German Memory In Asia - A Tsunami Mission On The Shores Of Bay Of Bengal

While I was approaching the edge of the Indian Ocean, I observed there were some sea gulls speedily hurrying from sea to land. I was terrified thinking that another tsunami was approaching us. Though I didn't feel any strong quake, I was aware that an earthquake can trigger killer waves thousands of miles across the ocean and could generate hours later the tsunami waves.


I observed closely the Indian Ocean to see whether there was a difference since an approaching tsunami is preceded by a noticeable fall in the water level. A big wave was on its way.


I had heard of stories how people were killed, when they went down to the beach to view the retreating ocean exposing the sea floor unaware that the strange phenomenon was a forerunner of killer waves. I made a quick retreat to a nearby high ground. When I turned and looked at the German Praktikum (Internship) students they were at a distance discussing something with some locals.


The tsunami expert's recent statement that a receding ocean may give only five minutes' warning to evacuate the area has started to bristle within me, because tsunamis can approach the shore as fast as 100 miles per hour. I realized it would be too late to see the wave and then confirm whether the tsunami was on the way.

Though I moved back to the ruined high ground, I started to observe again the ocean movements. There were no receding waters but large waves had come towards the shore. It was so horrific to think that many of the tsunami victims were seen being swept out to sea when the ocean retreated.


A tsunami surge may be small at one point of the shore and large at another point a short distance away. I didn't want to assume that this was a minimal sign of a tsunami and was trapped by the retreating tsunami flood later on from other directions. I further went near the high ground and approached the place where the German students were. I was comparatively in a safe place and a little relieved from the tsunami fear. I observed a number of wrecked boats were on the ruined buildings.


As tsunami wave activity is imperceptible in the open ocean, if those vessels had not returned to port they might have escaped that fatal end. The way the boats had been flung to the interior of the land and the extent of the wreckage frightened me how the tsunami can cause rapid changes in water level unpredictably with dangerous currents and cause massive destruction in the harbor and port areas. If the fishermen had the right information on time and took their vessels out to sea, they might have saved their lives and boats as well.



The Pacific Ocean is fixed with sensitive recorders on the sea floor to measure pressure changes in the overhead water, sending the information to sensors on buoys, which, in turn, relay the data to satellites for immediate transmission to warning centers. As there was no warning system for tsunamis in the Indian Ocean, the tsunami eluded and caused the worst disaster in the history of the Indian Ocean Rim countries.



We moved towards the narrow lane, which was now everywhere covered with the sand and debris. We found it difficult to determine whether the lane through which we were walking was a busy thoroughfare just a few days ago. We were roaming over the ruined buildings and then walked along the beach. It was difficult to reconcile to the fact that a once flourishing heavily populated coastal hamlet had been annihilated in just a few minutes. Meanwhile the German T.V. crew was busy, documenting those devastations.


The LTTE member who was familiar with that area pointed at a ruined road and told us it was a marine drive earlier, linking the coastal areas. He told how the sea had made incursions into the land.


The tectonic plates at the bottom of the southern Andaman - Nicobar Island had been shifted upward and the seabed subsequently. The tectonic plate movement and the tsunami tidal waves are not new to this world. Tectonic plate movements have taken place for billions of years resulting in tidal waves as well when they emit energy out to the surface as massive earthquakes. Turning my direction towards the north, I was reminded of how some thousand years ago the city of Poompoogar was sunk by tidal waves.