WRITTEN REPORT

Continuation of Seismic Sea Wave: Differences of Terms and Effects of Tsunami

As we all know, Seismic Sea Wave is a series of waves in a water body caused by
the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake.
But there are other terms having a similar meaning, to be explained later.
The differences between a tidal wave, tsunami, and seismic sea wave is that a
tidal wave is a very high, large wave that is often caused by strong winds or an
earthquake. As per Wikipedia, scientists dont encourage using tidal wave as
another term for tsunami for the tsunami is not tidal in nature. A tsunami comes
from a Japanese word which means harbor wave. Since most people use it instead
of seismic sea waves, which is the phenomenon itself, tsunami was widely used.
The severity of effects brought by the tsunami depend on the number of factors,
including the magnitude of the earthquake, landslide, or volcanic eruption, along
with its distance from shore. Small tsunamis are undetectable and bring little to no
effect, but larger tsunamis have devastating effects to mankind. The effects of a
tsunami include coastal erosion, structural damage, and loss of lives of many
people.
Going back to what happened in 2004, a tsunami struck after an 8.0 magnitude
earthquake in Indiana Ocean. The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea
megathrust earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on Sunday, 26 December
2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The quake itself is
known by the scientific community as the SumatraAndaman earthquake. The
resulting tsunami was given various names, including the 2004 Indian Ocean
tsunami, South Asian tsunami, Indonesian tsunami, the Christmas tsunami and the
Boxing Day tsunami.
The earthquake was caused when the Indian Plate was subducted by the Burma
Plate and triggered a series of devastating tsunamis along the coasts of most
landmasses bordering the Indian Ocean, killing 230,000 people in fourteen
countries, and inundating coastal communities with waves up to 30 metres (100 ft)
high. It was one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history. Indonesia was
the hardest-hit country, followed by Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand.
With a magnitude of Mw 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
centimetre (0.4 inches) and triggered other earthquakes as far away as Alaska. Its
epicentre 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 $14 billion (2004 US$) in humanitarian
aid.