essay on tsunami introduction

Essay on Tsunami for Students and Children

500+ words essay on tsunami.

Tsunami is a phenomenon where a series of strong waves that are responsible for the surge in water sometimes reach the heights in many meters. This is a natural disaster that is caused due to the volcano eruption in the ocean beds. Also, a phenomenon like landslides and earthquakes contributes to reasons for a tsunami. Like other natural disasters, the impact of the tsunami is also huge. It has been seen throughout history how disastrous the tsunami is. The essay on tsunami talks about various factors that contribute to the tsunami and the damage it causes to mankind. 

Essay on Tsunami

The disaster that is caused due to waves generated in the ocean because of the earthquake and whose main point is under the water is known as ‘Tsunami’. Also, the term tsunami is associated with tidal waves. Thus, a tsunami is also called as the series of ocean waves that have a very long wavelength. Because of the tsunami, there are strong waves of water is formed and this moves landwards. So, this causes inland movement of water which is very high and lasts for a long time. Thus, the impact of these waves is also very high. 

Greeks were the first people on Earth to claim the effects of the tsunami. They claim that tsunami is just like land earthquakes. Also, the only difference between tsunami and earthquake is that tsunami is caused in oceans. Thus, the scale and ferocity of the tsunami are almost impossible to control. 

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The History of Tsunami

The highest ever recorded tsunami was on 9th July 1958 in the record books. It took place in a bay which was located in the ligula bay along the coasts of Alaska. After the quake, a massive mass of rock fell into the bay waters from the cliff nearby. Thus, this created an impact and produced a wave that reached a height of 524 meters. Also, this is regarded as one of the highest recorded tsunami waves ever. 

The destructive waves responsible for the occurrence of tsunami is also produced in waters of bays or lakes. As this water approached the coast, it grows larger. However, the size of this wave is very low in deep-sea areas. Tsunami waves that are generated in the lakes or bays do not travel for a long distance. Thus, they are not as destructive as the ones produced in the ocean waters. There are various directions in which tsunami can travel from the main point. 

One similar devastating tsunami was experienced in India in 2004. However, the origin of this tsunami was located near Indonesia. Because of the tsunami, it was expected that a total of 2 lakh people lost their lives. The waves traveled extensively thousands of kilometers in countries like Thailand, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and the Maldives. 

Tsunamis occur mainly in the Pacific Ocean. There are very chances that they take place in the area where there are larger bodies. Coastlines and open bays next to very deep waters may help tsunami further into a step-like wave. 

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Essay on Tsunami

Students are often asked to write an essay on Tsunami in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Tsunami

What is a tsunami.

A tsunami is a series of powerful waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of water. This usually happens due to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or underwater landslides.

How Does a Tsunami Form?

When the sea floor abruptly deforms, it displaces the overlying water, triggering a tsunami. The waves travel across the ocean at high speeds.

Effects of a Tsunami

Tsunamis can cause mass destruction when they hit land. They can flood cities, destroy buildings, and take lives. It’s important to have early warning systems to minimize damage.

Understanding tsunamis helps us prepare and mitigate their harmful effects.

250 Words Essay on Tsunami

Introduction.

Tsunamis, deriving from the Japanese words ‘tsu’ meaning harbor and ‘nami’ meaning wave, are a series of powerful water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water. They are known for their destructive power and unpredictability, posing a significant threat to coastal communities.

Causes of Tsunamis

Tsunamis are typically triggered by seismic activities beneath the ocean floor. These include earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or landslides. The energy released during these events displaces the overlying water column, generating waves that can travel across oceans at high speeds.

Characteristics and Impact

Unlike regular waves, tsunami waves involve the movement of the entire water column from the sea surface to the seabed. This attribute contributes to their long wavelengths and high energy, enabling them to travel vast distances. Upon reaching shallow waters, their speed decreases, causing the wave height to increase dramatically, often resulting in widespread destruction when they hit land.

Prevention and Mitigation

While tsunamis cannot be prevented, their impact can be mitigated through early warning systems, coastal zone management, and community preparedness. Technological advancements have made it possible to detect seismic activities and issue timely alerts, thereby saving lives.

Tsunamis, while a fascinating natural phenomenon, are a stark reminder of nature’s power. Understanding their causes and characteristics is crucial in developing effective mitigation strategies, thereby reducing their devastating impacts on human lives and the environment.

500 Words Essay on Tsunami

Tsunamis, often referred to as seismic sea waves, are a series of ocean waves caused by any large-scale disturbance of the sea surface. These disturbances can include earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides or even meteorite impacts in the ocean. Tsunamis are not regular sea waves but energy waves, often caused by seismic activities beneath the ocean floor. Their impact on human lives and the environment can be devastating, emphasizing the importance of understanding and predicting these natural disasters.

The Mechanics of a Tsunami

Tsunamis are initiated by a sudden displacement of the sea floor due to geological activities like earthquakes. This displacement results in a vertical shift of the overlying water column, creating a series of waves that radiate outwards from the point of origin. The speed of a tsunami is determined by the depth of water, with deeper waters facilitating faster wave speeds.

In the open ocean, these waves may be just a few centimeters high, but their wavelength, or the distance between successive crests, can span hundreds of kilometers. As these waves approach coastal areas, the shallowing sea floor compresses the wave energy, causing the wave to increase dramatically in height.

Impact and Consequences

The destructive power of a tsunami comes from the massive amount of water that it can move and the consequent flooding. When a tsunami reaches the shore, it can cause immense damage to structures, erode beaches and embankments, destroy vegetation, and severely impact both terrestrial and marine life.

Unfortunately, tsunamis cannot be prevented as they are triggered by natural geological processes. However, their impact can be mitigated through early warning systems, community preparedness, and intelligent coastal management.

Tsunami early warning systems, comprising seismographs and sea level monitoring stations, can provide critical minutes to hours of warning. This allows people in the path of a tsunami to seek higher ground. Community preparedness involves education about tsunami risks, evacuation routes, and drills. Intelligent coastal management can include the construction of seawalls, planting of mangroves to absorb wave energy, and zoning laws to prevent construction in high-risk areas.

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Tsunami Essay | Essay on Tsunami for Students and Children in English

February 13, 2024 by sastry

Tsunami Essay: The term Tsunami comes from the Japanese language and means harbour wave. Tsunamis are seismic waves that are caused by earthquakes which travel through water. An earthquake that is too small to create a tsunami by itself may trigger an undersea landslide quite capable of generating a tsunami.

You can read more  Essay Writing  about articles, events, people, sports, technology many more.

Long and Short Essays on Tsunami for Kids and Students in English

Given below are two essays in English for students and children about the topic of ‘Tsunami’ in both long and short form. The first essay is a long essay on Tsunami of 400-500 words. This long essay about Tsunami is suitable for students of class 7, 8, 9 and 10, and also for competitive exam aspirants. The second essay is a short essay on Tsunami of 150-200 words. These are suitable for students and children in class 6 and below.

Long Essay on Tsunami 500 Words in English

Below we have given a long essay on Tsunami of 500 words is helpful for classes 7, 8, 9 and 10 and Competitive Exam Aspirants. This long essay on the topic is suitable for students of class 7 to class 10, and also for competitive exam aspirants.

Tsunami can be generated when the sea floor abruptly deforms and vertically displaces the overlying water. Such large vertical movements of the earth’s crust can occur at plate boundaries. Although often referred to as ‘tidal waves’, a tsunami does not look like the popular impression of ‘a normal wave only much bigger’. Instead, it looks rather like an endlessly onrushing tide which forces its way around and through any obstacle. Most of the damage is caused by the huge mass of water behind the initial wave front, as the height of the sea keeps rising fast and floods powerfully into the coastal areas. The sheer weight of water is enough to pulverise objects in its path, often reducing buildings to their foundations and scouring exposed ground to the bedrock. Large objects such as ships and boulders can be carried several miles inland before, a Tsunami subsides.

It is said that the Greek historian Thucydides proposed that Tsunamis had some relation to submarine earthquakes. However, the understanding of Tsunami’s nature and causes remained weak until the 20th century. Roman historian, Ammianus described the order of events giving rise to a Tsunami: an earthquake, sudden retreat of the sea followed by a gigantic wave. Japan has the longest recorded history of Tsunamis. The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake cum Tsunami is marked as one of the most devastating in modern times, taking the death toll to around 2,30,000 people. The Sumatran region also experiences earthquakes off the coast regularly.

Recently, it has been discovered that larger Tsunamis than previously believed possible could be caused by landslides, explosive volcanic actions and Earth-scouring impact events. These phenomena rapidly displace large volumes of water, as energy from falling debris or expansion is transferred to the water into which the debris fall. Tsunamis caused by these mechanisms, unlike the ocean-wide tsunamis caused by some earthquakes, generally dissipate quickly and rarely affect coastlines distant from the source due to the small area of the sea affected.

Tsunamis move the entire depth of the ocean (often several kilometres deep) rather than just the surface, so they contain immense energy, propagate at high speeds and can travel great trans-oceanic distances with little overall energy loss. A Tsunami can cause damage thousands of kilometres from its origin, so there may be several hours between its creation and its impact on a coast, arriving long after the seismic wave generated by the originating event arrives.

In open water, Tsunamis have extremely long periods from minutes to hours, and long wavelengths of up to several hundred kilometres. This is very different from typical wind-generated swells on the ocean, which might have a period of about 10 seconds and a wavelength of 150 metres.

A few signs may be triggered by nature to warn a huge tsunami wave. An earthquake may be felt. Large quantities of gas may bubble to the water surface and make the sea look as if it is boiling. The water in the waves may be unusually hot. The water may sometimes smell of rotten eggs due to the presence of hydrogen sulphide or of petrol or oil. The water may sting the skin.

A thunderous boom may be heard followed by a roaring noise as of a jet plane, a helicopter, or a whistling sound. The sea may recede to a considerable distance.

A flash of red light might be seen near the horizon and as the wave approaches, the top of the wave may glow red. These signals have been recorded from time to time over the ages before every Tsunami tragedy. Oceanographers, scientists, geologists and environmentalists are working on making some kind of systems which can if not prevent atleast signal the impending Tsunami.

The Lisbon quake is the first documented case of such a phenomenon in Europe back in 1 755 which had generated an almost 12 metre high sea wave and had destroyed most part of the city killing around 60000 people. This phenomenon was also seen in Sri Lanka in the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. In 2011, the powerful 8.9 magnitude earthquake sent Japan into chaos as it triggered a giant tsunami in the Pacific Ocean, sweeping away boats, cars, homes and people, and led to the loss of more than 15000 lives in Japan.

In some particularly Tsunami-prone countries, measures have been taken to reduce the damage caused on the shores. Japan has implemented an extensive programme of building Tsunami walls of up to 4.5m (13.5 ft) high in front of populated coastal areas. Other localities have built floodgates and channels to redirect the water from incoming tsunamis. However, their effectiveness has been questioned, as Tsunamis are often higher than the barriers.

For instance, the Tsunami which hit the island of Hokkaido on 12 July, 1993 created waves as much as 30 m (100 ft) tall – as high as a 10-storey building. The port town of Aonae was completely surrounded by a Tsunami wall but the waves washed right over the wall and destroyed all the wood-framed structures in the area.

The wall may have succeeded in slowing down and moderating the height of the Tsunami but it did not prevent major destruction and loss of life.

Yet the effects of a Tsunami can be mitigated by natural factors such as tree cover on the shoreline. Some locations in the path of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami escaped almost unscathed as a result of the tsunami’s energy being sapped by a belt of trees such as coconut, palms and mangroves. In one striking example, the village of Naluvedapathy in India’s Tamil Nadu region suffered minimal damages and few deaths as the wave broke up on a forest of 80244 trees planted along the stretches of seacoasts that are prone to Tsunami risks.

While it would take some years for the trees to grow to a useful size, such plantations could offer a much cheaper and longer-lasting means of Tsunami mitigation than the costly and environmentally destructive method of erecting artificial barriers.

Short Essay on Tsunami 200 Words in English

Below we have given a short essay on Tsunami is for Classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. This short essay on the topic is suitable for students of class 6 and below.

Regions with a high risk of Tsunamis may use Tsunami warning systems now available to detect Tsunamis and warn the general populace before the waves reach the coasts. In some communities on the West coast of the United States, which is prone to Pacific Ocean Tsunamis, warning signs advise people where to run in the event of an incoming Tsunami. Computer models can roughly predict Tsunami arrival and impact based on information about the event that triggered it and the shape of the sea floor and the coastal landmass. One of the early warnings comes from nearby animals. Many animals sense danger and flee to higher ground before the water arrives. Monitoring their behaviour closely could provide advance warnings of earthquakes, Tsunamis etc.

In 2011, Earthquake Research Committee of Japanese Government announced that Tsunami forecasts would be started to alert the public in advance about the approaching Tsunamis in near future. This would comprise Tsunamic height, attack area and probability of occurrence within 100 years. Such forecasts should be soon activated in the Indian sub-continent also. The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, UNESCO is working out strategies for this area.

Coastal areas of India are sitting on a ‘Tsunami-bomb’. Awareness and robust measures are the needs of the hour.

Tsunami Essay Word Meanings for Simple Understanding

• Seismic – pertaining to, of the nature of, or caused by an earthquake or vibration of the earth, Whether due to natural or artificial causes
• Pulverise – to demolish or crush completely
• Scouring – to clear or dig out (a channel, drain, etc) as by the force of water, by removing debris, etc
• Wavelength – the distance, measured in the direction of propagation of a wave, between two successive points in the wave that are characterised by the same phase of oscillation
• Recede – to go or move away, withdraw
• Oceanographer – the branch of physical geography dealing with the ocean
• Unscathed – not scathed, unharmed, uninjured
• Dissipate – to use up or waste, to disperse
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Essay On Tsunami – 10 Lines, Short & Long Essay For Children

Key Points To Remember: Essay On Tsunami For Lower Primary Classes

10 lines on tsunami for kids, a paragraph on tsunami in english for children, short essay on tsunami for kids, long essay on tsunami for children, what will your child learn from this essay, interesting facts about tsunami for kids.

The word ‘Tsunami’ is of Japanese origin, which means harbour wave. A tsunami is the repetition of long-wavelength water waves triggered due to quakes and volcanic eruptions in ocean beds. If the earthquake fails to cause a tsunami inside the ocean, it will mostly cause a landslide. This tsunami essay for classes 1, 2 and 3 will help your child learn about new things. A tsunami essay in English will also improve ability to convert thoughts into words, positively impacting communication and vocabulary.

