What is a Tsunami?

Tsunami is a Japanese word meaning ''harbour wave'' that refers to a series of large ocean waves that hit a shoreline. These waves may be as long as 100km and travel across the ocean at speeds of up to 800kmh. The succession of waves that batter the shore may last between 10 and 60 minutes.

What causes a Tsunami?

Tsunamis are caused by sudden movements of the earth that happen under the sea. Often the most destructive Tsunamis are caused by earthquakes but causes can also include volcanic eruptions, landslides or even a comet hitting the sea.

How do undersea earthquakes start?

The earth sits of about a dozen plates of hard rock that are constantly moving and fit together like a jigsaw. Undersea earthquakes happen when one of these plates is rubbing against another at a plate boundary. The two plates may become stuck as the heavier plate tries to slide under the lighter other. This causes a build up of pressure in a process knows as subduction. As the heavier plate continues to slide beneath the lighter plate, it causes the lighter plate to bend downwards with the pressure. A point comes when the lighter plate can no longer take the intense pressure and suddenly snaps back up to where it had been before. The incredible force of the earths plate shooting upwards in the water causes huge rise in sea level. A vast body of water moves upward - much resembling a mountain of liquid on the sea.

How does the Tsunami develop?

Everybody knows that what goes up must come down. This is particularly true for water which always likes to form a nice flat surface. So once the mountain of water has risen up the next step is for the sea to level itself out. The force of the water rising moves through the ocean causing an underwater force that travels for hundreds of Kilometres. The force of the water can reach speeds of up to 800kmh as it surges through the ocean. The energy is underwater and is not noticeable on the surface. As this force travels through the ocean it may eventually reach the shore. At this point, the sea becomes shallower. However, the energy in the water is still the same. The enegery is compressed and the water is pushed upwards. This is how the energy is transferred into waves.

Can anything be done?

Unfortunately nothing can be done to prevent Tsunamis. However, there are several organisations that use complex technology to monitor movement of the earths plates and sudden changes in water movement. There are also warning and evacuation procedures in place around countries like Japan and Hawaii where Tsunamis are frequent. Any sudden earthquake that happens underwater will be detected in the same manner of on onshore earthquake. These are measured in the Richter scale. If this is recorded then warning systems can sometimes be activated to evacuate people.

Tsunami history

Indian Ocean - 26 December 2004

Papua New Guinea 17 July 1998Tag: tsunami warnings and prevention

A tsunami cannot be prevented or precisely predicted - even if the right magnitude of an earthquake occurs in the right location. Geologists, Oceanographers and Seismologist analyse each earthquake and based upon many factors may or may not issue a tsunami warning. However, there are some warning signs of an impending tsunami, and there are many systems being developed and in use to reduce the damage from tsunami. One of the most important systems that is used and constantly monitored are bottom pressure sensors. These are anchored and attached to buoys. Sensors on the equipment constantly monitor the pressure of the overlying water column - this can be deduced by the simple calculation of:
where P = the overlying pressure in Newtons per = the density of the seawater= 1.1 g = the acceleration due to gravity= h = the height of the water column in metres. Hence for a water column of 5,000 m depth the overlying pressure is equal to metre x 9.8 square, 103 kg/m3, m/s2 and

