Tsunami

Comes from the Japanese word, "harbor wave" is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water. It is usually occurred after an earthquake. Tsunami waves is far longer than a normal wave. Although tsunami wave impact is limited to the coastal areas, it is destructive and powerful when it reach the shore. Tsunami alert happens right after an earthquake, this is to prevent the possible casualties along the location specially on the coastal area. 


Scientists can predict the time when will the tsunami arrive around the world, using a devise use to measure water waves. Tsunami waves can be as long as 60 miles and be as far as an hour apart. These waves can cross entire oceans without losing much energy. Flooding can reach land 1000 feet (300 meters) from the coastline and the dangerous waves have enough force to lift giant boulders, flip vehicles, and demolish houses. Since tsunami wave activity is imperceptible in the open ocean, do not return to port if you are at sea and a tsunami warning has been issued for your area. Tsunamis can cause rapid changes in water level and unpredictable dangerous currents in harbors and ports. Damaging wave activity and unpredictable currents can effect harbors for a period of time following the initial tsunami impact on the coast. Contact the harbor authority before returning to port making sure to verify that conditions in the harbor are safe for navigation and berthing. 

Tsunamis have been relatively rare in the Indian Ocean. They are most prevalent in the Pacific. But every ocean has generated the scourges. Many countries are at risk.  A tsunami is a series of great sea waves caused by an underwater earthquake, landslide, or volcanic eruption. More rarely, a tsunami can be generated by a giant meteor impact with the ocean. Scientists have found traces of an asteroid-collision event that they say would have created a giant tsunami that swept around the Earth several times, inundating everything except the mountains 3.5 billion years ago. The coastline of the continents was changed drastically and almost all life on land was exterminated. Regions in tsunami danger zones often have warning systems in place to give people as much time to evacuate as possible. 


The Worst Tsunamis Ever


In Sumatra in the year 2010, the tsunami occurred at the same fault in 2004 where it was more disastrous and deadly. It displaced more than 20,000 people and reportedly killed 435. 


The 2010 Chile earthquake with the Ritcher scale of magnitude 8.8, it triggered a tsunami that destroyed several coastal towns in south-central Chile. The tsunami raced through the Pacific Ocean that 53 countries had to post warning, though there was little damage as it moved past Hawaii, Australia and Japan. The death toll was 521 victims. 


The 2011 Japan earthquake with 9.0 magnitude that hit the Tohoku region of Japan on March 11, 2011 was the largest earthquake to have ever hit the country. Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan even called it "the toughest and most difficult crisis for Japan" since the end of World War II. The tsunami that traveled along the Pacific coast of Japan's northern islands was measured to be at least 9.8 feet high. Entire towns and cities were swept away and about 5,692 are said to be dead, with 9,522 missing and 2,409 injured.


The tsunamis that claimed thousands of lives across the Indian Ocean are the deadliest great waves in more than a century and probably in modern history. More than 36,000 people were killed by tsunamis following the explosion of the volcano Krakatau in the Sunda Strait near Java on Aug. 27, 1883. Many estimates of the number killed in that disaster were even higher. 

Aug. 16, 1976: A tsunami generated by a quake on Mindanao in the Philippines killed between 5,000 and 8,000 people in the Moro Gulf region.

March 28, 1964: A magnitude 8.4 quake in Alaska generated tsunamis that caused damage in southeastern Alaska, in Vancouver Island, British Columbia, and in the states of Washington, California and Hawaii. More than 120 died. Hardest hit was Crescent City, California, where waves reaching as much as 20 feet destroyed half of the waterfront business district. Eleven people lost their lives there. There was extensive damage in San Francisco Bay and at the marinas in Marin County and at the Noyo, Los Angeles and Long Beach harbors.

May 22, 1960: The largest earthquake — magnitude 8.6 — of the 20th century occurred off the coast of south central Chile. It generated a Pacific-wide tsunami, which was destructive locally in Chile and throughout the Pacific Ocean. The tsunami killed an estimated 2,300 people in Chile. Waves damaged the waterfront in Hilo, Hawaii, and killed 61 people.

Nov. 4, 1952: A strong earthquake off the coast of Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula generated a great, destructive Pacific-wide tsunami. Its waves struck the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Kuril Islands and other areas of Russia's Far East, causing considerable damage and loss of life. There was also damage in Hawaii, Peru and Chile.

Jan. 31, 1906: A strong tsunami struck the coast of Ecuador and Colombia, submerging half of Tumaco, Colombia, and washing away half of a nearby island. The death toll has been estimated at between 500 and 1,500.

Aug. 13, 1868: A massive wave struck Chile, carrying ships as far as three miles inland at Arica. Deaths totaled 25,000 or more. Indonesia has seen more than 50,000 deaths in more than 30 destructive tsunamis over the centuries — not including the most recent disaster.On April 1, 1946, a Pacific-wide tsunami was generated by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake near Unimak Island in Alaska's Aleutian Island chain.A huge wave destroyed the U.S. Coast Guard's Scotch Cap lighthouse on Unimak, killing all five of its occupants. The lighthouse was a steel-reinforced concrete structure standing about 90 feet above sea level.

That tsunami reached the Hawaiian Islands about five hours later, obliterating Hilo's waterfront and killing 159 people.

Altogether, 165 people died, including children attending school at Hawaii's Laupahoehoe Point, where waves reaching up to 25 feet struck. As a result of this wave, two years later the United States established a Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii. 


Now if I may ask, how will you be ready about this disaster? We can do that with prayers and preparations. If we will learn to observe things during earthquake, we will know the things right after it. Tsunami can occur anywhere around the world and we must have enough knowledge to survive.