Reuters - Frightened residents on Indonesia's Sumatra island huddled in tents outside their damaged homes on Friday, traumatized by the latest of nearly 40 aftershocks since a huge earthquake struck two days ago.
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AP - Indonesia used mosque loudspeakers to warn residents within minutes of a powerful earthquake. Bangladeshi volunteers with bullhorns told tourists and fishermen to flee to higher ground ahead of a possible tsunami.
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A powerful earthquake has struck off the coast of Indonesia's West Sumatra island, shaking buildings as far away as Singapore and triggering tsunami warnings throughout the region. Scientists measured the quake at a magnitude of 7.9.
Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey say the epicenter of Wednesday's quake was more than 600 kilometers northwest of the Indonesian capital Jakarta, and at a depth of more than 30 kilometers.
The quake stuck off the southern coast of West Sumatra at about 6:10 p.m. local time (1110 UTC) and toppled at least one building in Bengkulu, a town near the quake's epicenter.

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A tsunami is a very large ocean wave triggered by an underwater earthquake, volcanic activity or a landslide. On rare occasions, the impact of cosmic bodies such as meteorites can generate tsunamis. Tsunamis can savagely attack coastlines, causing devastating property damage and loss of life. These waves have unusually long-wavelength in excess of 100 kms, generated in the open ocean and transformed into a train of catastrophic oscillations on the sea surface close to coastal zones. These normally occur in Pacific Ocean and are highly unexpected surrounding the Indian subcontinent. In fact, the "tsunami" was only a tongue-twister for most Indians till 26 December 2004.

In the open ocean, the tsunamis are harmless because of their small height (typically 30-60 cms). However, as they race onto shallow water regions and pass into continental coasts their speed diminishes which results in increase in the wave height in order to conserve the total energy. Typical speeds in the open ocean are of the order of 600 to 800 km/hr. The tsunami's energy flux, which is dependent on both its wave speed and wave height, remains nearly constant. When it finally reaches the coast, a tsunami may appear as a series of breaking waves.

The genesis of this portal is in the tsunami that struck Indian coastline on 26 December 2004. However, other coastal hazards are more important to the Indian subcontinent and that is why the scope of this portal has been expanded from tsunami to coastal hazards. Information about this hazard has been collected to a large extent to provide links. Learn more about tsunami by navigating different sections.