In February 2005, a scientific mission on HMS Scott used multi-beam sonar to map the seabed around the epicentre of the Sumatran earthquake. Their three-dimensional map began to reveal seabed features almost certainly created by the earthquake.

Investigators needed a closer look to confirm which features were created by the earthquake and how they might have contributed to the tsunami. In response, a 22-strong group of scientists from six countries came together to form the Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami Offshore Survey (SEATOS) team. The group, which included seismologists, geophysicists, seabed visualisation experts, biologists and tsunami modellers, arrived at the epicentre in May 2005 onboard the deep-sea research vessel MV Performer.

Armed with cameras mounted on an unmanned robotic submersible the team soon identified fresh faults and fissures on the seabed at nearly 4,500m (3 miles) down. Geologists, working with biologists who could estimate the age of organisms that had settled on the debris, could not agree whether the seabed movements had occurred at the time of the Boxing Day earthquake or months or years earlier.

By using seismic techniques to reveal features beneath the seabed, the team could match seabed features with geological events below. Interpreting the features – such as uplifts, deformations, and landslides – the team could better explain how seabed disruption caused the tsunami and so could more realistically model the tsunami itself.

Meanwhile, filmmakers and SEATOS team members have been creating remarkable, scientifically-informed, computer-generated images (CGI) of the Sumatran earthquake and the ensuing tsunami. The sequences take you on an astonishing roller coaster ride, from the moment the earthquake begins to the experience of being inside the tsunami as it crashes onto a distant shore.