TSUNAMI Introduction A tsunami is a series of ocean waves that sends surges of water, sometimes reaching heights of over 100

feet, onto land. These walls of water can cause widespread destruction when they crash ashore. These waves are typically caused by large, undersea earthquakes at tectonic plate boundaries. When the ocean floor at a plate boundary rises or falls suddenly it displaces the water above it and launches the rolling waves that will become a tsunami. Most tsunamis, about 80 percent, happen within the Pacific Oceans Ring of Fire, a geologically active area where tectonic shifts make volcanoes and earthquakes common. Tsunamis may also be caused by underwater landslides or volcanic eruptions. They may even be launched, as they frequently were in Earths ancient past, by the impact of a large meteorite plunging into an ocean. Tsunamis race across the sea at up to 805 kmphabout as fast as a jet airplane. At that pace they can cross the entire expanse of the Pacific Ocean in less than a day. And their long wavelengths mean they lose very little energy along the way. In Deep Ocean, tsunami waves may appear only a foot or so high. But as they approach shoreline and enter shallower water they slow down and begin to grow in energy and height. Causes of Tsunamis 1. Tsunami generated by seismicity Tsunami can be generated when the sea floor abruptly deforms and vertically displaces the overlying water. A tsunami can be generated when thrust faults associated with convergent or destructive plate boundaries move abruptly, resulting in water displacement, owing to the vertical component of movement involved. The energy released produces tsunami waves. Tsunamis have a small amplitude (wave height) offshore, and a very long wavelength (often hundreds of kilo meters long, whereas normal ocean waves have a wavelength of only 30 or 40 metres), which is why they generally pass unnoticed at sea, forming only a slight swell usually about 30cm above the normal sea surface. They grow in height when they reach shallower water, in a wave shoaling process described below. A tsunami can occur in any tidal state and even at low tide can still inundate coastal areas. 2. Tsunami generated by landslides In the 1950s, it was discovered that larger tsunamis could be caused by giant landslides. Underwater landslides that generate tsunamis are called Sciorrucks. These phenomena rapidly displace large water volumes, as energy from falling debris or expansion transfers to the water at a rate faster than the water can absorb. Their existence was confirmed in 1958, when a giant landslide in Lituya Bay, Alaska, caused the highest wave ever recorded, which had a height of 524 metres. The wave didn't travel far, as it struck land almost immediately and little damage was done.

Tsunami of December 2004 The deadliest tsunami in history was the Christmas tsunamis of 2004 in the Indian Ocean. On December 24, 2004, a massive 9.2 earthquake occurred of the island of Sumatra. It created a deadly series of tsunamis that swept Indonesia, India, Madagascar, and Ethiopia. The death toll was estimated to be 300,000 to 350,000 in fourteen countries. Indonesia was the hardesthit country, followed by Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand. This was one of the greatest losses of life due to a major natural catastrophe in modern history. The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea mega thrust earthquake that occurred on Sunday, 26 December 2004, with an epicenter off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The quake itself is known by the scientific community as the SumatraAndaman earthquake. The sea floor is estimated to have risen by several metres, displacing an estimated 30 cubic kilometres of water and triggering devastating tsunami waves. The waves did not originate from a point source, but rather radiated outwards along the entire 1,600-kilometre length of the rupture. This greatly increased the geographical area over which the waves were observed, reaching as far as Mexico, Chile, and the Arctic. The raising of the sea floor significantly reduced the capacity of the Indian Ocean, producing a permanent rise in the global sea level by an estimated 0.1 mm. With a magnitude of 9.19.3, it is the third largest earthquake ever recorded on a seismograph. The earthquake had the longest duration of faulting ever observed, between 8.3 and 10 minutes. It caused the entire planet to vibrate as much as 1 cm and triggered other earthquakes as far away as Alaska. Its epicenter was between Simeulue and mainland Indonesia. The plight of the affected people and countries prompted a worldwide humanitarian response. In all, the worldwide community donated more than $14 billion in humanitarian aid. The Japanese Tsunami of 2011 The 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Thoku also known as the 2011 the Great East Japan Earthquake, was a magnitude 9.0 (Mw) undersea mega thrust earthquake off the coast of Japan that occurred on Friday, 11 March 2011. It was the most powerful known earthquake ever to have hit Japan, and one of the five most powerful earthquakes in the world since modern record-keeping began in 1900. The earthquake triggered powerful tsunami waves that reached heights of up to 40.5 metres in Miyako in Japan and which, in the Sendai area, travelled up to 10 km (6 mi) inland. The earthquake moved Honshu 2.4 m east and shifted the Earth on its axis by 10-25 cm. The tsunami caused a number of nuclear accidents, primarily the ongoing level 7 meltdowns at three reactors in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant complex, and the associated evacuation zones affecting hundreds of thousands of residents. Many electrical generators were taken down, and at least three nuclear reactors suffered explosions due to hydrogen gas that had built up within their outer containment buildings after cooling system