or about 5.7 Million tonnes per metre square. In instances where the leading edge of the tsunami wave is the trough, the sea will recede from the coast half of the wave's period before the wave's arrival. If the slope of the coastal seabed is shallow, this recession can exceed many hundreds of meters. People unaware of the danger may remain at or near the shore out of curiosity, or for collecting fish from the exposed seabed. During the Indian Ocean tsunami of 26th December 2004, the sea withdrew and many people then went onto the exposed sea bed to investigate. Pictures taken show people on the normally submerged areas with the advancing wave in the background. Most people who were on the beach were unable to escape to high ground and died. Regions with a high risk of tsunami may use tsunami warning systems to detect tsunami and warn the general population before the wave reaches land. On the west coast of the United States, which is prone to Pacific Ocean tsunami, warning signs advise people of evacuation routes. The Pacific Tsunami Warning System is based in Honolulu. It monitors all sesimic activity that occurs anywhere within the Pacific. Based up the magnitude and other information a tsunami warning may be issued. It is important to note that the subduction zones around the Pacific are seismically active, but not all earthquakes generate tsunami and for this reason computers are used as a tool to assist in analysing the risk of tsunami generation of each and every earthquake that occurs in the Pacific Ocean and the adjoining land masses. As a direct result of the Indian Ocean tsunami, a re-appraisal of the tsunami threat of all coastal areas is being undertaken by national governments and the United Nations Disaster Mitigation Committee. A tsunami warning system is currently being installed in the Indian Ocean. Computer models can predict tsunami arrival - observations have shown that predicted arrival times are usually within minutes of the predicted time. Bottom pressure sensors are able to relay information in real time and based upon the readings and other information about the seismic event that triggered it and the shape of the seafloor (bathymetry) and coastal land (topography), it is possible to estimate the amplitude and therefore the surge height, of the approaching tsunami. All the countries that border the Pacific Ocean collaborate in the Tsunami Warning System and most regularly practice evacuation and other procedures to prepare people for the inevitable tsunami. In Japan such preparation is a mandatory requirement of government, local authorities, emergency services and the population. Some zoologists hypothesise that animals may have an ability to sense subsonicRayleigh waves from an earthquake or a tsunami. Some animals seem to have the ability to detect natural phenomena and if correct, careful observation and monitoring could possibly provide advance warning of earthquakes, tsunami etc. However, the evidence is controversial and has not been proven scientifically. There are some unsubstantiated claims that animals before the Lisbon quake were restless and moved away from low lying areas to higher ground. Yet many other animals in the same areas drowned. The phenomenon was also noted in Sri Lanka in the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. The following two references whilst relevant, are media and not scientific. It is possible that certain animals (e.g., elephants) may have heard the sounds of the tsunami as it approached the coast. The elephants reaction was to move away

from the approaching noise - inland. Some humans, on the other hand, went to the shore to investigate and many drowned as a result. It is not possible to prevent a tsunami. However, in some tsunami-prone countries some measures have been taken to reduce the damage caused on shore. Japan has implemented an extensive programme of building tsunami walls of up to 4.5 m (13.5 ft) high in front of populated coastal areas. Other localities have built floodgates and channels to redirect the water from incoming tsunami. However, their effectiveness has been questioned, as tsunami often surge higher than the barriers. For instance, the Okushiri, Hokkaid tsunami which struck Okushiri Island of Hokkaid within two to five minutes of the earthquake on July 12, 1993 created waves as much as 30 m (100 ft) tall - as high as a 10-story 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. The effects of a tsunami may 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 absorbed by trees such as coconut palms and mangroves. In one striking example, the village of Naluvedapathy in India's Tamil Nadu region suffered minimal damage and few deaths as the wave broke up on a forest of 80,244 trees planted along the shoreline in 2002 in a bid to enter the Guinness Book of Records. Environmentalists have suggested tree planting along stretches of seacoast which are prone to tsunami risks. It would take some years for the trees to grow to a useful size, but such plantations could offer a much cheaper and longer-lasting means of tsunami mitigation than the construction of artificial barriers.

Sea of Japan 26 May 1983 Alaska Britis Columbia 27 March 1964 Chili 22 May 1960 Aleutian Islands 1 April 1946

submarine volcanic eruptions and very Tsunamis, also called seismic sea waves or, incorrectly, tidal waves, generally are caused by earthquakes, less commonly by submarine landslides, infrequently by rarely by a large meteorite impact in the ocean. Submarine volcanic eruptions have the potential to produce truly awesome tsunami waves. The Great Krakatau Volcanic Eruption of 1883 generated giant waves reaching heights of 125 feet above sea-level, killing thousands of people and wiping out numerous coastal villages. The 1992 Nicaragua tsunami may have been the result of a "slow" earthquake comprised of very long-period movement occurring beneath the sea floor. This earthquake generated a devastating tsunami with localized damage to coastal communities in Nicaragua. Not all earthquakes generate tsunamis. To generate tsunamis, earthquakes must occur underneath or near the ocean, be large and create movements in the sea floor. All oceanic regions of the world can experience tsunamis, but in the Pacific Ocean

there is a much more frequent occurrence of large, destructive tsunamis because of the many large earthquakes along the margins of the Pacific Ocean.
Ring of Fire

