© OurAmazingPlanetThe earthquake that struck Sumatra was a big one. Here's how it compares to some record holders.
On the afternoon of April 11, 2012, one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded - and now revealed to be among the weirdest - struck in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Sumatra. It's a region all too familiar with geological catastrophe.
Eight years earlier, in December 2004, the
third largest earthquake on record had ripped through a nearby region of the ocean floor. The magnitude-9.1 earthquake and the monstrous tsunami that soon followed killed more than 227,000 people in 14 countries,
So when a magnitude-8.7 earthquake (some put the magnitude at 8.6) shook the Indonesian island on that Wednesday afternoon earlier this year, many expected the worst. Yet,
no monster wave appeared. A wave did come ashore, but it was a miniature tsunami, just 12 inches (31 centimeters) high.
All told, the earthquake did very little damage - yet only five higher earthquake magnitudes have ever been recorded. So what was the deal?
New research published today (Sept. 26) in the journal
Nature delves into the intimate details of this earthquake, along with the powerful, magnitude-8.2 quake that followed two hours later. The new studies add to an existing body of research that shows this was a remarkable event - one of the most surprising earthquakes ever recorded - and one that offers an unlikely snapshot of a geological process millions of years in the making.