A topic like tsunami isn’t a very easy topic to write about. Children might need the assistance of parents or teachers to write about tsunamis. Here are a few key points to remember when writing a composition on tsunami for lower primary classes:

• Use videos or pictures while explaining tsunamis to kids. Visual aids help in better memorisation.
• Keep the content crisp and clear. A tsunami is a phenomenon that involves geographical terms. So, keep in mind to use simple language.
• Encourage your child to write their essay independently once the basics are covered.

What is a tsunami? How does it occur, and what is its impact? Get answers to these questions from the essay for class 1 and 2 kids on tsunamis. Mentioned below are a few lines on tsunami:

• Tsunamis are natural disasters that cause harm to the environment.
• It happens due to an earthquake underwater.
• These occur unexpectedly.
• Volcanic eruptions, plate shifting, the sinking of the earth, etc., are other reasons for tsunamis.
• The term tsunami means harbour waves.
• It has a series of waves with a high wavelength, capable of serious damage.
• The waves created in seas and oceans move towards the land and destroy buildings, homes, forests, etc.
• Landslides also lead to tsunamis.
• Most tsunamis often happen in the Pacific ocean.
• India experienced a similarly destructive Tsunami in 2004.

Do you want to read a short paragraph on tsunamis for children? Then, you are at the right place. Given below is a template for reference:

A tsunami is a series of waves of high wavelengths that cause water to move toward the land. It happens due to earthquakes whose main point is in the water/ocean. Greeks were the first to notice the effects of tsunamis. Sudden volcanic eruptions in the ocean beds, the sinking of the earth, etc., are the other major reasons for tsunamis. Like any other natural calamity, it causes widespread damage to human lives, buildings and trees. Underwater explosions can lead to tsunamis as well. The Pacific Ocean is known to be the hub of tsunamis. Ports and harbours get affected badly by tsunamis.

Looking for a simple-written short essay for classes 1,2 and 3 on tsunamis for kids to understand? Well, search no further. Given below is the template for the same:

A tsunami is defined as a series of waves of high wavelengths that cause water to move toward the land. It happens due to earthquakes whose main point is in the water. Greeks were the first to study the effects of tsunamis, and the only difference between earthquakes and tsunamis is that the latter happens in water. Tsunamis are called seismic waves. We should know that all seismic waves are tsunamis, but earthquakes are not the sole cause of all tsunamis. It also occurs due to sudden volcanic eruptions in the ocean beds, the sinking of the earth, etc. Like any other natural calamity, it causes widespread damage to human lives, public and private properties, and forests. Underwater explosions can lead to tsunamis as well. The Pacific Ocean is known to be the hub of tsunamis. During tsunamis, marine life is also get affected.

Natural calamities like tsunamis occur due to various reasons and cause damage to living and non-living. Here is an essay for class 3 kids on the causes, impacts and history of tsunamis.

History of Tsunami

According to legend, the Greek historian Thucydides suggested that there might be a connection between undersea earthquakes and tsunamis. But until the 20th century, knowledge of the causes and nature of tsunamis was limited. Ammianus, a Roman historian, characterised the sequence of events leading up to a tsunami as an earthquake, a quick retreat of the sea, and then a massive wave. The highest ever tsunami took place in a bay along the coasts of Alaska on July 9th, 1958.

What are the Causes and Effects of Tsunami?

Causes of Tsunami 

• Earthquakes and Landslides:  Shifts in tectonic plates cause earthquakes, and when the main point is in the water, a tsunami is triggered. Sometimes landslides induced by earthquakes lead to these tidal waves.
• Volcanic Eruptions in Sea Beds:  Volcanic eruptions in sea beds are another cause of these high wavelength waves.
• The Sinking of The Earth:  Changes in the earth’s crust or interiors often lead to the sinking of the earth, and this sudden shift can trigger a tsunami.
• Underwater Explosions:  Incidents like meteor collisions with the earth, or chunks of ice breaking off from glaciers lead to underwater explosions.

Effects of Tsunami

• Boats and Ships Sink:  The crashing of such high waves causes widespread damage to boats and ships off the coast.
• It Ruins Buildings, Trees and Houses:  Since the water moves towards the land and is of high velocity, it can destroy homes, uproot trees and displace vehicles.
• Causes:  As in the case of any natural calamity, a tsunami also takes a toll on people’s lives.

How Can Tsunami Be Prevented?

The effects of a tsunami can be reduced by avoiding inundation areas, slowing down water by building ditches, slopes, etc. and steering water to strategically placed walls or structures. An alert well ahead of time can also reduce the damage percentage.

How To Prepare for a Tsunami Disaster?

• To escape a tsunami, go 100 feet above sea level or 2 miles away.
• Often there are weather reports and cautionary warnings for a tsunami. Please take care to follow them.
• Every foot inland or upward is sure to make a difference!
• If you can see the wave, you are too close for safety!

Your child will learn about the causes, history and effects of natural disasters such as tsunamis. They will also understand essay writing and its ways better.

• The word tsunami means harbour wave in Japanese.
• The Pacific Ocean is the hub of tsunamis.
• The first wave of a tsunami is never the biggest.
• The series of waves generated by a tsunami is called a wave train.
• Often called tidal waves, tsunamis are not related to ocean tides.

What is the Difference Between Earthquake and Tsunami?

The major difference between an earthquake and a tsunami is that tsunamis are triggered by earthquakes whose main point is in the oceans or seas. And earthquakes happen on the land.

Topics like composition on tsunamis create awareness about natural calamities and the damage these can cause to humans. Teach your child about possible effects and help them learn new things.

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• Forecast & Warning

The Tsunami Story

Tsunami is a set of ocean waves caused by any large, abrupt disturbance of the sea-surface. If the disturbance is close to the coastline, local tsunamis can demolish coastal communities within minutes. A very large disturbance can cause local devastation AND export tsunami destruction thousands of miles away. The word tsunami is a Japanese word, represented by two characters: tsu, meaning, "harbor", and nami meaning, "wave". Tsunamis rank high on the scale of natural disasters. Since 1850 alone, tsunamis have been responsible for the loss of over 420,000 lives and billions of dollars of damage to coastal structures and habitats. Most of these casualties were caused by local tsunamis that occur about once per year somewhere in the world. For example, the December 26, 2004, tsunami killed about 130,000 people close to the earthquake and about 58,000 people on distant shores. Predicting when and where the next tsunami will strike is currently impossible. Once the tsunami is generated, forecasting tsunami arrival and impact is possible through modeling and measurement technologies.

Generation. Tsunamis are most commonly generated by earthquakes in marine and coastal regions. Major tsunamis are produced by large (greater than 7 on the Richer scale), shallow focus (< 30km depth in the earth) earthquakes associated with the movement of oceanic and continental plates. They frequently occur in the Pacific, where dense oceanic plates slide under the lighter continental plates. When these plates fracture they provide a vertical movement of the seafloor that allows a quick and efficient transfer of energy from the solid earth to the ocean (try the animation in Figure 1). When a powerful earthquake (magnitude 9.3) struck the coastal region of Indonesia in 2004, the movement of the seafloor produced a tsunami in excess of 30 meters (100 feet) along the adjacent coastline killing more than 240,000 people. From this source the tsunami radiated outward and within 2 hours had claimed 58,000 lives in Thailand, Sri Lanka, and India.

Underwater landslides associated with smaller earthquakes are also capable of generating destructive tsunamis. The tsunami that devastated the northwestern coast of Papua New Guinea on July 17, 1998, was generated by an earthquake that registered 7.0 on the Richter scale that apparently triggered a large underwater landslide. Three waves measuring more than 7 meter high struck a 10-kilometer stretch of coastline within ten minutes of the earthquake/slump. Three coastal villages were swept completely clean by the deadly attack leaving nothing but sand and 2,200 people dead. Other large-scale disturbances of the sea -surface that can generate tsunamis are explosive volcanoes and asteroid impacts. The eruption of the volcano Krakatoa in the East Indies on Aug. 27, 1883 produced a 30-meter tsunami that killed over 36,000 people. In 1997, scientists discovered evidence of a 4km diameter asteroid that landed offshore of Chile approximately 2 million years ago that produced a huge tsunami that swept over portions of South America and Antarctica.

Figure 1. Click to see and animation of a tsunami generated by an earthquake.

Wave Propagation. Because earth movements associated with large earthquakes are thousand of square kilometers in area, any vertical movement of the seafloor immediately changes the sea-surface. The resulting tsunami propagates as a set of waves whose energy is concentrated at wavelengths corresponding to the earth movements (~100 km), at wave heights determined by vertical displacement (~1m), and at wave directions determined by the adjacent coastline geometry. Because each earthquake is unique, every tsunami has unique wavelengths, wave heights, and directionality (Figure 2 shows the propagation of the December 24, 2004 Sumatra tsunami.) From a tsunami warning perspective, this makes the problem of forecasting tsunamis in real time daunting.

Warning Systems. Since 1946, the tsunami warning system has provided warnings of potential tsunami danger in the pacific basin by monitoring earthquake activity and the passage of tsunami waves at tide gauges. However, neither seismometers nor coastal tide gauges provide data that allow accurate prediction of the impact of a tsunami at a particular coastal location. Monitoring earthquakes gives a good estimate of the potential for tsunami generation, based on earthquake size and location, but gives no direct information about the tsunami itself. Tide gauges in harbors provide direct measurements of the tsunami, but the tsunami is significantly altered by local bathymetry and harbor shapes, which severely limits their use in forecasting tsunami impact at other locations. Partly because of these data limitations, 15 of 20 tsunami warnings issued since 1946 were considered false alarms because the tsunami that arrived was too weak to cause damage.

Figure 2. Click to see the propagation of the December 24, 2004 Sumatra tsunami.

Forecasting impacts. Recently developed real-time, deep ocean tsunami detectors (Figure 3) will provide the data necessary to make tsunami forecasts. The November 17, 2003, Rat Is. tsunami in Alaska provided the most comprehensive test for the forecast methodology. The Mw 7.8 earthquake on the shelf near Rat Islands, Alaska, generated a tsunami that was detected by three tsunameters located along the Aleutian Trench-the first tsunami detection by the newly developed real-time tsunameter system. These real-time data combined with the model database (Figure 4) were then used to produce the real-time model tsunami forecast. For the first time, tsunami model predictions were obtained during the tsunami propagation, before the waves had reached many coastlines. The initial offshore forecast was obtained immediately after preliminary earthquake parameters (location and magnitude Ms = 7.5) became available from the West Coast/Alaska TWC (about 15-20 minutes after the earthquake). The model estimates provided expected tsunami time series at tsunameter locations. When the closest tsunameter recorded the first tsunami wave, about 80 minutes after the tsunami, the model predictions were compared with the deep-ocean data and the updated forecast was adjusted immediately. These offshore model scenarios were then used as input for the high-resolution inundation model for Hilo Bay. The model computed tsunami dynamics on several nested grids, with the highest spatial resolution of 30 meters inside the Hilo Bay (Figure 5). None of the tsunamis produced inundation at Hilo, but all of them recorded nearly half a meter (peak-to-trough) signal at Hilo gage. Model forecast predictions for this tide gage are compared with observed data in Figure 5. The comparison demonstrates that amplitudes, arrival time and periods of several first waves of the tsunami wave train were correctly forecasted. More tests are required to ensure that the inundation forecast will work for every likely-to-occur tsunami. When implemented, such forecast will be obtained even faster and would provide enough lead time for potential evacuation or warning cancellation for Hawaii and the U.S. West Coast.

Reduction of impact. The recent development of real-time deep ocean tsunami detectors and tsunami inundation models has given coastal communities the tools they need to reduce the impact of future tsunamis. If these tools are used in conjunction with a continuing educational program at the community level, at least 25% of the tsunami related deaths might be averted. By contrasting the casualties from the 1993 Sea of Japan tsunami with that of the 1998 Papua New Guinea tsunami, we can conclude that these tools work. For the Aonae, Japan case about 15% of the population at risk died from a tsunami that struck within 10 minutes of the earthquake because the population was educated about tsunamis, evacuation plans had been developed, and a warning was issued. For the Warapa, Papua New Guinea case about 40% of the at risk population died from a tsunami that arrived within 15 minutes of the earthquake because the population was not educated, no evacuation plan was available, and no warning system existed.

Eddie N. Bernard

References:

Bernard, E.N. (1998): Program aims to reduce impact of tsunamis on Pacific states. Eos Trans. AGU, 79(22), 258, 262-263.

Bernard, E.N. (1999): Tsunami. Natural Disaster Management, Tudor Rose, Leicester, England, 58-60.

Synolakis, C., P. Liu, G. Carrier, H. Yeh, Tsunamigenic Sea-Floor Deformations, Science, 278, 598-600, 1997.

Dudley, Walter C., and Min Lee (1998): Tsunami! Second Edition, University of Hawai'i Press, Honolulu, Hawaii.

Geography Notes

Tsunami: compilation of essays on tsunami | natural disasters | geography.

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Here is a compilation of essays on ‘Tsunami’ for class 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short essays on ‘Tsunami’ especially written for school and college students.

Essay on Tsunami

Essay Contents:

• Essay on Preparedness for Tsunamis

Essay # 1. Definition of Tsunami:

The word tsunami is a Japanese word, represented by two characters: tsu, meaning, ‘harbour’, and nami meaning, ‘wave’. Tsunami is a set of ocean waves caused by any large, abrupt disturbance on the sea- surface. If the disturbance is close to the coastline, local tsunamis can demolish coastal communities within minutes. A very large disturbance can cause local devastation and export tsunami destruction thousands of miles away.  

Tsunamis rank high on the scale of natural disasters. Since 1850 alone, tsunamis have been responsible for the loss of over 420,000 lives and billions of dollars of damage to coastal structures and habitats. Most of these casualties were caused by local tsunamis that occur about once per year somewhere in the world.

For example, the December 26, 2004, tsunami killed about 130,000 people close to the earthquake and about 58,000 people on distant shores. Predicting when and where the next tsunami will strike is currently impossible. Once the tsunami is generated, forecasting tsunami arrival and impact is possible through modelling and measurement technologies.

