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WORLD> Asia-Pacific
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Mega-tsunami hit southeast Asia 700 years ago
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-10-30 16:07 They explored low areas between beach ridges called "swales" -- which are known to trap tsunami sand between layers of peat and other organic matter -- and discovered a layer of sand beneath the most recent layer (2004), from 600 to 700 years ago. "Depending on where the depression is, it (the layer of the 1400 sand) can be 10 cm. But on higher ground, it can be two to five cm. Organic materials like bark and leaves, which contain carbon, were used for dating," Jankaew said. The scientists are now trying to find out the scale of that catastrophe 700 years ago. "We will look at the thickness and grain size of the sediment and we can calculate how fast the tsumani was, how far inland it went, and the floor depth," she said. Jankaew said there are two more layers of sand under the 1400 layer but more studies would need to be done to date these. Some experts blame the massive loss of lives in 2004 on ignorance of the region's tsunami history. Very few people living along the coasts recognized natural tsunami warnings, such as the strong shaking felt in Aceh and the rapid retreat of ocean water from the shoreline that was observed in Thailand. But on an island just off the coast of Aceh, most people safely fled to higher ground in 2004 because the island's oral history includes information about a devastating tsunami in 1907. |
