Record Details

The 26 December 2004 Sumatra tsunami recorded on the coast of West Africa

DRS at CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography

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Title The 26 December 2004 Sumatra tsunami recorded on the coast of West Africa
 
Creator Joseph, A.
Odametey, J.T.
Nkebi, E.K.
Pereira, A.
Desai, R.G.P.
Mehra, P.
Rabinovich, A.B.
VijayKumar, K.
Prabhudesai, S.
Woodworth, P.
 
Subject tsunamis
tsunami generation
wave recorders
internal waves
sea level changes
tide gauges
wave data
 
Description Analysis of sea-level data obtained from the Atlantic Global Sea Level Observing System (GLOSS) sea-level station at Takoradi, Ghana, West Africa, clearly reveals a tsunami signal associated with the M sub(w) = 9.3 Sumatra earthquake of 26 December 2004 in the Indian Ocean. The tsunami arrived at this location on 27 December 2004 at approximately 01:38 UTC (which is close to the expected tsunami arrival time at that site), after travelling for more than 24 hours. The first wave was negative (trough), in contrast with the South African stations where the first wave was mainly positive (crest). The dominant observed period at Takoradi was about 42 minutes. The maximum trough-to-crest wave height (41 cm) was observed on 28 December at 00:15 UTC. There were two distinct tsunami 'bursts', separated in time by about 14 hours, the larger being the second burst. A small residual lowering of the sea level (appox. 15cm) during the tsunami and for several days afterwards, and a delayed (approx. 4.5 days) lowering of seawater temperature (up to approx. 4.5 degree C), was observed, possibly indicating the presence of internal waves through the Gulf of Guinea associated with propagating tsunami waves. The prominent tsunami signal found in the Takoradi record suggests that tsunami waves could also be found at other sites off the West African coast.
 
Date 2008-02-12T05:19:24Z
2008-02-12T05:19:24Z
2006
 
Type Journal Article
 
Identifier African Journal Of Marine Science, Vol.28; 705-712p.
http://drs.nio.org/drs/handle/2264/865
 
Language en
 
Rights Copyright [2006]. It is tried to respect the rights of the copyright holders to the best of the knowledge. If it is brought to our notice by copyright holder that the rights are voilated then the item would be withdrawn.
 
Publisher National Inquiry Services Centre