Essay # 2. Meaning of Tsunami:

The phenomenon we call tsunami is a series of large waves of extremely long wavelength and period usually generated by a violent, impulsive undersea disturbance or activity near the coast or in the ocean. When a sudden displacement of a large volume of water occurs, or if the sea floor is suddenly raised or dropped by an earthquake, big tsunami waves can be formed by forces of gravity.

The waves travel out of the area of origin and can be extremely dangerous and damaging when they reach the shore. The word tsunami (pronounced tsoo-nah’-mee) is composed of the Japanese words ‘tsu’ (which means harbour) and ‘nami’ (which means ‘wave’).

Often the term, ‘seismic or tidal sea wave’ is used to describe the same phenomenon, however the terms are misleading, because tsunami waves can be generated by other non-seismic disturbances such as volcanic eruptions or underwater landslides, and have physical characteristics different from tidal waves.

The tsunami waves are completely unrelated to the astronomical tides—which are caused by the extra-terrestrial, gravi­tational influences of the moon, sun, and the planets. Thus, the Japanese word ‘tsunami’, meaning ‘harbour wave’ is correct, official and ail-inclusive term. It has been internationally adopted because it covers all forms of impulsive wave generation.

Essay # 3. Characteristics of Tsunami :

Tsunami in the deep ocean may have very long wave length of hundreds of kilometre and travels at about 800 km per hour, but an amplitude of only about 1 km. It remains undetected by ships in the deep sea. However, when it approaches the coast its wavelength diminishes but amplitude grows enormously, and it takes very little time to reach its full height.

Computer model can provide tsunami arrival, usually within minutes of the arrival time. Tsunamis have great erosion potential, stripping beaches of sand, coastal vegetation and dissipating its energy through the destruction of houses and coastal structures.

In the open ocean, tsunamis would not be felt by ships because the wavelength would be hundreds of miles long, with an amplitude of only a few feet. This would also make them unnoticeable from the air. As the waves approach the coast, their speed decreases and their amplitude increases. Unusual wave heights have been known to be over 100 feet high. However, waves that are 10 to 20 feet high can be very destructive and may cause many deaths or injuries.

From an initial tsunami generating source area, waves travel outward in all the directions much like the ripples caused by throwing a rock into a pond. As these waves approach coastal areas, the time between successive wave crests varies from 5 to 90 minutes. The first wave is usually not the largest in the series of waves, nor it is the most significant.

Furthermore, one coastal community may experience no damaging waves while the other, located not that far away, may experience destructive deadly waves. Depending on a number of factors, some low-lying areas could experience severe inland inundation of water and debris of more than 1,000 feet.

Essay # 4. Prediction of Tsunamis :

There is no historic record of a tsunami in the Indian Ocean: the only earlier reference to a tsunami was in relation to the 1941 Andaman Island earthquake and prior to that in 1880s. That too is not documented. Tsunami is most infrequent and it is almost impossible to predict as compared to a normal earthquake.

Since this phenomenon has been experienced mostly in the pacific ocean region stretching from Chile in Latin America to Japan in far East-Asia. The international group for the Tsunami warning system does not extend to Indian Ocean.

The area of Sumatra where the earthquake occurred, was considered to lie in an endangered zone by many geologists and other experts, even though the exact date and time of catastrophe could not be forecast. The strength of the quake could not have been predicted nor its location below the ocean. No one had thought that such a dangerous tsunami would result as it happened in December, 2004.

Early warning can be made about the presence and advance of a tsunami. But this can be practical only for those who are some distance away from ground zero. These waves could be detected by specially designed synchronous satellites mandated to keep a watch. A more reliable method might be to locate several pressure sensors at the bottom of the ocean.

These sensors would detect the periodic changes in pressure produced by the variations of the water column height above caused by the passing waves. They would send the information up to the floating buoys using ultrasound chirp signal.

The buoys could be equipped to communicate through satellite communication with control, analysis and operational centres, which could then issue appropriate warnings to the people in potential impact zones. Although prediction of Tsunamis is an uphill task, however, disaster mitigation centres can be established in those areas, where there is an urgent need to provide relief and rehabilitation facilities.

The global tsunami warning system set up in 1965 is said to predict where tsunamis will strike up to 14 hours in advance, using network of seismic centres and tidal gauges attached to buoys in the oceans. According to the scientists in the Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), a reliable early detection system for tsunamis is yet to be developed.

Essay # 5. Causes of Tsunami:

A tsunami is a large ocean wave that is caused by sudden motion on the ocean floor. This sudden motion could be an earthquake, a powerful volcanic eruption, or an underwater landslide. The impact of a large meteorite can also cause a tsunami. Tsunamis travel across the open ocean at great speeds and convert into large deadly waves in the shallow water of a shoreline.

(i) Subduction Zones are Potential Tsunami Locations :

Most tsunamis are caused by earthquakes generated in a subduction zone, an area where an oceanic plate is being forced down into the mantle by tectonic plate forces. The friction between the subducting plate and the overriding plate is enormous. This friction prevents a slow and steady rate of subduction and instead the two plates become ‘stuck’.

(ii) Accumulated Seismic Energy :

As the stuck plate continues to descend into the mantle the motion causes a slow distortion of the overriding plate. The result is an accumulation of energy very similar to the energy stored in a compressed spring. Energy can accumulate in the overriding plate over a long period of time—decades or even centuries.

(iii) Earthquake Causes Tsunami :

Energy accumulates in the overriding plate until it exceeds the frictional forces between the two stuck plates. When this happens, the overriding plate snaps back into an unrestrained position. This sud­den motion is the cause of the tsunami—because it gives an enormous shove to the overlying water. At the same time, inland areas of the overriding plate are suddenly lowered.

(iv) Tsunami Races away from the Epicentre :

The moving wave begins travelling out from where the earthquake has occurred. Some of the water travels out across the ocean basin, and, at the same time, water rushes towards the land to flood the recently lowered shoreline.

Essay # 6. Generation of Tsunamis:

Tsunamis are commonly generated by earthquakes in marine and coastal regions. Major tsunamis are produced by large (greater than 7 on the Richter scale), shallow focus (< 30 km depth in the earth) earthquakes associated with the movement of oceanic and continental plates. They frequently occur in the Pacific, where dense oceanic plates slide under the lighter continental plates.

Propagation of Waves:

Because earth movements associated with large earth­quakes are thousands of square kilometres in area, any vertical movement of the seafloor immediately changes the sea-surface. The resulting tsunami propagates as a set of waves whose energy is concentrated at wavelengths corresponding to the earth movements (-100 km), wave heights determined by vertical displacement (~lm) and wave directions determined by the adjacent coastline geometry.

Because each earthquake is unique, every tsunami has unique wavelengths, wave heights and directionality. From a tsunami-warning perspective, this makes the problem of forecasting tsunamis in real time daunting.

How do Earthquakes Generate Tsunamis?

By far, the most destructive tsunamis are generated from large, shallow earthquakes with an epicentre or fault line near or on the ocean floor. These usually occur in regions of the earth characterized by tectonic subduction along tectonic plate boundaries. The high seismicity of such regions is caused by the collision of tectonic plates.

When these plates move past each other, they cause large earthquakes, which tilt, offset, or displace large areas of the ocean floor from a few kilometres to as much as a 1,000 km or more. The sudden vertical displacements over such large areas disturb the ocean’s surface, displace water, and generate destructive tsunami waves. The waves can travel great distances from the source region, spreading destruction along their path.

For example, the Great 1960 Chilean tsunami was generated by a magnitude 8.3 earthquake that had a rupture zone of over 1,000 km. Its waves were destructive not only in Chile, but also as far away as Hawaii, Japan and elsewhere in the Pacific. It should be noted that not all earthquakes generate tsunamis. Usually, it takes an earthquake with a Richter magni­tude exceeding 7.5 to produce a destructive tsunami.

How do Volcanic Eruptions Generate Tsunamis?

Although relatively infrequent, violent volcanic eruptions represent impulsive disturbances, which can displace a great volume of water and generate extremely destructive tsunami waves in the immedi­ate source area. According to this mechanism, waves may be generated by the sudden displacement of water caused by a volcanic explosion, by a volcano’s slope failure, or more likely by a phreatomagmatic explosion and collapse/engulfment of the volcanic magmatic chambers.

One of the largest and most destructive tsunamis ever recorded was generated on August 26, 1883 after the explosion and collapse of the volcano of Krakatoa (Krakatau), in Indonesia. This explosion generated waves that reached 135 feet, destroyed coastal towns and villages along the Sunda Strait in both the islands of Java and Sumatra, killing 36,417 people. It is also believed that the destruction of the Minoan civilization in Greece was caused in 1490 B.C. by the explosion/collapse of the volcano of Santorin in the Aegean Sea.

How do submarine landslides, rock falls and underwater slumps generate tsunamis?

Less frequently, tsunami waves can be generated from displacement of water resulting from rock falls, icefalls and sudden submarine landslides or slumps. Such events may be caused impulsively from the instability and sudden failure of submarine slopes, which are sometimes triggered by the ground motions of a strong earthquake.

For example, in 1980’s, the earth moving and construction work of an airport runway along the coast of Southern France, triggered an underwater landslide, which generated destructive tsunami waves in the harbour of Thebes.

Major earthquakes are suspected to cause many underwater landslides, which may contribute significantly to tsunami generation. For example, many scientists believe that the 1998 tsunami, which killed thousands of people and destroyed coastal villages along the northern coast of Papua-New Guinea, was generated by a large underwater slump of sediments, triggered by an earthquake.

In general, the energy of tsunami waves generated from landslides or rock falls is rapidly dissipated as they travel away from the source and across the ocean, or within an enclosed or semi-enclosed body of water—such as a lake or a fjord. However, it should be noted that the largest tsunami wave ever observed anywhere in the world was caused by a rock fall in Lituya Bay, Alaska on July 9, 1958.

Triggered by an earthquake along the Fairweather fault, an approximately 40 million cubic metre rock fall at the head of the bay generated a wave, which reached the incredible height of 520 metre wave (1,720 feet) on the opposite side of the inlet.

An initial huge solitary wave of about 180 metres (600 feet) raced at about 160 kilometres per hour (100 mph) within the bay debarking trees along its path. However, the tsunami’s energy and height diminished rapidly away from the source area and, once in the open ocean, it was hardly recorded by tide gauge stations.

Can Asteroids, Meteorites or Man-Made Explosions Cause Tsunamis?

Fortunately, for mankind, it is indeed very rare for a meteorite or an asteroid to reach the earth. No asteroid has fallen on the earth within recorded history. Most meteorites burn as they reach the earth’s atmosphere. However, large meteorites have hit the earth’s surface in the distant past. This is indicated by large craters, which have been found in different parts of the earth.

Also, it is possible that an asteroid may have fallen on the earth in prehistoric times—the last one some 65 million years ago during the Cretaceous period. Since, the evidence of the fall of meteorites and asteroids on earth exists, we must conclude that they have also fallen in the oceans and seas of the earth, particularly since four-fifths of our planet is covered by water.

The fall of meteorites or asteroids in the earth’s oceans has the potential of generating tsunamis of cataclysmic proportions. Scientists studying this possibility have concluded that the impact of moderately large asteroid, 5-6 km in diameter, in the middle of the large ocean basin such as the Atlantic Ocean, would produce a tsu­nami that would travel all the way to the Appalachian Mountains in the upper two-thirds of the United States. On both sides of the Atlantic, coastal cities would be washed out by such a tsunami.

An asteroid 5-6 kilometres in diameter impacting between the Hawaiian Islands and the West Coast of North America, would produce a tsunami which would wash out the coastal cities on the West coasts of Canada, U.S. and Mexico would cover most of the inhabited coastal areas of the Hawaiian islands.

Con­ceivably, tsunami waves can also be generated from very large nuclear explosions. However, no tsunami of any significance has ever resulted from the testing of nuclear weapons in the past. Furthermore, such testing is presently prohibited by international treaty.

Warning Systems :

Since 1946, the tsunami warning system has provided warnings of potential tsunami danger in the Pacific basin by monitoring earthquake activity and the pas­sage of tsunami waves at tide gauges. However, neither seismometers nor coastal tide gauges provide data that allow accurate prediction of the impact of a tsunami at a particular coastal location.

Monitoring earthquakes gives a good estimate of the potential for tsunami generation, based on earthquake size and location, but gives no direct information about the tsunami itself. Tide gauges in harbors provide direct measurements of the tsunami, but the tsunami is signifi­cantly altered by local bathymetry and harbour shapes, which severely limits their use in forecasting tsunami impact at other locations.

Partly because of these data limitations, 15 of 20 tsunami warnings issued since 1946 were considered false alarms because the tsunami that arrived was too weak to cause damage.

Essay # 7. Risk Assessment of Tsunami:

A preliminary risk assessment has been done for the Indian coast w.r.t. tsunamis taking into account the seismo-tectonic setting, historical seismicity and past-tsunami events.

The east and west coasts of India and the island regions are likely to be affected by Tsunamis generated mainly by subduction zone related earthquakes from the two potential source regions, viz., the Andaman- Nicobar-Sumatra Island Arc and the Makran subduction zone north of Arabian Seat.

Depending upon the location of the earthquake, the response time for evacuation of coastal population could range between 10 minutes to few hours. Tsunami modelling studies indicate that the least response time available is for the Andaman & Nicobar Islands which are situated right on the subduction zone capable of triggering tsunami earthquakes.

Considering that a credibly worst earthquake of 7.5 or higher occurs near Nicobar, the travel time to the nearest coast in Nicobar would be approximately 20-30 minutes and for the Indian mainland about 2-3 hours.

Where and How Frequently are Tsunamis Generated?

Tsunamis are disasters that can be generated in all of the world’s oceans, inland seas, and in any large body of water. Each region of the world appears to have its own cycle of frequency and pattern in generating tsunamis that range in size from small to the large and highly destructive events. Most tsunamis occur in the Pacific Ocean and its marginal seas.

The reason is that the Pacific covers more than one-third of the earth’s surface and is surrounded by a series of mountain chains, deep-ocean trenches and island arcs called the ‘ring of fire’—where most earthquakes occur (off the coasts of Kamchatka, Japan, the Kuril Islands, Alaska and South America). Many tsunamis have also been generated in the seas which border the Pacific Ocean.

Tsunamis are generated by shallow earthquakes all around the Pacific, but those from earthquakes in the tropical Pacific tend to be modest in size. While such tsunamis in these areas may be devastating locally, their energy decays rapidly with distance. Usually, they are not destructive a few hundred kilometres away from their sources.

That is not the case with tsunamis generated by great earthquakes in the North Pacific or along the Pacific coast of South America. On an average of about half-a-dozen times per century, a tsunami from one of these regions sweeps across the entire Pacific, is reflected from distant shores, and sets the entire ocean in motion for days.

For example, the 1960 Chilean tsunami caused death and destruction throughout the Pacific. Hawaii, Samoa, and Easter Island all recorded runups exceeding 4 m; 61 people were killed in Hawaii. In Japan 200 people died.

A similar tsunami in 1868 from northern Chile caused extensive damage in the Austral Islands, Hawaii, Samoa and New Zealand. Although not as frequent, destructive tsunamis have also been generated in the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans, the Mediterranean Sea and even within smaller bodies of water, like the Sea of Marmara, in Turkey.

In 1999, a large earthquake along the North Anatolian Fault zone, generated a local tsunami, which was particularly damaging in the Bay of Izmit. In the last decade alone, destructive tsunamis have occurred in Nicaragua (1992), Indonesia (1992, 1994, 1996), Japan (1993), Philippines (1994), Mexico (1995), Peru (1996, 2001), Papua-New Guinea (1998), Turkey (1999), Vanuatu (1999) and India-Sri Lanka (2004).

How does Tsunami Energy Travel across the Ocean and How far can Tsunami Waves Reach?

Once a tsunami has been generated, its energy is distributed throughout the water column, regardless of the ocean’s depth. A tsunami is made up of a series of very long waves. The waves will travel outward on the surface of the ocean in all directions away from the source area, much like the ripples caused by throwing a rock into a pond.

The wavelength of the tsunami waves and their period will depend on the generating mechanism and the dimensions of the source event. If the tsunami is generated from a large earthquake over a large area, its initial wavelength and period will be greater. If the tsunami is caused by a local landslide, both its initial wavelength and period will be shorter. The period of the tsunami waves may range from 5 to 90 minutes.

The wave crests of a tsunami can be a thousand km long, and from a few to a hundred kilometre or more apart as they travel across the ocean. On the open ocean, the wavelength of a tsunami may be as much as two hundred kilometres, many times greater than the ocean depth, which is in the order of a few kilometres. In the deep ocean, the height of the tsunami from trough to crest may be only a few centimetres to a metre or more—again depending on the generating source.

Tsunami waves in the deep ocean can travel at high speeds for a long period of time for thousands of kilometres and lose very little energy in the pro­cess. The deeper the water, the greater the speed of tsunami waves will be. For example, at the deep­est ocean depths the tsunami wave speed will be as much as 800 km/hr, about the same as that of a jet aircraft.

Since the average depth of the Pacific Ocean is 4000 m (14,000 feet), wave speed of tsunami will average about 200 m/s or over 700 km/hr (500 mph). At such high speeds, a tsunami generated in Aleutian Islands may reach Hawaii in less than four and a half hours. In 1960, great tsunami waves generated in Chile reached Japan, more than 16,800 km away in less than 24 hours, killing hundreds of people.

Essay # 8. Capacity-Building for Tsunami :

UNDP describes ‘capacity-building’ as the creation of an enabling environment with appropriate policy and legal frameworks, institutional development, including community participation (of women in particular), human resource development and strengthening of managerial systems. It adds that capacity-building is a long-term, continuing process, in which all stakeholders participate (ministries, local authorities, non-governmental organizations, and water user associations, professional associations, academics and others).

Capacity may include physical, institutional, social or economic means as well as skilled per­sonal or collective attributes such as leadership and management. Capacity may also be described as capability.

Capacity-building is much more than training and includes the following:

i. Human resource development, the process of equipping individuals with the understanding, skills and access to information, knowledge and training that enables them to perform effectively,

ii. Organizational development, the elaboration of management structures, processes and pro­cedures, not only within organizations but also the management of relationships between the different organizations and sectors (public, private and community).

iii. Institutional and legal framework develop­ment, making legal and regulatory changes to enable organizations, institutions and agencies at all levels and in all sectors to enhance their capacities.

Approach to Capacity-Building :

The National Policy on Disaster Management (NPDM) describes its approach to capacity development. A strategic approach to capacity development can be addressed effectively only with the active and enthusiastic participation of the stakeholders.

This process comprises of awareness generation, education, training, research and development (R&D) etc. It further addresses to put in place an appropriate institutional framework, management systems and allocation of resources for efficient prevention and handling of disasters.

The approach to capacity development includes:

i. Accordingly, priority to training for develop­ing community based DM, systems for their specific needs in view of the regional diversi­ties and multi-hazard vulnerabilities,

ii. Conceptualization of community based DM systems at the national level through a consul­tative process involving the States and other stakeholders with the state and local level authorities in-charge of implementation,

iii. Identification of knowledge-based institutions with proven performance,

iv. Promotion of international and regional coop­eration.

Essay # 9. Preparedness for Tsunamis — What To Do?

The United Nations has been engaged for fifteen years in a process of creating awareness and promoting the development of policies to diminish the loss of life and property from natural and man- made disasters. This was first done through efforts during the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction and then through the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction that followed, as well as by the establishment of the UN Disaster Task Force, in which UNESCO and IOC participate.

Awareness-raising and policy-development issues in disaster reduction were raised to a higher level at the World Conference on Disaster Reduction held in Kobe, Japan, in January 2005 in which more than 6,000 delegates from 155 countries, and numerous inter-governmental and non-governmental agencies, United Nations, and other specialized organizations participated.

Early Warning Systems can save lives. In par­ticular, a number of elements are critical for an effective system to operate, and can be summarized as follows:

i. Proper instruments that enable the early detec­tion of potentially harmful earthquakes and tsu­namis. The data obtained by these instruments must be readily available to all nations continu­ously and in real-time to be effective.

ii. Warning systems that reliably inform the vulnerable populations immediately and in an understandable and culturally appropriate way. The Warning Centre must be able to analyze and forecast the impact of tsunamis on coasts in advance of the waves’ arrival and the local, regional, and/or national Disaster Management Organizations (DMOs) must be able to immediately disseminate information of the threat to enable evacuation of all vulnerable communities. The communication methods must be reliable, robust and redundant, and work closely with the mass media and telecommunication providers to accomplish this broadcast.

iii. Awareness activities that enable ordinary citizens to recognize a tsunami so that they know what to do. Citizens should recognize tsunami’s natural warning signs and respond immediately. This is especially true for the case of a local tsunami, which may hit within minutes and before an official tsunami warning can reach their communities.

iv. Preparedness activities which educate and inform a wide populace, including government responders and those providing lifeline and criti­cal infrastructure services, on the procedures and activities that must be taken to ensure public safety. Drills and exercises before an actual event, and proactive outreach and awareness activities are essential for reducing tsunami impact.

v. Planning activities which identify and create the public safety procedures and products, and build capacity for organizations to respond faster. It is necessary to create and widely disseminate tsunami evacuation or flooding maps, and instructions on when to go, where to go, and how to go. Evacuation shelters and evacuation routes need to be clearly identified and widely known by all segments of the coastal population.

vi. Strong buildings, safe structures, and prudent land-use policies which save lives and reduce property damage that are implemented as pre- disaster mitigations. Tall, reinforced-concrete buildings may be adequate places to which people can vertically evacuate if there is no time to reach higher ground inland. Long-term planning to avoid placing critical infrastructure and lifeline support facilities in inundation zones will reduce the time needed for services to be restored.

vii. Stakeholder coordination as the essential mech­anism that facilitates effective actions in warn­ing and emergency response. Clear designation of the national or local authority from which the public will receive emergency information, it is critical to avoid public confusion, which would compromise on public safety.

viii. High-level advocacy that ensures a sustained commitment to prepare for infrequent, high- fatality natural disasters such as tsunamis.

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Find even more resources on tsunamis  in our searchable resource database.

Tsunamis are just long waves — really long waves. But what is a wave? Sound waves, radio waves, even “the wave” in a stadium all have something in common with the waves that move across oceans. It takes an external force to start a wave, like dropping a rock into a pond or waves blowing across the sea. In the case of tsunamis, the forces involved are large — and their effects can be correspondingly massive.

Expected tsunami wave heights from the March 2011 Honshu, Japan undersea earthquake. (Image credit: NOAA Center for Tsunami Research)

What is a tsunami?

A tsunami is a series of extremely long waves caused by a large and sudden displacement of the ocean, usually the result of an earthquake below or near the ocean floor. This force creates waves that radiate outward in all directions away from their source, sometimes crossing entire ocean basins. Unlike wind-driven waves, which only travel through the topmost layer of the ocean, tsunamis move through the entire water column, from the ocean floor to the ocean surface.

Imagine this: you are sitting on a beautiful beach enjoying a lovely day, when out of the blue an alarm blasts from your phone and reads “Tsunami warning.” Do you know where you would go and what to do? What if you aren’t in the U.S. and there are no alarms, would you know the signs of an approaching tsunami?

What causes tsunamis?

Most tsunamis are caused by earthquakes on converging tectonic plate boundaries . According to the Global Historical Tsunami Database , since 1900, over 80% of likely tsunamis were generated by earthquakes. However, tsunamis can also be caused by landslides, volcanic activity, certain types of weather , and—possibly—near-earth objects (e.g., asteroids, comets) colliding with or exploding above the ocean.

Tsunami movement

Once a tsunami forms, its speed depends on the depth of the ocean. In the deep ocean, a tsunami can move as fast as a jet plane, over 500 mph, and its wavelength , the distance from crest to crest, may be hundreds of miles. Mariners at sea will not normally notice a tsunami as it passes beneath them; in deep water, the top of the wave rarely reaches more than three feet higher than the ocean swell. NOAA Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami (DART) systems, located in the deep ocean, are able to detect small changes in sea-level height and transmit this information to tsunami warning centers.

On the afternoon of April 13, 2018, a large wave of water surged across Lake Michigan and flooded the shores of the picturesque beach town of Ludington, Michigan, damaging homes and boat docks, and flooding intake pipes. Thanks to a local citizen’s photos and other data, NOAA scientists reconstructed the event in models and determined this was the first ever documented meteotsunami in the Great Lakes caused by an atmospheric inertia-gravity wave.

Tsunami safety

A tsunami only becomes hazardous when it approaches land. As a tsunami enters shallow water near coastal shorelines, it slows offsite link to 20 to 30 mph. The wavelength decreases, the height increases, and currents intensify.

Tsunami warnings come in different forms. There are official warnings issued by tsunami warning centers that are broadcast through local radio and television, wireless emergency alerts , NOAA Weather Radios, NOAA websites, and social media. They may also come through outdoor sirens, local officials, text message alerts, and telephone notifications. There may not be time to wait for an official warning, so it is important to be able to recognize natural tsunami warnings. These include strong or long earthquakes, a loud roar (like that of a train or an airplane) coming from the ocean, and a sudden rise or fall of the sea level that is not related to the tide. Official and natural warnings are equally important. Be prepared to respond immediately to any tsunami warnings. Move quickly to a safe place by following posted evacuation signs. If you do not see an evacuation route, go to high ground or as far inland as possible.

When they strike land, most tsunamis are less than 10 feet high, but in extreme cases, they can exceed 100 feet near their source. A tsunami may come onshore like a fast-rising flood or a wall of turbulent water, and a large tsunami can flood low-lying coastal areas more than a mile inland.

Rushing water from waves, floods, and rivers is incredibly powerful. Just six inches of fast-moving water can knock adults off their feet, and twelve inches can carry away a small car. Tsunamis can be particularly destructive because of their speed and volume. They are also dangerous as they return to the sea, carrying debris and people with them. The first wave in a tsunami may not be the last, the largest, or the most damaging. Stay out of the tsunami hazard zone until local officials tell you it is safe, as the danger may last for hours or days.

NOAA bathymetric data helps scientists more accurately model tsunami risk within Barry Arm

Tsunami effects on humans

Large tsunamis are significant threats to human health, property, infrastructure, resources, and economies. Effects can be long-lasting, and felt far beyond the coastline. Tsunamis typically cause the most severe damage and casualties near their source, where there is little time for warning. But large tsunamis can also reach distant shorelines, causing widespread damage. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami , for example, impacted 17 countries in Southeastern and Southern Asia and Eastern and Southern Africa.

Tsunami forecasting

Scientists cannot predict when and where the next tsunami will strike. But the tsunami warning centers know which earthquakes are likely to generate tsunamis and can issue messages when one is possible. They monitor networks of deep-ocean and coastal sea-level observation systems designed to detect tsunamis and use information from these networks to forecast coastal impacts and guide local decisions about evacuation. Tsunami warning capabilities have become dramatically better since the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. NOAA scientists are working to further improve warning center operations and to help communities be prepared to respond.

As Tonga’s Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano began to erupt on January 15, 2022, it sent more than tsunami waves across the Pacific Ocean — some forms of communications in the region were sent into the dark, too. The eruption broke an underwater communications cable, leaving most of the island nation without internet access and other forms of communication.

EDUCATION CONNECTION

Students can investigate tsunamis to discover the impacts of Earth's systems on humans. Teachers can use these potentially deadly waves and other natural hazards to bring relevance to science concepts such as plate tectonics, acceleration and speed, force and motion, energy transfer, and the physics of waves . In addition, many schools, homes, and businesses are located in tsunami hazard zones offsite link . Many coastal states and territories have tsunami preparedness campaigns in place. Teaching students about tsunami safety and preparedness plans may ultimately save lives.

Tsunamis 101

Find out how a tsunami is born ... and how it destroys.

Earth Science, Geology, Oceanography, Physics

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In Japanese, tsunami means "harbor wave." Tsunamis are ocean waves triggered by an earthquake , volcano, or other movement of the ocean floor. Potentially imperceptible in deep water, a tsunami increases in height as it encounters the shallow waters of shore, often leading to extensive wreckage and loss.

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Essay on Tsunami for Students in English | 500+ Words Essay

January 1, 2021 by Sandeep

Essay on Tsunami: A sudden, unexpected series of ocean waves of high risen wavelengths are called tsunami waves. They are strong currents of water waves that rush through inland spaces, flood nearby areas and last for a long time. They are seismic waves that trigger landslide undersea and force themselves through any obstacle on their way. Large volumes of water are displaced at great transoceanic distances at high speeds.

Essay on Tsunami 500 Words in English

Below we have provided Tsunami Essay in English, suitable for class 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10.

A tsunami is a series of fierce waves generated by the displacement of water. They occur in substantial water bodies due to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions. Tsunamis are also oftenly referred to as tidal waves. The waves are very high in magnitude as well as their length, and they can be immensely destructive.

Japan is the country which has recorded the most significant number of tsunamis. The tsunami generated in the Indian Ocean in the year 2004 is still considered as the most upsetting tsunami taking more than two hundred thousand lives. Tsunamis are quite rare in occurrence as compared to other natural disasters , but they are equally damaging.

Causes of Tsunami

The leading cause of a tsunami is attributable to an earthquake . However, even volcanic eruptions, landslides and comets or other heavenly bodies hitting the sea can be a source. When the tectonic plates of the earth positioned under the sea are disturbed, an earthquake takes place, causing the seawater to displace and erupt in sudden waves. These waves move further and further towards the shores. They can go unnoticed in the deep ocean but become more prominent as the water becomes shallow.

Landslides are another prominent cause of a tsunami. When heavy debris falls without warning with massive force into the sea, it causes a tremendous ripple effect. This ripple effect thus, causes tidal waves to form, which ultimately rise towards the land and cause massive destruction. During the eruption of a volcano on land, debris falls with a great thrust into the water body, causing the same ripple effect. Volcanoes can be underwater as well. They are known as submarine volcanoes. Tsunamis can further occur as a result of meteorological activity and human-made triggers.

Effects of Tsunami

When water washes away the shores with such colossal force, it damages the sewage system and freshwater. It also causes water fit for drinking to erode and contaminate. Because of the water being stagnant and polluted, numerous diseases like malaria affect a large number of people. They become ill, and infections spread quickly. A tsunami may even destroy nuclear plants which result in emittance of harmful radiations. These radiations are fatal to the health of every living organism. Mass evacuations become necessary in areas exposed to radiations because they can result in cancer, death and can even affect the DNA structures.

The saddest effect of a tsunami is the loss of lives in huge numbers. Tsunamis hit suddenly, with almost no warning and hence people get no time to escape it or run away. They drown, collapse, are electrocuted, etc. Tsunamis not only cause massive destruction of life but also degrade the environment in a gigantic way. It uproots trees and destroys pipelines which lead to the release of dioxides, raw sewage and other pollutants into the atmosphere. When these hazardous pollutants are washed into the sea, they also cause unbearable damage to the aquatic underwater life.

When the waves of a powerful tsunami smash the shores, they destroy trees, cars, buildings, telephone lines, pipelines and other man-made equipment into bits and pieces. Poverty rises in areas which get most affected by the wrath of tsunamis. The governments are also able to do little for their betterment immediately due to the high funding requirement and expenses.

Prevention of Tsunami

The government can invest in building strong and high protective infrastructure which can withstand the force of a tsunami. The length should be so tall, that the most upper wave of the tsunami cannot over top it. Also, heavy construction and livelihood activities in tsunami-prone areas can be avoided. The local authorities can install an efficient and fast early warning system. This would help to get all the people on alert. This way, more and more people would evacuate or leave the areas of danger, and human life destruction could be minimised.

Educating people and making them aware of the effects and impact of a tsunami is exceptionally crucial. They should be taught about the early warning signals of a tsunami and how to identify them. They should also learn how to be fully prepared in tough times like these instead of panicking and rapidly running around. Planting the coastal regions and boundaries with trees such as Mangroves which can absorb tidal wave energy can be another option. These can help to reduce the impact of a tsunami and curb the levels of destruction caused.

Tsunami Warning and Preparedness: An Assessment of the U.S. Tsunami Program and the Nation's Preparedness Efforts (2011)

Chapter: 1 introduction, chapter one introduction, the tsunami threat in the united states.

The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami resulted in catastrophic losses of life and property and demonstrated how destructive tsunamis can be. More than 200,000 people died, with most occurring in Indonesia, which was near the tsunami source, but deaths were also reported in countries as far away as Somalia. Recently, the Samoan (September 2009) and Chilean (February 2010) tsunamis reminded the world of how quickly a tsunami can move onshore and destroy lives. In comparison to extreme weather—such as floods, hurricanes, or tornadoes—tsunamis have caused comparatively few fatalities in the United States over the past 200 years. Modern records kept since 1800 tally less than 800 lives lost due to tsunamis in the United States and territories. 1 In 1960, a magnitude 9.5 Chilean earthquake generated tsunami waves that killed 61 people and caused $24 million in property damage in Hilo, Hawaii (Eaton et al., 1961). The 1964 Good Friday earthquake in Alaska generated a tsunami that devastated local Alaskan communities and inundated distant communities as far south as Crescent City, California.

Earlier tsunamis—yet to be repeated in modern times—include tsunami waves of North American origin in the year 1700 that caused flooding and damage as far away as Japan. Paleo-records indicate that the Cascadia subduction zone off the Washington, Oregon, and northern California coasts has repeatedly generated potentially catastrophic tsunamis (Atwater et al., 2005). Because of the relative infrequency of catastrophic tsunamis in recent U.S. history, mobilizing the required resources to maintain the nation’s warning and preparedness capabilities is challenging.

Tsunamis are caused by a variety of geological processes, such as earthquakes, subaerial and submarine landslides, volcanic eruptions, or very rarely from meteorite impacts ( Box 1.1 ). However, it takes a large event (e.g., typically an earthquake of magnitude greater than 7.0) to generate a damaging tsunami. Therefore, determining the likelihood of future tsunamis for U.S. coastal communities requires an understanding of the likelihood of reoccurrence of such geological processes, the likely magnitude of such events, and the location of the sources (see Chapter 3 for additional details). Because most tsunamis result from earthquakes, the tsunami hazard is high along U.S. shores that adjoin boundaries between tectonic plates, particularly along the subduction zones of Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, the Caribbean, and the Marianas ( Figure 1.1 ). However, U.S. shores are also exposed to tsunamis generated far from them. For example, Hawaii has been struck by tsunamis that have been generated by earthquakes off the coasts of South America, Russia, and Alaska (Cox and Mink, 1963). Submarine landslides,

probably triggered by earthquakes, account for much of the known tsunami hazard along the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coasts, and in southern California (Dunbar and Weaver, 2008). Seismically active faults and the potential for landslides in the Caribbean pose a significant tsunami risk for that region (Dunbar and Weaver, 2008).

Tsunami hazard zones of U.S. coastal communities contain thousands of residents, employees, and tourists, and represent significant economic components of these coastal communities (Wood, 2007; Wood et al., 2007; Wood and Soulard, 2008). The economic and social risks from tsunamis grow with increasing population density along the coasts. To reduce societal risks posed by tsunamis, the nation needs a clear understanding of the nature of the tsunami hazard (e.g., source, inundation area, speed of onset) and the societal characteristics of coastal communities (e.g., the number of people, buildings, infrastructure, and economic activities)

FIGURE 1.1 Global map of active volcanoes and plate tectonics illustrating the “Ring of Fire” and depicting subduction zones; both areas associated with frequent seismic activity. SOURCE: http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Imgs/Gif/PlateTectonics/Maps/map_plate_tectonics_world_bw.gif; USGS .

that make them vulnerable to future tsunamis. With a clear understanding of the tsunami hazards and social vulnerability that comprise tsunami risk, officials and the general public can then prepare for future events and hopefully reduce this risk. 2

When assessing tsunami hazard and developing risk reduction measures, it is important to consider the distance between a coastal community and potential tsunami sources as well as the probability of occurrence. Near-field tsunamis (see Box 1.1 ) pose a greater threat to human life than far-field tsunamis because of the short time between generation and flooding; because the extent of flooding is likely greater; and because the flooded area may be reeling from an earthquake (National Science and Technology Council, 2005). Near-field tsunamis account for most U.S. tsunami deaths outside of Hawaii, but even Hawaii has suffered losses from near-field tsunamis. Because it takes a very large earthquake to impact the far-field, more triggering events have the potential to impact communities that are within an hour or less from the source. For example, an earthquake generated within the Cascadia fault zone along the northern California, Oregon, and Washington coasts will allow only minutes for evacuation of

the coastal communities after the earthquake is felt. In addition, tsunami observations demonstrate an increase in wave height with proximity to the source, resulting in extensive coastal flooding by a near-field tsunami. Consequences of a near-field tsunami are far greater for any given location.

Far-field tsunamis afford hours of advance notice for evacuation and are likely to have smaller wave heights than those in the tsunami’s near field. However, the farther a coastal community from the earthquake source the less likely it is to have felt the earthquake and the more dependent it is on an instrumental detection system to provide warnings. Timely and accurate warnings are required to implement orderly evacuations and to avoid frequent unnecessary evacuations, which can be costly. The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) report (2005) concludes that “the challenge is to design a tsunami hazard mitigation program to protect life and property from two very different types of tsunami events.”

GOALS AND SCOPE OF THIS REPORT

The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, spurred two congressional acts intended to reduce losses of life and property from future tsunamis. The Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief, 2005 (P.L. 109-13), included $24 million to improve tsunami warnings by expanding tsunami detection and earthquake monitoring capabilities. This Act was followed in 2006 by the Tsunami Warning and Education Act (P.L. 109-424), which directs the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to strengthen the nation’s tsunami warning system (TWS), work with federal and state partners toward the mitigation of tsunami hazards, establish and maintain a tsunami research program, and assist with efforts to provide tsunami warnings and tsunami education overseas.

Section 4(j) of the Tsunami Warning and Education Act calls upon the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) “to review the tsunami detection, forecast, and warning program established under this Act to assess further modernization and coverage needs, as well as long-term operational reliability issues.” In response, NOAA asked the NAS to assess options to improve all aspects of the tsunami program. This request is reflected in the first part of the committee’s charge (see Appendix B ) and accordingly focuses on efforts on tsunami detection, forecasting, and warning dissemination.

The NAS, in accepting this charge and in consultation with NOAA, broadened the review’s scope to include an assessment of progress toward additional preparedness efforts to reduce loss of life and property from tsunamis in the United States as part of the National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program (NTHMP). The main rationale for this broadened scope was to address Section 5(a) in P.L. 109-424, which called for “a community-based tsunami hazard mitigation program to improve tsunami preparedness of at-risk areas in the United States and its territories.” Such a tsunami hazard mitigation program requires partnership among federal, state, tribal, and local governments. Its strategies include identifying and defining tsunami hazards, making inventories of the people and property in tsunami hazard zones, and providing the public with knowledge and infrastructure for evacuation, particularly for near-field

tsunamis that come ashore in a few minutes. The broadened scope aims at encompassing the range of national tsunami warning and preparedness efforts.

The Range of Options Available for Tsunami Hazard Mitigation

As the scope of the study was broadened to include aspects of tsunami hazard mitigation, the committee recognized the need to define the term “mitigation” and set some boundaries for the study, because the full suite of mitigation options exceeds the purview and capacity of this particular study. The definition of hazard mitigation and the actions it includes differ among various hazard communities. Some members of the academic community consider the full range of hazard mitigation options to include three classes of actions (White and Haas, 1975): (1) modifying the natural causes of hazards, (2) modifying society’s vulnerability (e.g., levees, wind- and seismic-resistant houses), and (3) redistributing the losses that occur (e.g., insurance, emergency response). In contrast, natural hazard practitioners consider the range of human adjustment to natural hazards to fall into two major classes of actions: (1) mitigation of potential losses through interventions in the constructed world in ways that lessen potential losses from nature’s extremes (e.g., land-use management, control and protection works, building codes), and (2) preparedness for, response to, and recovery from specific events and their associated losses (Mileti, 1999).

Focus on Warning and Preparedness

Although land-use planning and adjusting building codes is important in mitigating the impacts of tsunamis, the charge to the committee is focused primarily on the detection, forecast, and warning for near- and far-field tsunamis and issues directly related to the effective implementation of those warnings. To be responsive to its charge, the report focuses on the second class of mitigation actions, which generally includes pre-event planning to develop preparedness plans, appropriate organizational arrangements, training and exercises for issuing event-specific public warnings, an adequate emergency response, and plans for recovery and reconstruction. These types of adjustment are based on the notion that the adequacy of pre-event planning determines the effectiveness of event-specific response. This view also places insurance in the preparedness class.

THE NATION’S TSUNAMI WARNING AND PREPAREDNESS EFFORTS

Only very recently has there been a national interest in tsunami warning and preparedness. Before 2004, most efforts were spearheaded by local, state, or regional initiative operating on very limited budgets. Integrating these existing individual efforts into a national tsunami program has led to a very different type of program than that of a national tsunami warning program designed from the outset. The history of tsunami warning and preparedness efforts can be traced back to two of the six destructive tsunamis that caused causalities on U.S. soil.

These efforts were originally part of the National Geodetic Survey, which developed the two tsunami warning centers (TWCs) in Hawaii and Alaska after the 1946 Aleutian tsunami (Unimak Island, AK) and the 1964 Alaskan tsunami (Prince William Sound, AK) ( Figure 1.2 ). These centers eventually became part of NOAA’s National Weather Service (NWS), but each is located in different NWS regions and is managed independently.

Concern about tsunamis in Washington, Oregon, and California increased in the late 1980s and early 1990s when several new scientific studies revealed their near-field tsunami threat from the Cascadia subduction zone (Atwater, 1987; Heaton and Hartzell, 1987). California was reminded of its potential tsunami threat by an earthquake near Cape Mendocino in 1992, which generated a small tsunami that arrived in Eureka only minutes after the earthquake occurred. These and other developments prompted a more urgent call to produce comprehensive assessments of tsunami risk and preparedness at the state and federal level.

Congress responded to this call in a 1995 Senate Appropriations Committee request to NOAA to develop a plan for reducing tsunami risk to coastal communities. NOAA suggested the formation of a national committee to address tsunami threat, leading to the establishment of the NTHMP that same year. The NTHMP is tasked with coordinating the various federal, state, territorial, and commonwealth tsunami efforts. NOAA’s Tsunami Program was established in 2005 to incorporate all the current tsunami efforts at NOAA (see below). To respond to the committee’s charge (see Appendix B ) and assess progress made toward improved tsunami warning and preparedness, the committee begins its evaluation with an inventory of the elements of the NTHMP and NOAA’s Tsunami Program.

