On the night of July 8th 1958 and tsunami struck the southwest side of the Gilbert inlet, it was the tallest tsunami ever recorded. Everything under the altitude of 524 meters was wiped away, including millions of trees. The tsunami was caused by a rock falling off a cliff on the Northeastern side of Gilbert. The rock fell from an altitude of 914 meters into the waters of Gilbert, and then traveled to the across the bay to the southwest side.
A tsunami is a colossal tidal wave or series of huge tidal waves, which occur when there is a displacement of a huge volume of water, in a big body of water. Tsunamis are caused my earthquakes, underwater volcanic eruptions, landslides, parts of glaciers breaking off, and underwater explosions. Tsunamis usually occur in an oceans or large lakes, and can cause huge amounts of damage and deaths. While in a huge open space tsunamis can reach the speeds of 500 miles per hour and still aren’t noticeable until they reach the continental shelf and form into a colossal tidal wave.
Tsunamis are one of the deadliest and most dangerous natural disasters that exist, especially if you live on the coastline. Altogether tsunamis killed over 420,000 people and the bodies of some of these people are still missing. But not only do these monstrous waves kill so many people, they, also destroy property that cost billions of dollars, which is later hard to rebuild especially in poor countries. An example of this damage is the damage caused by the tsunami that happened in the Indian Ocean in 2004. The damage can be described in using one fact that the tsunami released the force of 23,000 atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima during World War II. The tsunami was caused by an earthquake which’s epicenter was in the middle of the Indian Ocean which caused a fatal tsunami. This tsunami affected 11 countries. Over the area of the 11 countries 150,000 people were dead, and millions more left homeless.
The TWS is a system that detects tsunamis; it is made out of two very important components a network of sensors that is made to detect tsunamis and a communication system that is made to issue alarms in time, to evacuate people living in coastal areas and areas that might be affected by the tsunami. There are two types of tsunami warnings regional and international depending where the tsunami is going to strike, if in one country or more. This warning system is based on seismic waves which travel 14,000 km/h and can be detected almost immediately. The problem with this warning system is that the alarm starts every time there is an earthquake close to coastal areas, and not every earthquake triggers a tsunami. When there is a real tsunami people might not believe it’s actually happening, because too many false alarms were triggered. Even if you do find out there is a tsunami through a GPS (Global Positioning System) or the alarm is triggered you do not have enough time to warn every one. This is the case in Indonesia and Thailand in 2004 lots of the small villages didn’t even know there was a tsunami approaching and there were a lot of lives lost.
If there is no alarm, but you felt a strong earthquake and you do live in a coastal area or are located in one at the moment; stop what you are doing and head for higher ground on foot, because the road might have been damaged by the earthquake, keep in mind you have to be at least higher than the tsunamis height which varies from 30 feet to 100 feet. If you don’t have a place to flee to because none of the terrain is elevated enter the closest building and climb the third floor, it is recommended to climb even higher but third is okay.
Tsunamis do kill large amounts of people and destroy property worth billions and billions of dollars, but they also affect the economy of a country greatly. When a tsunami strikes it shakes the economy of a country especially poor countries. The tsunami destroy lot’s of building and homes, lots of people can’t or buy new ones, which means the government of the country has to invest a lot of money in to finding homes for these people. Company’s can lose their buildings, or some of the employees might get killed which leads to a problem. Lots of investments can be lost. And chaos would arise because some people wouldn’t be able to obtain food so they would start stealing. The tsunami in 2004 really affected Thailand’s economy, because they get most there money from tourism which couldn’t function.
As you can see tsunamis are of the most dangerous natural disasters and can cause a lot property damage and a lot of life loss. We have to develop new systems of safety against a tsunami because the one’s we have right now disrupt daily life too often, and there are still are too many casualties; but I suggest until we do not find another method of scanning the ocean for a tsunami we should respond to the alarm every time. Small Villages should also be warned of a tsunami coming.
You can simulate Waves through the link below
http://chair.pa.msu.edu/applets/tsunami/tsunami.html
http://chair.pa.msu.edu/applets/tsunami/tsunami.html
Bibliography
"NOAA Tsunami - How Does the Tsunami Warning System Work?" NOAA Tsunami Website. National Oceanic and Atomspheric Organisation. Web. 23 Feb. 2011.
"Tsunami." NOAA's National Weather Service. Intergovernmerntal Oceanographic Commission. Web. 23 Feb. 2011.
"Tsunami: The Dangers and How to Be Prepared." Associated Content. Yahoo. Web. 23 Feb. 2011.
"Early Warning: The Deadliest Tsunami in History?" National Geographic. Web. 23 Feb. 2011.
