Spoetnik
11-01-05, 00:08
WASHINGTON - Water depths in parts of the Straits of Malacca, one of the world's busiest shipping channels off the coast of Sumatra, reached about 4,000 feet before last month's tsunami.
Now, reports are coming in of just 100 feet - too dangerous for shipping, if proved true.
A U.S. spy imagery agency is working around the clock to gather information, warn mariners and begin the time-consuming task of recharting altered coastlines and ports throughout the region.
(...)
The agency has received an unconfirmed report that one area of the Strait of Malacca, which divides Malaysia and the devastated Indonesian island of Sumatra, had its depth cut from 4,060 feet to just 105 feet.
In another area of tsunami-effected waters, a merchant marine ship has logged that the depth was cut from 3,855 feet to just 92 feet.
The agency's chief hydrographer, Chris Andreasen, said experts may find that whole channels were moved by the earthquake that preceded the tsunami, shifting the ocean floor many feet, rather than the inches seen during the 1989 California quake during the World Series.
"When the plate moves, everything on it moves," Andreasen said. "There could be some pretty serious shifts."
Warnings about the new oceanic landscape go out right away. But the agency waits to update its charts until it gets final confirmation.
(...)
http://www.katu.com/news/story.asp?ID=73957
Geen goed nieuws voor de wereldhandel.
Now, reports are coming in of just 100 feet - too dangerous for shipping, if proved true.
A U.S. spy imagery agency is working around the clock to gather information, warn mariners and begin the time-consuming task of recharting altered coastlines and ports throughout the region.
(...)
The agency has received an unconfirmed report that one area of the Strait of Malacca, which divides Malaysia and the devastated Indonesian island of Sumatra, had its depth cut from 4,060 feet to just 105 feet.
In another area of tsunami-effected waters, a merchant marine ship has logged that the depth was cut from 3,855 feet to just 92 feet.
The agency's chief hydrographer, Chris Andreasen, said experts may find that whole channels were moved by the earthquake that preceded the tsunami, shifting the ocean floor many feet, rather than the inches seen during the 1989 California quake during the World Series.
"When the plate moves, everything on it moves," Andreasen said. "There could be some pretty serious shifts."
Warnings about the new oceanic landscape go out right away. But the agency waits to update its charts until it gets final confirmation.
(...)
http://www.katu.com/news/story.asp?ID=73957
Geen goed nieuws voor de wereldhandel.