The giant Sumatran earthquake of 1833

[starroute]

It was huge -- possibly as large as magnitude 9.2. It was in almost the same location as the current quake -- just a bit further south, so that the tsunamis it caused spread out southwest across the open ocean instead of northeast to impact land. And there had been a previous major quake in the same area in 1797, and there was another large one in 1861.

It's not like they haven't known about the hazards. I got this information from an Australian site pointing out the potentials for tsunamis on the western coast of Australia:
http://www.ga.gov.au/servlet/BigObjFileManager?bigobjid=GA5059

But it doesn't seem like anybody was taking them particularly seriously.

[jdj]

1. Do you mean Krakatoa in 1883? or was there one in '33 too?

I went to the link but couldn't tell...

edit: I see now, two whoppers 50 years apart...wow, I didn't know about this.. I guess they got complacent.

[starroute]

5. Here's something of additional interest

From a genealogy site, of all places:
http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/INDIA/2004-08/1091709902

From: "C. & L. Collins" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Non-Gene - Indian Ocean Tsunami, 1833
Date: Thu, 5 Aug 2004 22:48:04 +1000

I am searching for records of a possible tsunami ('tidal wave') which may have been observed on the 24 or 25 of November in 1833 following a great earthquake off the southern coast of Sumatra. This earthquake is believed to have had a magnitude between 8.5 - 9.0 making it amongst the largest recorded, and modelling suggests that the coastlines of the Bay of Bengal, southern India, Ceylon, and islands in the Indian Ocean may have experienced a substantial tsunami. If anyone comes across a reference to such an event in their ancestors' papers I would very much appreciate hearing about it. It is not only of historical interest but is very much relevant to assessing the present day hazard to coastal areas in the region.

A number of other tsunamis have been recorded from earthquakes in the Bay of Bengal, particularly from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, since 1737, and if you have come across any reference to these I would also appreciate hearing about them.

[LosinIt]

2. Do you mean like on the Western Coast of the US?

"But it doesn't seem like anybody was taking them particularly seriously."

We can't envision that something like this will ever happen where we live.

[madrchsod]

3. no one wants to think about or plan how to

evacuated the eastern seaboard of the united states in less than 2-3 hours when the tsunamis hits with up to 100 foot waves...

[jdj]

4. well, they won't evac California, they'll probably close the border

in Texas and Nevada and let all the hippies drown. I guess the Texans will use their cowboy hats as flotation devices.