National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program

The NTHMP has a Coordinating Committee (steering committee) that works to collaborate on the tsunami mitigation efforts of the NTHMP and three subcommittees: a Mapping and Modeling Subcommittee, a Warning Coordination Subcommittee, and a Mitigation and Education Subcommittee. 3 In addition to coordinating individual efforts, the NTHMP provides guidance to NOAA’s TWSs. Federal partners include NOAA, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). State partners originally included Hawaii, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and California, and now include all 29 U.S. coastal states and territories.

The USGS contributes to the seismic network that the TWCs use through operating and maintaining their respective seismic networks and to the tsunami research and risk assessments and conducts an independent seismic analysis of potential tsunamigenic earthquakes at its National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC). The USGS and NOAA both support the Global Seismographic Network (GSN), which provides high-quality seismic data to assist earthquake detection (including tsunamigenic earthquakes). Both agencies also support earthquake and seismic studies to improve tsunami warning efforts and tsunami disaster response and hazards assessments. FEMA is responsible for hazard mitigation and emergency response; as

FIGURE 1.2 Timelines for U.S. tsunami warning centers, programs, tsunami budget, deaths from tsunamis in the United States and its territories, and earthquakes of magnitude 8.0 or larger worldwide since the year 1900. Sources of data for this figure include: NOAA (federal spending); http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazard/tsu_db.shtml (tsunami fatalities); http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqarchives/ (great earthquake history). SOURCE: Committee member.

part of its mitigation efforts it has issued Guidelines for Design of Structures for Vertical Evacuation from Tsunamis (Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2008). FEMA becomes the lead federal agency in managing the emergency response once a tsunami has caused damage to U.S. coastlines.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) used to be a partner of the NTHMP, but as its involvement decreased the decision was made in 2009 to remove it from the NTHMP. Its primary function is to provide research funding and to partner with other federal agencies in research and development. NSF provides funding for the GSN. NSF has also been actively involved with investments regarding tsunami research infrastructure, such as the Network for Earthquake and Engineering Simulation (NEES), Earthquake Engineering and Research Centers (EERCs), and the Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC) (Bement, 2005). Because it is not part of the NTHMP and its funding decisions are primarily driven by the demand in the research community, this report does not include an explicit discussion of NSF’s role but rather discusses the role of the broader research community in the nation’s tsunami efforts.

NOAA has been carrying most of the responsibility and obtains most of the funding to provide tsunami warnings, maintain observing networks (including seismic networks not funded by the USGS in Alaska and Hawaii), manage and archive data, and conduct research (further discussed in the next section).

The coastal states, U.S. territories, and commonwealths contribute their own initiatives and resources to the nation’s preparedness and education efforts; these vary in extent and approach from state to state. In particular, states are responsible for providing communities with inundation maps that allow municipalities to produce evacuation maps and guidance, and to educate the public about the hazard and appropriate responses. Local officials in turn are responsible for transmitting tsunami alerts throughout their respective jurisdictions, issuing evacuation orders, managing evacuations, and declaring all-clears.

NOAA’s Tsunami Program

In 2006, the Tsunami Warning and Education Act (P.L. 109-424) charged NOAA with addressing the nation’s priorities in tsunami detection, warning, and mitigation. NOAA’s Tsunami Program assumed the responsibilities to plan and execute NOAA’s tsunami efforts, primarily the program’s budget, strategic plan, and the coordination of activities among its NOAA organizational components and external partners, including the NTHMP. NOAA’s Tsunami Program advocates an end-to-end TWS, which includes detection, warnings and forecasts, message dissemination, outreach and education, and research.

NOAA’s Tsunami Program is supported by five line offices ( Table 1.1 ): NWS; the Office of Marine and Aviation Offices (OMAO); the National Ocean Service (NOS); Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR); and the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS). The NWS, as the administrator for NOAA’s Tsunami Program, is primarily responsible for helping community leaders and emergency managers in strengthening their local tsunami

TABLE 1.1 Tsunami Program Matrix

warning and preparedness programs through its TsunamiReady program as well as operating the TWCs.

The Pacific Region’s Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) and the Alaska Region’s West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center (WC/ATWC) are administered within the NWS, although the two TWCs report to their respective regional NWS offices. The two TWCs have distinct areas of responsibility as described in Chapter 5 . The NWS also houses the National Data Buoy Center (NDBC), which operates and maintains the Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART) buoys. These buoys monitor and alert the TWCs of sea level changes associated with a tsunami. OMAO collaborates by providing detection system maintenance support and conducting coastal surveys. NOS provides state and local coastal emergency managers with hazard-related information such as training and assessment tools, and also operates coastal tide stations and sea level gauges that monitor changes in sea level. OAR comprises a research network involving internal research laboratories, grant programs, and collaborative efforts between NOAA and academic institutions. Pacific Marine Environmentla Laboratory (PMEL), within OAR, focuses on designing optimal tsunami monitoring networks, improving forecast modeling, and improving impact assessment on coastal communities. NESDIS provides access to global environmental data; such as climate, geophysical, and oceanographic data. The National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC), housed within NESDIS, manages a database for historic tsunami events, maps, and DART and tide gauge records. Some negative consequences arising from this distribution of tsunami detection, forecast, warning, and planning functions across different parts of NOAA and across different NTHMP partners is discussed in greater detail in Chapters 3 and 5 .

ASSESSING THE NATION’S EFFORTS

Because tsunami warning and preparedness efforts are distributed across federal and state agencies and were historically conducted without a federal coordination mechanism, the committee faced a number of challenges in assessing progress in the nation’s ability to warn and prepare for the threat of tsunamis. The first challenge results from the need to assess many individual activities. Secondly, it is difficult to extrapolate from these individual activities to assess whether all the distributed efforts can function coherently during a tsunami to warn and evacuate people in a timely fashion. To help address these challenges, the committee began its analysis by sketching the required functions and elements of an idealized integrated warning and preparedness effort based on available research findings in the hazards and high-reliability organizations (HRO) literature (see section below). The committee then sought to compare its vision of an idealized system with the evolving status quo.

An ideal integrated TWS comprises multiple technologies, systems, individuals, and organizations. A comprehensive view of the elements therefore includes technical, organizational, social, and human components. The ideal system incorporates risk assessment, public education, tsunami detection, warning management, and public response ( Figure 1.3 ).

Protecting and warning the public begins with an understanding of the tsunami risk envi-

FIGURE 1.3 Components of an integrated warning system: Risk assessment includes all assessments required to effectively plan evacuations (including tsunami source determination, inundation modeling, and evacuation mapping) and prepare the communities to evacuate in the event a warning is issued or received. Risk assessments identify needs for public education. Public education aims to ensure maximum preparedness and a public that knows what to do when it receives a warning or feels the ground shaking in the case of near-field tsunamis. Threat detection comprises the continuous monitoring of the natural and technological environments that could create an emergency; it informs the warning management and public response component using threshold criteria and communication technology. Warning management interfaces the threat detection component with the public response component and is responsible for tsunami alerts, warnings, and evacuations; in consultation with the threat detection component it will alert and warn the public. Public response is the ultimate outcome of the integrated warning system, and it integrates public education, threat detection, natural cues from tsunami triggers, and warning management. SOURCE: Committee member; design by Jennifer Matthews, University of California, San Diego.

ronment. This must be done before a tsunami is generated in order to design the threat detection system, the education and awareness campaigns, and the evacuation and response plans. To understand the risk environment, both hazards (the physical characteristics of tsunamis and the inundation area) and vulnerabilities (the people and properties in harm’s way) need to be characterized (National Research Council, 2006). Pre-event public education is required to enable at-risk populations to correctly interpret: (1) natural cues from the environment (e.g., ground shaking from the earthquake) or (2) warnings from a technical detection system as a signal to evacuate to higher ground in a timely fashion. The threat detection component monitors the environment for threshold events using cues from natural and technical systems (Mileti, 1999; Mileti and Sorenson, 1990).

Once a significant tsunami is detected, the warning process needs to be managed. Tsunami information needs to be analyzed and decisions have to be made about the extent of the warning. Managers and decision makers issue warnings directly to the public. Ideally, officials managing the response also maintain situational awareness and information flow between the technical detection system and the public to update warnings and messages with the required protective actions to be taken. Because of the dominance of real-time communications, the Internet, and social networking, both the general public and media will increasingly access tsunami information directly from real-time information sources (e.g., the TWCs, seismometers, and water-level gauges) before local officials are able to respond. The public’s real-time access to different information sources, such as social media and networking systems, underscores the importance of public education to prepare both the public and the press for proper interpretation of information and response to detected hazards. An effective warning system monitors the public’s response and reactions in order to improve its processes for effective, understandable, actionable, reliable, and accurate warnings of impending danger. In the following chapters, the report covers the system components and compares the idealized system with current and/or planned efforts.

An integrated TWS has an impact on large populations and on a wide range of resources and, in the event of failure, has the potential to cause enormous economic, social, organizational, technological, and political losses. Although often seen as mainly comprising technical and technological elements, a warning system must, out of necessity, include the human dimension, such as people’s behavior, policies, procedures, and organizations. However, it is the human dimension that poses a significant challenge:

This involves the setting and running of national services (people), and the implementation of complex emergency-preparedness and awareness plans at the national and local levels to immediately inform every person of the threat. In the building of any early warning system, this is the difficult part. (Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, and World Meteorological Organization, 2005).

CHALLENGES TO REDUCING THE NATION’S VULNERABILITY TO TSUNAMIS

Reducing the vulnerability of coastal settlements and infrastructure to tsunami risk poses some unique challenges. Although tsunamis can be devastating, as was seen during the 2004 Indian Ocean event, catastrophic tsunamis are relatively infrequent. This infrequency makes it more challenging to sustain the capacity to educate, warn, and prepare for this particular hazard. As discussed above, the history of tsunami warning and mitigation efforts in the United States shows that significant new funding is often made available only after a tsunami has devastated a coastal community and caused casualties. High funding levels and commitment to tsunami mitigation dissipate over time, leading to difficulties in maintaining efforts, knowledge, and lessons learned over time. Another challenge is the need to relay warnings from the fed-

eral government to state and local officials in just minutes (in the case of a near-field tsunami) or hours (in the case of a far-field tsunami). Sustaining the organizational preparedness and coordination across many jurisdictional boundaries presents a daunting challenge.

The committee recognizes that the nation’s tsunami detection, warning, and preparedness efforts originated in many diverse efforts distributed across several coastal states, and that attempts to integrate these distributed components into a coherent program have only recently begun. In particular, because tsunamis are rapid onset events, there is very little margin for error in the system before failure becomes catastrophic. An organization that operates in a low probability, high-risk environment, allowing few errors, is called an HRO (Roberts, 1990). HROs manifest a number of common properties: flexible and adaptable organizational structures, continually reinforced organizational learning, decision making that is both flexible and mobile, a strongly reinforced organizational culture, constant and effective communication, and trust among members of the system, particularly across organizations (Grabowski and Roberts, 1999; Grabowski et al., 2007). Because the committee identified the need for high-reliability operations in TWSs, the committee draws from the research literature on HROs (Roberts, 1990) and resilient systems (Hollnagel et al., 2008) to highlight particular characteristics that reduce the risks of failure in an idealized end-to-end warning system:

Situational Awareness in an Emergency: Because tsunamis are events that allow only minutes to hours for evacuation, a keen sense of situational awareness and the ability to respond quickly and effectively is required (Weick, 1990, 1993, 2003). HROs require decision making that is adaptable to change and surprise, and that is able to continually reassess needs across distributed organizations (Weick, 1993, 1998; Weick et al., 1999). Such is the case with the nation’s tsunami warning and preparedness efforts, where the TWCs, the state and local offices, and emergency managers and the affected public are geographically dispersed and often lack face-to-face contact. The dispersed and decentralized nature of the end-to-end tsunami warning and preparedness efforts make it a significant challenge to maintain awareness of the evolving situation during a crisis.

Learning and Training: To maintain situational awareness under changing conditions requires training. Therefore, an effective TWS requires that watchstanders, emergency managers, regulators, the public, and the media learn together, and engage in learning that enhances sense-making and developing alertness to small incidents that may cascade into much larger disasters (Weick, 1993; Farber et al., 2006). Because of the low frequency of tsunamis (e.g., California is issued an alert bulletin on average once every three years; Dengler, 2009), a TWS has few opportunities to learn from an event and therefore needs to learn from exercising the system through drills. Trial and error can be disastrous not only because disasters are rare, but also because in the absence of a major catastrophe to focus attention in the system, lessons learned from previous events may be forgotten or misapplied (March et al., 1991; Levitt and March, 1988; De Holan and Phillips, 2004). Learning in a high-reliability organization needs to be systematic, continually reinforced, measured, and made part of the system’s core values.

Fluid Organizational Structures: HRO structures are often adaptable and fluid, allowing the system to expand or contract in response to its environment (Roberts, 1990). TWSs with flexible organizational structures would be able to expand and contract resources in response to shifts and changes in environmental demands, disasters, or periods of slack resources. In the event of a tsunami, TWS managers need to grow effective, functioning response organizations in a period of less than 24 hours, and then adjust the organizational structures to the needs of the response (Tuler, 1988; Bigley and Roberts, 2001). The ability to provide varied organizational structures in response to environmental demands may be critical to the success of TWS organizations, similar to the way fire and emergency organizations expand and contract in response to fire demands (Grabowski and Roberts, 1999). Distributed information technology that connects the system responders can provide the technological glue that ties HRO members together, and fluid organizational structures can allow the organization to grow, expand, contract, and respond to changes in a dynamic, high tempo environment (Bigley and Roberts, 2001). Similar requirements for members and organizations in TWSs can be envisioned as tsunami conditions unfold.

Strong Organizational Culture: Schein (1992, 1996) defines “culture” as a set of basic tacit assumptions, that a group of people share, about how the world is and ought to be; it determines their perceptions, thoughts, feelings, and to some degree, their overt behavior. In many organizations, shared assumptions typically form around the functional units of the organization and are often based on members’ similar educational backgrounds or experiences (Grabowski and Roberts, 1996, 1997). HROs are characterized by strong cultures and norms that reinforce the organization’s mission and goals and that focus attention on procedures, policies, and reward structures consistent with the organization’s mission and safety (LaPorte and Consolini, 1991). HROs have cultures attentive to errors; cultures where closely held ideas about the organization, its mission, and member roles in reliability enhancement are articulated; cultures that encourage learning; and cultures where safe areas—for decision making, communication, and the like—are created as buffers (Weick, 1993). Constructs such as oversight and checks and balances reinforce the strong cultural norms of the HRO. Melding the varied cultures that integrate the system into a cohesive whole can be extremely difficult in distributed systems that are connected by linkages that can dissolve and wane as requirements, organizational structures, and political will change (Weick, 1987; Weick and Roberts, 1993; Grabowski and Roberts, 1999).

