Just some numbers to put the energy level in perspective...

Current estimates are that the thrust fault involved in the
Sumatra 9.0 earthquake moved the entire edge of fault
up by 3-5 meters, along a 1000-km length of the plate.

The energy release was approximately equivalent to 70
days of wind energy from a category 5 hurricane (such
as Isabel).

Or, more than the entire US uses in a month, released
in a few seconds.

Or, enough to boil 30 trillion liters of water, or 5000
liters for each man, woman, and child on Earth.
Presumably, if that could be captured, it would allow
every person on Earth drinking water for quite a while.

Or, 100 kg of mass, directly converted into energy.

Extrapolated from that information using Einstein's
famous equation, we arrive at 9x10^8 joules.

Give or take, that's 2100 Megatons.  For comparison,
Little Boy, which flattened much of Hiroshima, was a
13 kiloton yield bomb, requiring about 162,000 Little
Boys to match the earthquake.

While this is no doubt a significant, catastrophic
release of energy, it pales next to a 1-km asteroid
impact.  That would release about 10 million Megatons.

Mike H.
-- 
http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist