describe tsunami and its reasons

1. TSUNAMI
Nilesh Majumdar

2. Tsunami is a Japanese term for a group of waves,
which are caused by a very large displacement of
water in the ocean. This displacement is usually
caused by tectonic or volcanic activity or in the other
words tsunami is a huge wave or water wall that can
cause massive amounts of damage. Tsunamis are
often caused by natural occurrences like earthquakes
or volcanic. It can millions of life when it occurs.

3. Find out if your home is in a danger area. Know the height of your street above
sea level and the distance of your street from the coast. Evacuation orders
may be based on these numbers.
Be familiar with the tsunami warning signs. Because tsunamis can be caused
by an underwater disturbance or an earthquake, people living along the coast
should consider an earthquake or a sizable ground rumbling as a warning
signal. A noticeable rapid rise or fall in coastal waters is also a sign that a
tsunami is approaching.
Make sure all family members know how to respond to a tsunami.
Make evacuation plans. Pick an inland location that is elevated. After an
earthquake or other natural disaster, roads in and out of the vicinity may be
blocked, so pick more than one evacuation route.
Teach family members how and when to turn off gas, electricity, and water.
Teach children how and when to call 9-1-1, police or fire department, and
which radio station to listen for official information.

4. Listen to a radio or television to get the latest emergency information,
and be ready to evacuate if asked to do so.
If you hear an official tsunami warning or detect signs of a tsunami,
evacuate at once. Climb to higher ground. A tsunami warning is issued
when authorities are certain that a tsunami threat exists.
Stay away from the beach.
Never go down to the beach to watch a tsunami come in. If you can see
the wave you are too close to escape it.
Return home only after authorities advise it is safe to do so. A tsunami is
a series of waves. Do not assume that one wave means that the danger
over. The next wave may be larger than the first one. Stay out of the
area.

5. AFTER
Stay tuned to a battery-operated radio for the latest emergency information.
Help injured or trapped persons.
Give first aid where appropriate. Do not move seriously injured persons unless they are in
immediate danger of further injury. Call for help.
Remember to help your neighbors who may require special assistance--infants, elderly
people, and people with disabilities.
Stay out of damaged buildings. Return home only when authorities say it is safe.
Enter your home with caution.
Use a flashlight when entering damaged buildings. Check for electrical shorts and live
wires. Do not use appliances or lights until an electrician has checked the electrical
system.
Open windows and doors to help dry the building.
Shovel mud while it is still moist to give walls and floors an opportunity to dry.
Check food supplies and test drinking water.
Fresh food that has come in contact with flood waters may be contaminated and should be
thrown out.

6. Tsunami 2004 & 2011

7. The December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was caused by an
earthquake that is thought to have had the energy of 23,000 Hiroshima-
type atomic bombs.
The epicenter of the 9.0 magnitude quake was under the Indian Ocean
near the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
The violent movement of sections of the Earth’s crusts known as tectonic
plates displaced an enormous amount of water, sending powerful shock
waves in every direction.
The tectonic plates in this area had been pushing against each other,
building pressure for thousands of years – they continue to do so and will
likely cause underwater earthquakes and tsunamis in the future.
The shifting of the earth’s plates in the Indian Ocean on Dec. 26, 2004
caused a rupture more than 600 miles long, displacing the seafloor above
the rupture by perhaps 10 yards horizontally and several yards vertically.
As a result, trillions of tons of rock were moved along hundreds of miles
and caused the planet to shudder with the largest magnitude earthquake
in 40 years.

8. Within hours of the earthquake, killer waves radiating from the epicenter
slammed into the coastline of 11 Indian Ocean countries, damaging countries
from east Africa to Thailand.
A tsunami is a series of waves, and the first wave may not be the most
dangerous. A tsunami “wave train” may come as surges five minutes to an hour
apart. The cycle may be marked by the repeated retreat and advance of the
ocean.
Despite a lag of up to several hours between the earthquake and the impact of
the tsunami, nearly all of the victims were taken completely by surprise because
there were no tsunami warning systems in the Indian Ocean to detect tsunamis
or to warn the general populace living around the ocean.
The Indian Ocean tsunami traveled as far as 3,000 miles to Africa and still
arrived with sufficient force to kill people and destroy property.
Many people in Indonesian reported that they saw animals fleeing for high
ground minutes before the tsunami arrived – very few animal bodies were found
afterward.

9. Most know about the Tsunami/Earthquake that occurred last year in Tohoku
Japan, but not many know specific facts. This blog post will give facts about
what happened and what’s happened in Japan since the Tsunami one year
ago.
On March 11, 2011 Japan was hit with a 9.0 magnitude earthquake which
then triggered a 23 foot tall tsunami. The waves touched Japan within minutes
of the earthquake. The waves swept away cars, homes, buildings, a train, and
boats. According to the official toll, the disaster left 15,839 dead, 5,950
injured, and 3,642 missing. According to the World Bank the estimates of the
damages are placed around $122 billion and $235 billion. The japanese
estimate costs to reach $309 billion making it the world’s most expensive
natural disaster on record.

10. As if that wasn’t enough, cooling systems in one of the reactors at
the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in the Fukushima prefecture
on the east coast of Japan failed shortly after the earthquake causing a
nuclear crisis. The initial failure was followed by an explosion and partial
meltdowns in two reactors, followed by a fire in another reactor which
released deadly radioactivity into the atmosphere. Three other nuclear
facilities also reported problems, nearly 200,000 residents were evacuated
from affected areas.
Here are some photos from National Geographic of the destruction caused
by the Tsunami: