Quake shifted islands: Scientist<\/p>\n
Reuters,
\nLos Angeles, California<\/p>\n
The massive earthquake that devastated parts of Asia permanently
\nmoved the tectonic plates beneath the Indian Ocean as much as 30
\nmeters, slightly shifting islands near Sumatra an unknown
\ndistance, U.S. scientists said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
A tsunami spawned by the 9.0-magnitude quake off the northern
\ntip of Sumatra killed an estimated 60,000 on Sunday in Indonesia,
\nThailand, India, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and East Africa.<\/p>\n
Satellite images showed that the movement of undersea plates
\noff the northern tip of Sumatra moved the Nicobar Islands and
\nSimeulue Island out to sea by an unknown distance, U.S.
\nGeological Survey geophysicist Ken Hudnut said.<\/p>\n
Although the data showed that plates more than 20 km beneath
\nthe ocean's surface moved dramatically, scientists will have to
\nuse handheld satellite positioning systems at the sites to learn
\nprecisely how much the land masses on the surface shifted, Hudnut
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The USGS team in Pasadena, California, also was studying more
\ndetailed satellite images on Tuesday to determine if the scraping
\nof one plate over another plowed up enough debris on the ocean
\nfloor to block the port of Banda Aceh in Sumatra where
\ninternational aid was headed.<\/p>\n
Large earthquakes in the last decade in Kobe, Japan, and
\nGolcuk, Turkey, deformed the coastlines and rendered their ports
\ninoperable after the crises, Hudnut said.<\/p>\n
The scientists have asked for cooperation from operators of
\ncommercial satellites that can provide high-resolution images to
\nshow the extent of damage to coastlines, he said.<\/p>",
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