Wave That Shook The World (NOVA)

This is a show about the tidal wave which hit off the coast of Indonesia a day or two after Christmas in 2004. It is worth watching but fails to cover completely the science of the disaster. I wish that it had much more of the specifics of what happened to cause the wave than it did, and that it fully explore the path the waves followed. It is my understanding that the wave bounced off southern India and then hit parts of Thailand which had been protected from the initial wave due to the island of Sumatra.

The show also discussed the need for warning systems. But the places where most of the destruction occurred were hit about 15 minutes after the earth quake, and those areas where warnings might have worked were hit by small waves whose destruction was minimal. Spending millions of dollars to set up warning systems of rare natural disasters which cannot be avoided does not seem to be a wise investment.

When Nova began in the 1970s it was a very good show. Now it is just entertainment. The show is worth watching but don't expect too much.