28 PM IST
Nearly a year after the Dec 26 tsunami that struck Indian Ocean countries, a top scientist Tuesday warned similar killer waves might strike the northwest coast of the US some time in the next 40 years. Baban Ingole, who was part of a 27-member international team of scientists that undertook an expedition to explore seabed sites in areas hit by the Asian tsunami, said: "Faults on the seabed are rare but there is a mega fault line less than 50 miles (80 km) off the northwest coast of the US. "The fault line Cascadia is closer to land than the Indian Ocean fault line." "It is estimated that 500 miles (800 km) of the US coastline is under threat. Five hundred thousand people living on the coast between northern California, Vancouver and British Columbia are at serious risk from a tsunami," said Ingole, the only Asian scientist in the international team. The 17-day expedition funded by Discovery Channel was an attempt to uncover and comprehend the cause of the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004. It was planned in the second week of January and set out to the sea May 17 from Phuket in Thailand. The expedition and all its findings will be shown in the documentary "Unstoppable Wave" on Discovery Channel Dec 25 at 8 p.m. Ingole was speaking at the documentary's premiere here Tuesday. Ingole, a marine biologist with the National Institute of Oceanography in Goa, said according to a model developed by the international team of scientists, any tsunami that might hit the US could be deadlier than last year's killer waves. On Dec 26, 2004, the quake measuring 9.2 on the Richter scale lasted more than eight minutes, releasing as much energy as 62,000 atomic bombs of the type dropped on Hiroshima. The first tsunami waves reached Banda Aceh in less than 20 minutes, with waves in Sumatra extending more than 100 feet high. The tsunami left around 283,000 people dead across 10 countries including India. Over 13,000 people lost their lives in India. Ingole said that within the past year, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands had experienced around 500 quakes, of which 75 percent were of moderate intensity or above 5 on the Richter scale. He said the expedition confirmed the belief that the Indian Ocean tsunami was mainly caused by a high intensity quake and not by a landslide after the temblor. (IANS) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Goa - 2005 Santosh Trophy Champions | | | | Support Soccer Activities at the grassroots in our villages | | Vacationing in Goa this year-end - Carry and distribute Soccer Balls | --------------------------------------------------------------------------
