Islands Rise From the Sea After Megaquake
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Five years ago this past December 26 one of the largest earthquakes on record ripped through the eastern Indian Ocean. The tsunami that followed caused epic devastation and human suffering, but the quake's influence on the landscape was even more profound.
In the above image, the coral reefs have been exposed around North Sentinel Island, part of the Andaman Islands chain in the Bay of Bengal. The Andamans were literally dragged down underwater as stress built along the nearby fault prior to the quake. Then all hell broke loose as the fault moved and the crust popped up several feet, taking North Sentinel and several islands with it.
Perhaps because of knowledge passed down through the generations, many of the isolated tribes living on the islands survived. The tribes, including the Sentinelese who inhabit North Sentinel are often reclusive, and even reportedly shot arrows at Indian military aircraft after the tsunami.
The image below shows a wider view of the Andamans pre- and post-quake. Originally scientists thought the brightly colored beaches marked areas where the tsunami had stripped forest off the land. Upon further observation, they realized it were in fact looking at sections of seafloor marooned when the islands rose out of the sea.
Image: NASA (Earth Observing-1 satellite, acquired Nov. 20, 2009)
Image: NASA
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