What is a tsunami?
A tsunami is described as a sequence of ocean or any large body of water waves caused by a natural disaster such as an earthquake, volcanic eruption, landslide or meteorite. Tsunamis bring waves that are different from waves you at the coast or lake since their generated by powerful winds and are minute when compared to a tsunami. These waves can span over 100km wide and travel at approximately 700 kilometres an hour.
As a tsunami wave travels across the ocean it grows in height, being only slightly noticeable in the middle of the sea but as it continues towards the coast it will gain momentum and can reach up to heights of 40 meters causing the tide to hastily rise and fall.
What is an earthquake?
An earthquake causes the ground to vibrate and shake intensely by an abrupt breaking of the tectonic plates. Tectonic plates can break at any moment due to stress and energy builds below the earth’s surface. When the stress surpasses the rocks strength it breaks along the edge of the tectonic plate, the build-up is released and forms a devastating earthquake. The edge of the tectonic plates have fault lines which are where earthquakes are most likely to occur since this is where the plates collide together and if the earthquake occurs in an ocean it has the potential to generate a tsunami depending on the earthquakes magnitude and intensity.
The earthquakes and a tsunamis intensity is measured on the Richter magnitude scale which assigns a number to each disaster to represent the size and power of them.
When a tectonic plate overrides, subducts or collides into another plate and an earthquake occurs at the epicentre and releases shockwaves which push the water upwards forming a series of waves. As the speed of the wave decreases near the shore the wave gains height and power.
• Investigate ONE serious recent tsunami that was caused by the activity of tectonic plates (for example 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami)– using newspaper articles and the Internet as your main reference sources, describe the location and size of the tsunami, describe the damage caused including the number of human casualties, and some stories from survivors on what the experience was like.
A forceful tsunami
The most noticeable difference between a tsunami and a hurricane is the cause of each. A tsunami is the aftermath of an underwater earthquake or volcanic eruption. The force of the earthquake or eruption, along with the moving of the tectonic plates, sends large amounts of water in all directions. The waves can be thousands of feet high when they reach the shoreline. These giant waves can arrive at a moment's notice with no warning. The tsunami is a large natural phenomenon originating from the ocean, but it is not the only phenomenon to start in the ocean.
Since Tsunamis have occurred, there has been a considerable amount of destruction to buildings and structures. People have spend Millions in rebuilding these structures which is not benefiting the economy and this disaster has been continuously been in the news and also has been happening around the world especially in the Ring of Fire. This part of the world is disastrous as many seismic sea waves, earthquakes and volcanoes occur. [1] There are many problems relating to waves that affect people over the world. Some waves being very dangerous while other not as much. Tsunamis (Seismic sea Waves) is a series of very huge waves which are created by underwater disturbances including earthquake, landslide, volcanic eruptions or meteorites. [2]
Throughout this unit, the Science in Practice class has been learning about natural disasters and the impact it has on humans and environment. The natural disaster that will be discussed in this report is the Boxing Day Tsunami, which occurred on the 26th of December, 2004. The tsunami took place in the Indian Ocean. Due to, two tectonics plates, the Indo-Australian plate and the Eurasian plate colliding, causing an underwater earthquake. Due to this awful disaster, people were killed, injured, diagnosed with diseases, homes and businesses were destroyed, the environment damaged.
Since these earthquakes are caused by tectonic plate movement therefore displacing the ocean floor they are almost always accompanied by massive ocean waves, sometimes reaching heights of over 100 ft and reaching speeds of 500 mph, known as seismic sea waves or more commonly known as Tsunamis4. Alongside the catastrophic events that megathrust earthquakes ensue on an affected region these colossal Tsunami waves further destruct costal lines in their path, sometimes reaching many miles inland.
The Tsunami that took place after the initial quake was caused by a portion of seabed rupturing upwards, and displacing a large portion of the water being displaced. This water traveled at 450 miles, at 8 feet tall, to the Chilean and Peruvian coast. Early viewers of the tsunami later reported waves being up to 10 feet tall. This rupture was believed to be caused by 2 unusually dense pieces of seabed that had been previously undetected by scientists, and consequently caused a large displacement of water. There were also small ruptures of seismic
As survivors from the quake rushed around in fear and confusion, they were greeted by yet another disaster. Shortly after the earthquake, a tsunami occurred. The tsunami’s waves struck the coastline beginning at twenty feet. But as more waves hit the coast, the height of the tsunami grew to just under forty feet, taking out everything that hadn’t already been destroyed by the earthquake, reducing the entire city to rubble. The tsunami stretched across sixty-two miles of coastline near Messina, and another twenty-four miles of coastline near Calabria. The damage from the tsunami was greater near the Calabria coast, where waves were higher and the water quickly swallowed houses and bridges, and flooded rivers. The tsunami that occurred in Messina still holds the title for one of the biggest tsunamis in today’s history. Recently, however, geologists have revisited origin of the tsunami, which is now widely debated. Some
There are several disasters that disturbs the Earth surface. When it comes to powerful force waves, tsunamis got the highest. Most likely tsunamis occur due to earthquakes that alter the ocean floor. Furthermore, the waves increase height by the friction of the sea beds being drag. So, the waves get steeper and steeper, finally, it breakdowns into a surf. In instance, one of the most devastated tsunami happened in Hilo, Hawaii in 1946.