Managing decision making across organizations that report to different management structures is a challenge for highly dispersed efforts; this is certainly the case with U.S. tsunami detection, warning, and preparedness efforts. A particular challenge is that the federal government has responsibility to forecast and warn about potential hazards, yet local governments order evacuations. Failure to consider distributed decision making within groups and across multiple units can lead to lack of readiness for the next large-scale catastrophe; e.g., Hurricane Katrina (Roberts et al., 2005; Farber et al., 2006). Building good communication and trust aid in

effective decision making and can increase the likelihood of success in geographically dis-tributed organizations. Trust can be built by common training; opportunities for scientific and operational exchange; and workshops, conferences, exercises, and simulations that build community and coherence across distributed organizations.

TYING IT ALL TOGETHER: REPORT ROADMAP

In the following chapters, the committee assesses progress in the nation’s distributed tsunami preparedness, detection, and warning efforts and compares it to its vision of an idealized warning system ( Figure 1.3 ). Chapter 2 evaluates progress in hazard and vulnerability assessments and identifies potential improvements that could guide the nation’s tsunami risk-assessment efforts. Chapter 3 discusses education and outreach efforts and evaluates pre-event community and organizational preparedness and the coordination between the various entities at the local, state, and federal levels. Chapter 4 examines the technical hazard detection system, including the seismic and sea level sensor networks. Chapter 5 examines the TWCs’ operations and how technology and human capital are used to provide their functions. Appendices present supporting data on tsunami sources, hazard and evacuation maps, educational efforts, seismological methods, and several case-study tsunamis.

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Many coastal areas of the United States are at risk for tsunamis. After the catastrophic 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean, legislation was passed to expand U.S. tsunami warning capabilities. Since then, the nation has made progress in several related areas on both the federal and state levels. At the federal level, NOAA has improved the ability to detect and forecast tsunamis by expanding the sensor network. Other federal and state activities to increase tsunami safety include: improvements to tsunami hazard and evacuation maps for many coastal communities; vulnerability assessments of some coastal populations in several states; and new efforts to increase public awareness of the hazard and how to respond.

Tsunami Warning and Preparedness explores the advances made in tsunami detection and preparedness, and identifies the challenges that still remain. The book describes areas of research and development that would improve tsunami education, preparation, and detection, especially with tsunamis that arrive less than an hour after the triggering event. It asserts that seamless coordination between the two Tsunami Warning Centers and clear communications to local officials and the public could create a timely and effective response to coastal communities facing a pending tsuanami.

According to Tsunami Warning and Preparedness , minimizing future losses to the nation from tsunamis requires persistent progress across the broad spectrum of efforts including: risk assessment, public education, government coordination, detection and forecasting, and warning-center operations. The book also suggests designing effective interagency exercises, using professional emergency-management standards to prepare communities, and prioritizing funding based on tsunami risk.

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• World Tsunami Awareness Day: Essay for Students in English

This is an essay on the topic "World Tsunami Awareness Day," a day that resonates with the profound force of Tsunamis and the collective effort to understand, prepare, and unite. Whether you're seeking to grasp the concept or preparing for school projects and competitions, this essay is a valuable resource that you can refer to anytime, anywhere.

Essay on “World Tsunami Awareness Day”

“ Title: Riding the Wave of Knowledge: World Tsunami Awareness Day

Each November 5th , the world unites to honor World Tsunami Awareness Day . We reflect on Tsunamis, nature’s most powerful and unpredictable force. This day is more than a calendar marker; it reminds us of nature’s might and the need to collaborate to prepare.

What is a Tsunami?

Tsunamis are like ocean giants, but not the friendly kind you see in cartoons. They are massive waves triggered by underwater earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or landslides. These waves can travel across entire oceans and, when they reach the coast, they become towering walls of water, causing immense destruction.

November 5th: A Day of Remembrance

You might wonder, why November 5th? It’s not just a random date; it’s a day we remember as a significant event. Back in 1854, Japan experienced a massive Tsunami known as the Nanki Tsunami. This devastating wave caused a lot of damage and took many lives. This historical event is why the United Nations chose this date to raise awareness about Tsunamis.

Theme for 2023: “Fighting Inequality for a Resilient Future”

This year, World Tsunami Awareness Day has a special theme: " Fighting Inequality for a Resilient Future ." But what does that mean? It means that we want to ensure that everyone, no matter where they live or their background, has access to knowledge and resources to stay safe from Tsunamis. It's about being fair and making sure everyone has an equal chance to be prepared.

Real-Life Impact

Tsunamis are not just something we read about in books. They have destroyed many parts of the world. Take, for example, the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004. It was one of the deadliest Tsunamis in history, affecting 14 countries and taking the lives of over 230,000 people. This tragic event emphasized the need for a global early warning system, leading to the establishment of the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System.

Building Resilient Communities

So, what can we do about it? It's all about building resilient communities. Resilience means being able to bounce back from challenges and disasters. It involves creating plans, early warning systems, and knowing how to respond. For instance, Japan, a country frequently facing Tsunamis, has one of the most advanced Tsunami warning systems in the world. Their well-practiced evacuation plans have significantly reduced the impact of Tsunamis on their coastal communities.

The Role of Education

Education plays a vital role in raising awareness about Tsunamis. Many schools teach students about the science of Tsunamis, how to recognize warning signs, and what to do in case of a Tsunami. It's like having a superhero team to help us stay safe.

Conclusion for Essay

World Tsunami Awareness Day is not just another day on the calendar. It's a day of reflection and action. It reminds us of the incredible power of Tsunamis and the need to be prepared. So, let's come together, learn, and work towards building resilient communities that can face the unpredictable might of Tsunamis. As students, we have the power to make a difference by spreading the word and being ready.

World Tsunami Awareness Day serves as a beacon of awareness and preparedness in the face of nature's might. It's a global call to action, a moment of reflection, and a shared endeavor to build resilient communities. 

Whether you're looking to understand the concept or gearing up for school projects and competitions, remember that this essay is a reference you can turn to anytime, anywhere. As you ride the wave of knowledge, let's stand together in the face of this awe-inspiring natural force.

FAQs on World Tsunami Awareness Day: Essay for Students in English

1. How does a Tsunami affect human life?

Tsunamis can cause widespread loss of life, injury, and damage to property and infrastructure.

2. Where can I find an Essay on World Tsunami Day 2023?

You can find an essay on the “World Tsunami Awareness Day 2023” on Vedantu’s website.

3. Tsunami information in 150 words?

Tsunamis are giant waves that can be caused by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or landslides underwater. They can travel very fast, up to 500 miles per hour, and can be over 100 feet tall. Tsunamis can cause widespread damage and loss of life, so it is important to be prepared if you live in an area that is at risk.

4. What date is Tsunami Day celebrated?

The 5th of November is celebrated as World Tsunami Day.

5. From which language was the word Tsunami taken info?

Tsunami is a Japanese word. Tsu means port or harbor, and nami, means wave. 

99 Tsunami Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best tsunami topic ideas & essay examples, 🥇 most interesting tsunami topics to write about, 📌 simple & easy tsunami essay titles, ❓ tsunami research questions.

• The Causes and Consequences of the 2004 Tsunami in Sri Lanka Due to a displacement of sea water as a result of displaced debris from landslides, a series of waves that has a potential of causing a tsunami is formed.
• Damages of Tsunami to Human Beings High Cost of Fighting Tsunami The total cost of tsunami could be billions of dollars since the damages of income generating business, and the cost used to curb the situation on the ground was quite […]
• The Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004 and Its Consequences The worst effects of the great wave were observed in Indonesia, where the death toll exceeded 160,000 people, and the overall damages almost reached $4.
• 2011 Tsunami in Tohoku and Its Effects on Japan In this instance, the geological origin of the tsunami has to be discussed due to the fact that it plays a significant role in predicting the presence of a tsunami in the future.
• The Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of 2011 Documentary The documentary reflects the events leading to the natural disasters and their aftermath, including an investigation into the reasons for the failure of the precautionary measures in place during the 2011 earthquake in Japan.
• Tsunami: Definition and Causes Tsunamis have gained worldwide notoriety following the two devastating tsunamis that have occurred in the course of the last ten years. Submarine earthquakes can generate dangerous tsunamis and that the intensity of this tsunami is […]
• Tsunami Disasters in Okushiri Island In addition, fire outbreaks also contributed to the devastating effects of the tsunami. In addition, the question of educating and passing information about dangers of tsunami contributed to massive loss of lives.
• Natural Disasters: Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Tsunamis In addition, the paper will outline some of the similarities and differences between tsunamis and floods. Similarities between tsunamis and floods: Both tsunamis and floods are natural disasters that cause destruction of properties and human […]
• Natural Disasters: Tsunami, Hurricanes and Earthquake The response time upon the prediction of a tsunami is minimal owing to the rapid fall and rise of the sea level.
• The Sumatra Earthquake of 26 December 2004: Indonesia Tsunami As such, the earthquake resulted in the development of a large tsunami off the Sumatran Coast that led to destruction of large cities in Indonesia.
• Causes and Effect of the Tsunami in Indonesia Scientifically tsunami is caused by the water which is impelled afar the interior of the underwater commotion, the change in this water levels move at the speed of about four hundred miles per sixty minutes […]
• Tsunami’s Reasons and Effects Therefore, it is essential to know how to anticipate the place and time of the occurrence of a tsunami and to determine which factors are the main in assessing the potential wave’s power and the […]
• Effect of the 2004 Tsunami on Indonesia The areas prone to tsunamis on the Indonesian coast are: The west coast of Sumatra, the south coast of Java, the north and south coasts of West Nusa, Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara provinces, the […]
• South California Tsunami and Disaster Response This paper provides the report’s estimate figures in terms of human casualties and the structures affected by the wave. The Figure 1 represents the graphical representation of the data collected.
• Tsunamis: Case Studies Massive movement of seabed caused the tsunami during the earthquake movement. The Burma plates slipped around the earthquake’s epicenter.
• Tsunami Warning Systems In such a way, it is possible to conclude that the poor functioning of awareness systems in the past preconditioned the reconsideration of the approach to monitoring tsunamis and warning people about them.
• Tsunami and the Health Department The overstretching of health facilities poses a great challenge; how can the health department deal with tsunami cases to ensure that the community is disease-free and safe?
• Economic Tsunami and Current Economic Strategies The current economic situation in the world is the result of a great number of different factors including the sphere of finance.
• Tsunami Handling at a Nuclear Power Plant The information presented in this research paper has been analyzed and proved to be the actual content obtained by various parties that participate in the study of tsunamis.
• Tsunami Funding: On Assistance to the Victims of the December 2004 Tsunami In the US, through the help of the United Nations Organization in conjunction with the Red Cross, sited and established centers where people in the community would take their donations.
• Tsunami: Crisis Management The saving of lives during a disaster and emergency incident will depend on the proper coordination of the rescue team, delivery of the right skills to the scene which can only be achieved through the […]
• The Recommendations Made in the Field of Tsunami Emergency Managements Additionally, the tsunami that hit the coastal area of the Indian Ocean in 2004 was one of the events that led to reconsiderations of the preparedness levels in dealing with catastrophes of such scales.
• Tsunami Warning Management System Tsunami emergency management system detects and predicts tsunami in addition to warning individuals and government in good time before the onset of the disaster.
• Physical Aspect of Tsunami According to Nelson, wave length is the distance between similar points of the wave; the concepts of tsunami wave height and amplitude are interconnected, as the height is the distance between tsunami’s trough and peak, […]
• Tsunami Geological Origin Firstly, the source of the volcanic eruption has to be understood, as this natural phenomenon is one of the primary causes of a tsunami.
• Marketing after a Crisis: Recovering From the Tsunami in Thailand The researchers aim was to assess the damages caused by the tsunami, to evaluate and adjust the impact and strategize on how to combat the crisis in the future.
• What Is a Tsunami and What Causes Them? We shall dwell on the Shifts in the Tectonic plates as the reasoning behind the Tsunamis, but we have to understand the concept involved in the movement of the plate tectonics then how the earthquake […]
• The Impacts of Japan’s Earthquake, Tsunami on the World Economy The future prospects in regard to the tsunami and the world economy will be presented and application of the lessons learnt during the catastrophe in future” tsunami occurrence” management.
• Effect on People Who Have Been Through Tsunami The community and government were left with a major challenge of how to cope with the physical and psychological stress that was quite evident.
• Exceedance Probability for Various Magnitudes of Tsunami
• A Short History of Tsunami Research and Countermeasures in Japan
• New Computational Methods in Tsunami Science
• Adult Mortality Five Years After a Natural Disaster: Evidence From the Indian Ocean Tsunami
• Affect, Risk Perception and Future Optimism After the Tsunami Disaster
• Probabilistic Analysis of Tsunami Hazards
• Tsunami Risk Assessment in Indonesia
• Real-Time Tsunami Forecasting: Challenges and Solutions
• Battening Down the Hatches: How Should the Maritime Industries Weather the Financial Tsunami
• A Simple Model for Calculating Tsunami Flow Speed From Tsunami Deposits
• Implementation and Testing of the Method of Splitting Tsunami Model
• The Storegga Slides: Evidence From Eastern Scotland for a Possible Tsunami
• Coastal Vegetation Structures and Their Functions in Tsunami Protection: Experience of the Recent Indian Ocean Tsunami
• Tsunami Fragility: A New Measure to Identify Tsunami Damage
• Geological Indicators of Large Tsunami in Australia
• Calamity, Aid and Indirect Reciprocity: The Long Run Impact of Tsunami on Altruism
• Cash and In-Kind Food Aid Transfers: Tsunami Emergency Aid in Banda Aceh
• Confronting the “Second Wave of the Tsunami”: Stabilizing Communities in the Wake of Foreclosures
• A Numerical Model for the Transport of a Boulder by Tsunami
• Experimental Investigation of Tsunami Impact on Free Standing Structures
• Economic and Business Development in China After the Tsunami
• How Effective Were Mangroves as a Defence Against the Recent Tsunami?
• Estimating Probable Maximum Loss From a Cascadia Tsunami
• Faster Than Real Time Tsunami Warning With Associated Hazard Uncertainties
• Tsunami Science Before and Beyond Boxing Day 2004
• Sediment Effect on Tsunami Generation of the 1896 Sanriku Tsunami Earthquake
• Tsunami Generation by Horizontal Displacement of Ocean Bottom
• Joint Evaluation of the International Response to the Indian Ocean Tsunami
• The Effectiveness and Limit of Tsunami Control Forests
• Distinguishing Tsunami and Storm Deposits: An Example From Martinhal, SW Portugal
• Developing Effective Vegetation Bioshield for Tsunami Protection
• Indian Ocean Tsunami: Disaster, Generosity and Recovery
• Three-Dimensional Splay Fault Geometry and Implications for Tsunami Generation
• Assessing Tsunami Vulnerability, an Example From Herakleio, Crete
• Knowledge-Building Approach for Tsunami Impact Analysis Aided by Citizen Science
• Mental Health Problems Among Adults in Tsunami-Affected Areas in Southern Thailand
• Legitimacy, Accountability and Impression Management in NGOs: The Indian Ocean Tsunami
• Measuring Tsunami Preparedness in Coastal Washington, United States
• Standards, Criteria, and Procedures for NOAA Evaluation of Tsunami Numerical Models
• The Use of Scenarios to Evaluate the Tsunami Impact in Southern Italy
• Could a Large Tsunami Happen in the United States?
• What Does a Tsunami Look Like When It Reaches the Coast?
• Is It Rare for a Tsunami to Happen?
• What Happens to Sharks During a Tsunami?
• Where Is the Safest Place During a Tsunami?
• What’s the Worst Tsunami Ever?
• What Happens to the Beach Before a Tsunami?
• Why Does Water Go Out Before a Tsunami?
• Can You Survive a Tsunami With a Life Jacket?
• Where Do Tsunami Most Hit?
• How Are Tsunamis Different From Normal Ocean Waves?
• What Are the Designated Service Areas of the Tsunami Warning Centers?
• How Quickly Are Tsunami Messages Issued?
• What Is the Difference Between a Local and a Distant Tsunami?
• What Types of Earthquakes Generate Tsunamis?
• Can Near Earth Objects Generate Tsunamis?
• What Are the Causes of Tsunamis?
• How Can Tsunami Be Controlled?
• What Keeps a Tsunami Going?
• Which Country Has the Most Tsunamis?
• What Are Some of the Most Damaging Tsunamis to Affect the United States?
• What Is the Tsunami Hazard Level for Anchorage and the Upper Cook Inlet in Alaska?
• What Are Ways Tsunami Start?
• How Many Tsunami Happen a Year?
• Can a Boat at Sea Survive a Tsunami?
• What Happens to a Whale in a Tsunami?
• How Much Warning Is There Before a Tsunami?
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Origin and development

