Earthquake, tsunami caused Antarctic icebergs

Technology

Earthquake, tsunami caused Antarctic icebergs

Close

Japan earthquake in March was a disaster of global proportions.

11 August,2011 10:44 pm

Scientists examined satellite images from Antarctica, 8,000 miles south of the epicenter, and found that 18 hours after the quake, the resulting tsunami was enough to break giant chunks off the Sulzberger Ice Shelf, chunks that together would be twice the size of Manhattan.The largest berg measured about 9.5 kms (5.9 miles) by 6.5 kms (four miles), making it slightly bigger in surface area than Manhattan, and had a likely depth of about 80 metres (260 feet).The tsunami was at least 23 metres (76 feet) high after it had been generated by an underwater quake of 9.0 magnitude, according to Japanese estimates published a week after the event.Analysis of Envisats radar pictures by experts in the United States suggests that the waves were probably only about 30 centimetres (18 inches) high by the time they had crossed 13,000 kilometres (8,100 miles) of ocean.Ice shelves are thick floating beds of ice that are attached to the coastline. They are created by glaciers whose ice is discharged into the sea.