Tsunami Warning System Report

What is a tsunami? Definition and facts

A tsunami is a big wave that causes damage. The word “tsunami” comes from the Japanese language and it means harbor wave. In order to have a tsunami there must be an earthquake. When there is an earthquake the tectonic plates move and a rupture in Earth shows. That causes the ocean to rise. Sometimes it can also be caused by volcanic eruption or a giant meteor crash in the water. A tsunami is not one wave, there are various strong waves. The multiple waves are not all equally strong. The first wave isn’t always the most dangerous. Between one wave and another it can take from five minutes to one hour. A tsunami can reach 30 centimeters in height and it can go 500 miles per hour crossing the entire ocean in one day or less.

What signs tell us that a tsunami is approaching?

There is a series of signs that indicate us that a tsunami is coming. One of them is an earthquake. If there is an earthquake with the epicenter under the sea, it is possible that it will be followed by a tsunami.

Other signal is the one that animals send us. For example, the elephants are able to hear or predict it and their reaction is to move away from the approaching noise. This is both a safe and not safe sign because we can’t trust animals. Monitoring their behavior can warn us of earthquakes, tsunamis, etc.

Some people even report that before a tsunami they heard weird noise like freight train.

Also, some tourists have said that they were looking at the sea from the beach and they could see that the ocean was retreating. They could see that the wave was not coming back and it left dead fish and algae on the seafloor. When the water retreats there are about five minutes before it comes back with all its power and drone everyone.

In Japan tsunamis are frequent. So the government puts out signs of evacuation routes on surrounding hills.

What are the benefits of these methods?

It is important to predict earthquakes and tsunamis because in that way many lives can be saved.  Tsunamis surge vertically as high as 100 feet (30 meters). They can cause the sea to rise no more than 10 feet (3 meters). If you feel an earthquake, do not stay there and look at the waves. Start running and go to higher parts of the city.

Reefs, bays or river entrances can slow the tsunami. Computers help in analyzing the risk of tsunamis of every earthquake.

Limitation factors

When the ocean is deep tsunamis can travel unnoticed on the surface. Geologists, oceanographers and seismologists work together to analyze and predict tsunamis. However, a tsunami cannot be precisely predicted. The biggest problem is that we cannot exactly predict the tsunami in advance. If you see that a tsunami is coming there is not much time to run away. On the other hand, if you are near a river or a stream that lead to the ocean it is possible that a tsunami can approach. Tsunami waves are very fast and get to the shore going 100 miles per hour (160 kilometers per hour) so it is often too late to run away when you see one.

What impact does a tsunami have?

            One of the most damaging tsunamis on Earth was the 2004 that killed 40,000 people. It took place in the Indian Ocean, near the Indonesian island of Sumatra on 26^th of December. In 1782 there was a big tsunami in South China Sea. Some of the consequences are that there are many injured people and many people lost their lives. People are left without shelter because the tsunami washed out their homes, markets, hotels, etc. It is a difficult situation because people are starving, there is no running water and the dead bodies start to decompose. Without medical care people can’t survive. There are a lot of contagious infections. A lot of people died because they didn’t pay attention to the warning signs. They stood on the beach watching this natural phenomenon.

Conclusion

            I learned new things about tsunamis. I find it very interesting and important to know about tsunamis. As we can’t predict a tsunami, we have to learn about it and understand the signs that the nature sends us.

Bibliography:

"The Deadliest Tsunami in History?" National Geographic. N.p., 7 Jan. 2005. Web.
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Tsunami." Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/
     wiki/Tsunami>.

"Tsunamis: Facts About Killer Waves." National Geographic. N.p., 14 Jan. 2005.
     Web. 19 Feb. 2011. <http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/12/
     1228_041228_tsunami.html>