Notable tsunamis.

• Tsunami warning systems
• Meteotsunamis
• Extraterrestrial tsunamis

What is a tsunami?

What have been some of the worst tsunamis in history, what are the signs of a tsunami.

• Why is an earthquake dangerous?
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• Table Of Contents

A tsunami is a catastrophic ocean wave, usually caused by a submarine earthquake , an underwater or coastal landslide , or a volcanic eruption. Waves radiate outward from the generating impulse at speeds of up to 500 miles (800 km) per hour, reaching maximum heights of 100 feet (30 metres) near coastal areas. Although often called tidal waves , the occurrence of tsunamis have no connection with tides. The word tsunami is Japanese for “harbour wave.”

Perhaps the most destructive tsunami in recorded history was the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004 . A 9.1-magnitude earthquake occurred off the coast of Sumatra in Indonesia. Waves as high as 30 feet (9 metres) struck the eastern coasts of India and Sri Lanka—some 750 miles (1,200 km) away—and traveled more than 1,800 miles (3,000 km) to East Africa. The final death toll was at least 225,000, mostly in Indonesia, Thailand, India, and Sri Lanka. The affected countries also reported extensive economic and infrastructural damage.

Because of frequent tsunamis in the Pacific Basin, many adjacent countries have established tsunami warning systems that look for large earthquakes (magnitude 7.0 or higher) and unusual changes in sea level. Depending on the distance from the seismic disturbance, this warning system may give people several hours to evacuate coastal areas.

Where is the safest place to go during a tsunami?

During a tsunami, experts recommend that people attempt to find higher ground that is as far inland as possible in order to avoid the deadly waves.

Can tsunamis occur on other planets?

Tsunamis are not limited to bodies of water on Earth. A 2016 analysis of the Martian surface revealed evidence of two separate tsunami events that occurred long ago, likely as a result of comet or asteroid impacts.

tsunami , catastrophic ocean wave , usually caused by a submarine earthquake , an underwater or coastal landslide , or a volcanic eruption. The term tidal wave is frequently used for such a wave, but it is a misnomer, for the wave has no connection with the tides.

After an earthquake or other generating impulse occurs, a train of simple, progressive oscillatory waves is propagated great distances over the ocean surface in ever-widening circles, much like the waves produced by a pebble falling into a shallow pool. In deep water a tsunami can travel as fast as 800 km (500 miles) per hour. The wavelengths are enormous, sometimes exceeding 500 km (about 310 miles), but the wave amplitudes (heights) are very small, only about 30 to 60 cm (1 to 2 feet). The waves’ periods (the lengths of time for successive crests or troughs to pass a single point) are very long, varying from five minutes to more than an hour. These long periods, coupled with the extremely low steepness and height of the waves, enables them to be completely obscured in deep water by normal wind waves and swell . A ship on the high seas experiences the passage of a tsunami as an insignificant rise and fall of only half a metre (1.6 feet), lasting from five minutes to an hour or more.

As the waves approach the coast of a continent , however, friction with the rising sea bottom reduces the velocity of the waves. As the velocity lessens, the wavelengths become shortened and the wave amplitudes (heights) increase. Coastal waters may rise as high as 30 metres (about 100 feet) above normal sea level in 10 to 15 minutes. The continental shelf waters begin to oscillate after the rise in sea level. Between three and five major oscillations generate most of the damage, frequently appearing as powerful “run-ups” of rushing water that uproot trees , pull buildings off their foundations, carry boats far inshore, and wash away entire beaches , peninsulas, and other low-lying coastal formations. Frequently the succeeding outflow of water is just as destructive as the run-up or even more so. In any case, oscillations may continue for several days until the ocean surface reaches equilibrium .

Much like any other water waves , tsunamis are reflected and refracted by the topography of the seafloor near shore and by the configuration of a coastline. As a result, their effects vary widely from place to place. Occasionally, the first arrival of a tsunami at a coast may be the trough of the wave, in which case the water recedes and exposes the shallow seafloor. Such an occurrence took place in the bay of Lisbon , Portugal, on November 1, 1755, after a large earthquake ; many curious people were attracted to the bay floor, and a large number of them were drowned by the wave crest that followed the trough only minutes later.

One of the most destructive tsunamis in antiquity took place in the eastern Mediterranean Sea on July 21, 365 ce . A fault slip in the subduction zone beneath the island of Crete produced an earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 8.0–8.5, which was powerful enough to raise parts of the western third of the island up to 10 metres (33 feet). The earthquake spawned a tsunami that claimed tens of thousands of lives and caused widespread damage throughout the Mediterranean, from islands in the Aegean Sea westward to the coast of present-day Spain . Tsunami waves pushed ships over harbour walls and onto the roofs of houses in Alexandria , Egypt , while also ruining nearby croplands by inundating them with salt water.

Perhaps the most destructive tsunami in recorded history took place on December 26, 2004, after an earthquake of magnitude 9.1 displaced the ocean floor off the Indonesian island of Sumatra . Two hours later, waves as high as 9 metres (30 feet) struck the eastern coasts of India and Sri Lanka , some 1,200 km (750 miles) away. Within seven hours of the quake, waves washed ashore on the Horn of Africa , more than 3,000 km (1,800 miles) away on the other side of the Indian Ocean . More than 200,000 people were killed, most of them on Sumatra but thousands of others in Thailand , India, and Sri Lanka and smaller numbers in Malaysia , Myanmar , Bangladesh , Maldives , Somalia , and other locations.

On March 11, 2011, seafloor displacement resulting from a magnitude-9.0 earthquake in the Japan Trench of the Pacific Ocean created a large tsunami that devastated much of the eastern coast of Japan ’s main island of Honshu . Waves measuring as much as 10 metres (33 feet) high struck the city of Sendai and other low-lying coastal regions of Miyagi prefecture as well as coastal areas in the prefectures of Iwate , Fukushima , Ibaraki , and Chiba . The tsunami also instigated a major nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi power station along the coast.

One of the most notable prehistoric tsunamis took place during the K-T extinction , a global extinction event that eliminated approximately 80 percent of all animal species about 66 million years ago. Many scientists argue that the event was mostly caused by the impact of a large meteor or comet on the Yucatán Peninsula near Chicxulub, Mexico . The impact caused an enormous 1.6-km- (1-mile) tall tsunami that washed up on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico and the islands of the Caribbean before propagating across the Atlantic Ocean and other ocean basins .

Other tsunamis of note include those that followed the spectacular explosive eruption of the Krakatoa (Krakatau) volcano on August 26 and 27, 1883, and the Chile earthquake of 1960 . A series of blasts from Krakatoa submerged the island of Rakata between Sumatra and Java , creating waves as high as 35 metres (115 feet) in many East Indies localities, and killed more than 36,000 people. The largest earthquake ever recorded (magnitude 9.5) took place in 1960 off the coast of Chile , and it caused a tsunami that killed approximately 2,000 people in Chile, 61 people 15 hours later in Hawaii , and 122 people 22 hours later in Japan .

INTERVIEW: ‘Education has power to save lives,’ survivors say, ahead of first Tsunami Awareness Day

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Ahead of the inaugural World Tsunami Awareness Day on 5 November, two survivors of the most devastating tsunami in recent history – a Czech supermodel and a member of the Spanish family featured in the film The Impossible (2012) – have joined the United Nations’ commemoration of the Day.

“It’s like a concrete building, not water, falling on you,” Petra Nemcova, a 37-year-old fashion model and philanthropist, told the UN News Centre, describing the impact of the Indian Ocean Tsunami on 26 December 2004, which hit her and her partner in a bungalow on a Thai beach.

There was no warning, she said. In seconds, the bungalow completely crashed and there was glass everywhere and they were trying to hold on for dear life. She almost drowned many times, but after holding onto a palm tree for eight hours, she was found by a Thai man who risked his life to save the lives of strangers. Her partner was a strong swimmer but the power of nature was too strong for anyone.

Unfortunately, he was among the roughly 9,000 foreign tourists that perished in the disaster, which left more than 220,000 people dead.

In that moment, I didn’t have a choice. But now I have a choice to help children

“I’m happy to hear that finally tsunami has a dedicated international day to raise the awareness of the importance of early warning systems, education and preparedness,” she said, stressing that “the power of education is not just to transform lives but the power of education is to really save lives.”

She said that there is usually time to evacuate in the wake of earthquakes. The 2004 tsunami took two hours to strike Thailand. “In two hours, you can save your lives if there is an early warning system and enough education.”

“Time is of the essence here. There is no excuse for countries not to have an early warning system or education,” she said.

She defines herself as a supermodel, philanthropist and entrepreneur. Her tragic experience changed her perspective about life.

While holding on to a palm tree, she heard children screaming. She couldn’t swim and help them because debris was around her. After half an hour she couldn’t hear their voices anymore, which meant that they couldn’t hold on any longer.

“In that moment, I didn’t have a choice,” she said. “But now I have a choice to help children.”

In 2006, she founded Happy Hearts Fund (HHF), whose mission is to rebuild safe, resilient schools in areas impacted by natural disasters. “I’m happy to announce that we have now rebuilt 150 schools in 10 countries,” including Thailand, Indonesia, Chile, Peru, Mexico, and Haiti.

Ms. Nemcova said that tsunami awareness education should take place everywhere, not just in school, because everyone travels. She proposed “smart partnerships,” such as with airlines, which can introduce measures to warn passengers against disaster risks.

Tomas Alvarez-Belon, now 20 years old, was only eight, when he, his father Quique, mother Maria and brothers Simon, five, and Lucas 10, were staying at a resort hotel in the Khao Lak region of Thailand. All survived and reunited. The story of his family was portrayed in the film, The Impossible.

He was by a pool around 8 o’clock in the morning. “All of the sudden, the world started to shake, you don't understand what's happening. You suddenly see a black wall,” he told the UN News Centre. People imagine big waves they can recognize, but that was not the case. “A massive wall approaches so fast, and before you even understand what happened, you are being drowned or pulled into the water.”

When he finally resurfaced, “you don't see the world, you see people floating, people screaming, you see torn buildings. It’s hard to recognize reality.”

As for World Tsunami Awareness Day , he said “it is important that the world can not only mark an occasion to remember the victims of the disasters that have changed the course of history, and the course of many of our lives, but also to raise the awareness that we can prepare better and can avoid future deaths.”

“It's never easy to go back to the moment of a tsunami and what happened in the aftermath, but it is so important to get the message out,” he said, adding that he feels so fortunate to be able to share the story for a higher cause to fight for.

When he tells his traumatic experience, there are two key messages he underlines.

“First is the humanity of what we saw, how people helped each other anonymously – they did not have to be from the same country, from the same race, from the same religion. It was human helping human, and that is the core of my message,” he said.

It needs to be a movement that is born here in the UN and then spreads to Governments, and then from Governments to their people

“Second is that a lot of what happened on the day tsunami hit could have been avoided if the warning system had worked […],” he said, stressing that hundreds of thousands of lives could have been saved.

Evidently, tsunami changed how he approaches nature. When he goes to a beach, he thinks about what the tallest building is around there and where he could evacuate. “It's not a human instinct to think that way because when you are on a beach, you want to have fun,” he said, stressing the need for local authorities to make visitors aware of tsunami risk.

“People around the world look up to the UN as a voice of reason, impartiality and sanity,” said Mr. Belon, who is currently studying a B.S. in Science, Technology and International Affairs at Georgetown University. “It needs to be a movement that is born here in the UN and then spreads to Governments, and then from Governments to their people.”

“We want to see concrete actions and we hope that the UN is the place where those actions begin,” he said.

The tsunami experience has made him think deeply about what he wants to do with his life, how fortunate he is to be alive, how valuable each day is and how he needs to be dedicated to helping others. “At the core of it is the humanity that resides inside each of us,” he said.

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