The devastating megathrust earthquake of December 26th, 2004 occurred on the interface of the India and Burma plates and was caused by the release of stresses that develop as the India plate subducts beneath the overriding Burma plate. At least 27,000 people were killed by the earthquake in Indonesia. Tsunamis killed at least 18,000 people in Sri Lanka, 4,300 in India and 1,400 in Thailand. The tsunami crossed into the Pacific Ocean and was recorded along the west coast of South and North America.
This is the fourth largest earthquake in the world since 1900 and is the largest since the 1964 Alaska earthquake. Here's an animation of the tsunami following the earthquake, a photo gallery, and a realplayer video of the tidal wave. Of course, no blog post about this disaster should be complete without the information of how to give help.
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