failure. Residents within a 20 km radius of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and a 10 km radius of the Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Plant were evacuated. On 12 March 2012, a Japanese National Police Agency report confirmed 15,854 deaths, 26,992 injured, and 3,155 people missing across twenty prefectures, as well as 129,225 buildings totally collapsed, with a further 254,204 buildings 'half collapsed', and another 691,766 buildings partially damaged. The earthquake and tsunami also caused extensive and severe structural damage in north-eastern Japan, including heavy damage to roads and railways as well as fires in many areas, and a dam collapse. Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said, "In the 65 years after the end of World War II, this is the toughest and the most difficult crisis for Japan."[29] Around 4.4 million households in north eastern Japan were left without electricity and 1.5 million without water. Effects of Tsunami Tsunamis are some of the most devastating natural disasters known to man. Think of a flood with its source being an ocean and you can grasp a little of how much devastation tsunamis can create. For most people who live in land the greatest threat is from overflowing rivers and creeks. Normally extraordinarily heavy rainfall causes rivers and other waterways to overflow. The excess water creates deadly currents and sweep away people, causing them to drown. It also does a lot of damage in the initial surge and then with standing water. A tsunami has all of these detrimental effects plus the added destructive power crashing waves. As you many know a tsunami is caused by a strong earthquake on the ocean bed. The vibrations travel through the water traveling sometimes thousands of kilometres. If you were on the water or deep sea diving in SCUBA gear you would not notice much probably just rough waves or a momentarily strong downward pull if you were underwater. However, a tsunami gains its true destructive power as it approaches land. The water level becomes shallower causing the waves caused by the earthquake to compress and combine. This is what creates the massive and destructive waves that cause so much destruction. The costs to human life can also be devastating. The immediate destruction is only the beginning of the damage. After the waters retreated there was the elevated risk of disease created by stagnant and contaminated water. Since most tsunamis occur south of the Equator and In the Pacific this only raises the risk of disease further. How to cope with Tsunami There is very little that can be done to prevent the occurrence of natural hazards. Floods, droughts, earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions and tsunami cannot be prevented. But humankind, being as adaptable as it is, has learned to live with all these hazards. In the past, we have taken a passive approach to hazards, justifying them as acts of God or nature about which we could do very little.

But while these natural disasters cannot be prevented, their results, such as loss of life and property, can be reduced by proper planning. To plan for the tsunami hazard, however, we must have a good understanding not only of the physical nature of the phenomenon and its manifestation in each geographical locality, but also of that area's combined physical, social and cultural factors. A tsunamis trough, the low point beneath the waves crest, often reaches shore first. When it does, it produces a vacuum effect that sucks coastal water seaward and exposes harbour and sea floors. This retreating of sea water is an important warning sign of a tsunami, because the waves crest and its enormous volume of water typically hit shore five minutes or so later. Recognizing this phenomenon can save lives. A tsunami is usually composed of a series of waves, called a wave train, so its destructive force may be compounded as successive waves reach shore. People experiencing a tsunami should remember that the danger may not have passed with the first wave and should await official word that it is safe to return to vulnerable locations. Some tsunamis do not appear on shore as massive breaking waves but instead resemble a quickly surging tide that inundates coastal areas. The best defence against any tsunami is early warning that allows people to seek higher ground. The Pacific Tsunami Warning System, a coalition of 26 nations headquartered in Hawaii, maintains a web of seismic equipment and water level gauges to identify tsunamis at sea. Similar systems are proposed to protect coastal areas worldwide. Conclusion In spite of our technological improvements of the last two decades, we are still unable to provide timely warnings to many areas of the Pacific and none to other parts of the world. Improvements are necessary in communications to ensure that warning information is prompt and accurate. An increased degree of automation is necessary in handling and interpreting the basic data. Research is needed for example in the development of instrumentation such as deep-ocean sensors, which could be useful in early tsunami detection. Research is needed also in the real-time interpretation of seismic source parameters, which in turn may help in tsunami evaluation. Research can also lead to improvement of warning systems, to better land-use management of tsunami-prone coastal areas and to development of important engineering guidelines of critical coastal structures. In conclusion, the long-term objective should be for each country susceptible to the tsunami hazard to build its technical and scientific infra structures to meet the hazards of a disastrous event. The immediate objectives of each country should be to assess this hazard in terms of potential needs and available resources. Preparedness requires several capabilities, such as rapid identification of imminent tsunami, effective national and regional warning systems to alert coastal population and industries, and civil defence and community preparedness to respond to tsunami warnings. Finally, appropriate improvements in warning capability in the form of improved instrumentation for tsunami monitoring and for communications should be developed, both for effective warning and for increased knowledge as an aid to long-term protection.

Drawing of tectonic plate boundary before Overriding plate bulges under strain, causing earthquake tectonic uplift

Plate slips, causing subsidence and releasing The energy released produces tsunami waves energy into water

Marina Beach after Tsunami

Thailand 2004 Ao Nang, Thailand

Aceh Province in Indonesia, before & after Tsunami

2011 Japan Sendai Airport Runway

2011 Japan- Minata city devastated

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake_and_tsunami http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/tsunami/tsunami/index.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsunami