Art: The more research I do, the more amazed I am by what the early submarine cable guys achieved. They really had no idea what they were doing for about ten years, until the commission of inquiry into the numerous (and expensive) failures of the late 1850s published its report in 1861. This comprehensive report of the first ever inquiry into an industrial failure is a landmark document in the history of technology, somewhat unappreciated, I fear. The entire document of 520 legal-size pages is on line.Between the commissioners and the witnesses, the cast of characters includes just about every businessman, engineer, and scientist involved in the cable and electrical industries at that time. It makes interesting reading.Incidentally, I sent your article to a 40-something friend in Boston who has a keen interest in science and technology, and she just emailed me: "This was the best article on plate tectonics I have ever read. I remember being fascinated by it in school. Surprisingly, it was being taught tentatively, and like something "new" even then."Regards,Bill BurnsArthur - I enjoyed your HGS Bulletin article about the Sumatra earthquake, really an incredible earthquake. As it is the first megathrust to have occurred since establishment of the global seismic network, there will be intense research on the event. In fact the Amer. Geophys. Union (AGU) has already organized a special session at its spring meeting in New Orleans in May.You have probably heard already that your explanation for why a wave breaks is missing one component. Speed and amplitude of a water wave are functions of water depth. As the water depth decreases the velocity slows and the amplitude increases, The wave gets higher as it gets closer to land and the top of the wave travels faster than the base, so the wave eventually breaks. There is a mathematical treatment of this at online; see the Chris Chapman articles. He is a Schlumberger seismology specialist who wrote an interesting article in the Jan 11 edition of EOS, the AGU news magazine. He was staying at one of the Sri Lankan hotels hit by the tsunami. When he saw the sea recede he knew what was coming and persuaded the hotel staff to clear the beach. There were no fatalities at his hotel.I share your concern that there was no warning system in place for the tsunami, but history does not seem to be that much of a lesson here. As far as I can find out there has never been a tsunami in Sri Lanka and probably never in Somalia either. Chapman's article says he was told there was one in Sri Lanka '2000 years ago', but he hasn't been able to corroborate. It actually turns out that there are scientists who were thinking of tsunamis in the area, at least closer to Sumatra. Kerry Sieh, a seismologist at Caltech, has been studying the Sumatran forearc islands for some time. He mostly worked on the Mentawi islands, which are the islands south of Simeulue and Nias, the islands closest to the epicenter. Sieh has studied coral growth patterns and has been able to map uplift associated with the 1833 and 1861 earthquakes, probably the last Sumatran megathrusts. He realized the dangers and was just starting to distribute information brochures to the local population. He gave a talk at the December 2004 AGU meeting entitled 'Mitigating the effects of large subduction-zone earthquakes in Western Sumatra' just 12 days before the quake There is a fascinating series of letters written by Sieh from the field when he travelled to the area in January to service his GPS array. See his CalTech article for the first in a series of seven (the others are linked from this one). There were very few tsunami casualties on Simeulue. There was a tsunami there in 1907 (must have been a relatively local earthquake) that killed 'many' people, and there was enough knowledge of this in the local population that they ran for the hills when they felt the earthquake. There is probably a lesson here in people who rely on nature for a living, keeping 'in touch' and listening to warning signs (like Chris Chapman, I suppose).There was another article about Indian Ocean tsunamis published last year. The Sept 2004 issue of AusGeo News, a magazine published by Geoscience Australia, has an article on tsunami threat to NW Australia. They did some modeling of the 1833 earthquake and concluded that this particular one didn't cause much of a tsunami in Australia, but the article, like yours, points out the danger of ignoring plate tectonics.Best regardsIan NortonExxonMobil Upstream Research CompanyP.O. Box 2189Houston, TX 77252-2189Ph 713-431-4240 Fax 713-431-6193ian.o.norton@exxonmobil.comHi Arthur,I want to thank you for the two great articles in the February Bulletin. The in-depth coverage of the SE Asian tsunami was simply a masterpiece! Also, your interview with Dr. Roy Dokka was equally thought-provoking and presented many insights to the problems of coastal subsidence and its quantification. As a 45-year resident of the city of New Orleans, I am always concerned about subsidence and flooding problems. Incidentally, I am active with LSU, presently serving as chairman of the College of Basic Sciences Development Council, and as a representative of the Geology and Geophysics Alumni. I've known Roy Dokka for many years and have carefully followed his research. Thanks again for the two great articles! Ed PicouA 25-year member of the HGS January 30, 2005Mr. Arthur E. BermanEditorHouston Geological SocietyDear Mr. Berman.I'd like to congratulate you to your article in the February 2005 HGS Bulletin ”The Sumatra Earthquake of 2004: Forty Years of Ignoring Plate Tectonics”. The article brings a welcome fresh wind to the Society Bulletin and is well placed because our society is not a Houston Petroleum-Geological Society that many assume, but a Geological Society; and so we can and should discuss