Tsunamis are waves caused by sudden movements of the ocean due to earthquakes, landslides on the sea floor, land slumping into the ocean, large volcanic eruptions or meteorite impact in the ocean.
Tsunami is huge masses of water that are caused by a variety of processes. The water very often surges violently on to the land after traveling enormous distances across the oceans. They are some of the most powerful and deadliest forces of nature. Within recent history, you may recall the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami and the 2011 Japan Tsunami. To understand tsunami well we must consider two main issues: their causes and their effects.
Tsunamis are one of the most destructive natural disasters. A series of waves in an ocean or lake caused by the displacement of a large body of water is known as a tsunami, meaning ‘harbor wave’ in Japanese. A tsunami is also known as a tidal wave or seismic sea wave. Their wavelength is much longer than a typical sea wave, therefore tsunamis do not resemble normal undersea currents. Instead of appearing as a breaking wave, a tsunami may instead resemble a very tall tide or wave. Unlike typical wind-generated ocean waves, tsunamis are not caused by the gravitational pull of the Sun and Moon but instead are generated by the displacement of water. Tsunamis are very destructive and their causes and impact to the environment and to humans show this; so, looking at and understanding a past example of a devastating tsunami and preparing for one in the future can help save lives and lessen the overall damage.
Over the past years and decades, many earthquakes have occurred on the planet. Some earthquakes have been small and harmless, and some have been moderate and have caused little disaster. However, most earthquakes have been very powerful and have caused lots of damage. As a matter of fact, earthquakes are the deadliest of all natural disasters, because
There are different ways of how a tsunami is caused. A tsunami is a series of waves created by an abrupt movement on the ocean floor that can result from an earthquake, meteorite or a volcanic eruption. However, powerful undersea earthquakes are responsible for most tsunamis. For example, on the 11th of March 2011 a devastating tsunami occurred on the east coast of Japan, which was caused by an earthquake at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. The magnitude of the earthquake which caused the Japanese tsunami was recorded as 9.1 on the richer scale. This was very similar to the tsunami that occurred on the 26th of December in the Indian Ocean, which had a huge impact on many countries such as India, Thailand and Indonesia. The magnitude of the earthquake that occurred in the Indian Ocean was also 9.1 on the richer scale.
A tsunami is a series of waves that are produced by large oceanic earthquakes or volcanic eruptions at tectonic plate boundaries. These waves may reach 100 feet and cause extensive damage in areas that are densely populated, especially if proper warning systems are lacking. Reaching speeds of up to 500 miles/hour, the waves can travel across the Pacific Ocean in less than 24 hours (Ramalanjaona, 2011). Tsunamis that are caused by a magnitude 7.5-7.8 earthquake are relatively local in nature and will not damage regions that are distant. However, secondary effects can still cause trigger events such as submarine
Gigantic waves of up to 100 feet high that can travel of speeds in excess of 500 miles per hour the Tsunami is one of the fiercest forces of nature there is. The name Tsunami derived from Japan because that is where a lot occur but it was an Earthquake in the “Big Bend” territory that registered an 8.5 on the Richter scale that produced 70-foot waves and was the worst ever to strike South America. Forty percent of all damaging Tsunamis come from South America. Chile and Peru account for more Earthquakes per square mile than anywhere else in the world.
First of all, to understand the meaning of the tsunami, we have to know first the causes of it. According to one of the world’s leading experts in tsunami science and mitigation, Dr.Eddie N. Bernard, tsunami generally occurred when a sudden large disturbance happens in the undersea floor which generates a series of ocean waves more than 7 meter high called tsunami. A huge undersea earthquake, underwater landslides and volcanic eruptions are some examples of the sudden undersea disturbance. The Indian ocean tsunami in 2004 was caused by a huge undersea earthquake occurred in the west coast of Northern Sumatra, Indonesia and since it was one of the biggest earthquake that ever happened over the past 40 years, it triggered the deadliest tsunami in the history (NOAA).