About two-thirds of the earth is covered by the waters of the four oceans. The Pacific Ocean is the world's largest, covering more than one third of the total surface area of our planet. The Pacific Ocean is surrounded by a series of mountain chains, deep ocean trenches and island arcs, sometimes called a "ring of fire." The great size of the Pacific Ocean and the large earthquakes associated with the "ring of fire" combine to produce deadly tsunamis. In less than a day, these tsunamis can travel from one side of the Pacific to the other. However, people living near areas where large earthquakes occur may find that the tsunami waves will reach their shores within minutes of the earthquake. For these reasons, the tsunami threat to many areas (Alaska, the Philippines, Japan or the U.S. West Coast) can be immediate (for tsunamis from nearby earthquakes taking only a few minutes to reach coastal areas) or less urgent (for tsunamis from distant earthquakes taking from 3 to 22 hours to reach coastal areas).
Earth and Earthquakes

The continents and sea floor that cover the earth's surface are part of a world-wide system of plates that are in motion. These motions are very slow, only an inch or two per year. Earthquakes occur where the edges of plates run into one another. Such edges are called fault lines or faults. Sometimes the forces along faults can build-up over long periods of time so that when the rocks finally break an earthquake occurs. Examples of features produced by forces released along plate edge faults are the Andes Mountains in South America (on land) and the Aleutian Trench near Alaska (under water). When powerful, rapid faulting occurs underneath or near the ocean, a large earthquake is produced and, possibly, a tsunami. The deep ocean trenches off the coasts of Alaska, the Kuril Islands, Russia,, and South America are well known for their violent underwater earthquakes and as the source area for destructive Pacific-wide tsunamis. The tsunami generating process is more complicated than a sudden push against the column of ocean water. The earthquake's magnitude and depth, water depth in the region of tsunami generation, the amount of vertical motion of the sea floor, the velocity of such motion, whether there is coincident slumping of sediments and the efficiency with which energy is transferred from the earth's crust to ocean water are all part of the generation mech, translated from Japanese to English as 'harbor waves', are
giant waves caused by any major disturbance in a big body of water. Perhaps, for majority of the younger generations around the world, the most deadly natural disaster they've ever witnessed

(firsthand, on the Web, or on TV) is the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. That earthquake/tsunami combo claimed over 220,000 lives. The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami was caused by a 9.3magnitude earthquake that lasted for about 10 minutes. Other causes are volcanic eruptions, underwater explosions, and landslides. Tsunamis are hard to detect offshore because they may only initially rise up to about 30 cm. It is only when they approach land that they rapidly swell. The 2004 tsunami reached 30 meters high (that's about 100 feet). This altitude is easily dwarfed by the biggest tsunami ever recorded: The Lituya Bay Tsunami. Lituya Bay is found in Alaska. The tsunami that hit that area in 1958 climbed up to a height 524 meters. That's nearly a hundred meters taller than the Empire State Building. Fortunately, its death toll was not proportionate to its size. This particular tsunami was directly caused by a landslide. A number of the greatest earthquakes in recorded history resulted in tsunamis. The Great Chilean Earthquake of 1960, which also holds the record for the highest magnitude at 9.5, produced a series of gigantic waves that raced across the Pacific from Chile and finally slammed into the Philippines on the other side of the ocean. The Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964 (magnitude = 9.2) also produced tsunamis that hit the coasts of Japan and Hawaii. Extensive research, detection, and monitoring of tsunamis is being conducted by the USGS (US Geological Survey) and the NOAA's Center for Tsunami Research. NOAA stands for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Mainly because of the 2004 tsunami, deployment of detection devices have been accelerated. DART (Deep-Ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis) buoys have since been placed in strategic locations on the world's oceans. Most of these buoys have been deployed along thePacific Ring of Fire, where most earthquakes, and hence, tsunamis, occur. Each buoy is attached to a bottom pressure recording (BPR) device, which monitors pressure changes below. Data from the BPR is sent to the buoy, then to a satellite. The satellite then sends the information to various NOAA facilities. The presence of these monitoring systems can help reduce the damage (particularly to life) future tsunamis can make. Many of the deadly tsunamis had to travel great distances and take hours before slamming into shores and wreaking havoc. Once people manning the monitoring systems issue warnings, the public can be given ample time to evacuate to safer areas.