Category: Tsunami

Tsunami refers to long oceanic waves that occur because of displacement of large amounts of water bodies. The displacement of water is due to underwater earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions and other seismic events that cause disturbances either below or above the water surface causing the displacement. Tsunamis move at very high speeds almost 500 to 1000 kilometers per hour. This affects other areas that are very many kilometers away from where the tsunami occurred. They do not also loose speed, for instance when tsunamis occurred in South Asia at a certain speed, it occurred with the same speed fourteen hours later in East Africa. In addition, they have long wavelengths and can take long time before the second tsunami occurs after the first one. For example, this happened in South Asia where many people died in the second occurrence as they tried to help the survivors of the first tragedy.

Tsunami has high heights, which can be as high as thirty meters and people in the deep ocean do not feel them. This is the reason as to why the tsunami that occurred in Japan was not felt by anglers were not attacked by the tsunami that occurred in Japan. However, when they occur they cause great damage of properties and loss of lives.This is the reason as to why nations should be prepared on how to manage such kind of crisis. In this paper, I am going to examine the different tsunami emergency management systems both international and regional. In addition, I will give comments on how the government and individuals should best be prepared for the disaster.

Tsunami emergency management systems

Tsunamis are not common occurrence and not all earthquakes cause them. However, when they occur they are very serious and cause great damage. Therefore, it is very important for the government and individuals to know how to manage them. The government has developed many systems to help it as well as individuals manage them. Tsunami emergency management system detects and predicts tsunami in addition to warning individuals and government in good time before the onset of the disaster. These systems are discussed below.

Tsunami Warning System

This system detects by use of sensors and gives warning using communication infrastructure to prevent loss of life, economy and property. There are two main types of tsunami warning system. These are International Warning System (IWS) and Regional Warning System (RWS).I will start by discussing International Warning Systems (IWS).

International Warning Systems (IWS)

There are many IWS as discussed below involved in management of tsunami.

Pacific Ocean Tsunami Management System

This network consists of seismic monitoring stations and sea-level gauges that detect earthquakes and abnormal changes in sea level that can cause tsunami. After detecting a tsunami, they give warning to those living near the coastline along the predicted path of tsunami and its arrival time. The warning system advices people to leave the coastline immediately they get the warning and move to higher grounds that are ten meters above sea level or move inlands. Additionally, they are advised not to return to the coast until requested to do so by the warning agency either through radios, televisions or through other means. Those involved in finding out which areas are prone to tsunami are able to do so by assessing those areas along the coastlines long before the tsunami occurs. In 1949, after Aleutian Island earthquake that caused tsunami occurred in 1946 the system was established (West Coast Tsunami Warning Centre 7).

Australia Tsunami Warning System (ATWS)

After the occurrence of Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, the system was established. Australia Bureau of Meteorology, Geosciences Australia and Emergency Management of Australia were involved in its establishment. They all aimed at providing timely tsunami warning system to all Australian population. The Government of Australia set aside some amount of money to upgrade the Alert System to ATWS that could give early warnings. The money contributed by the government was used to establish joint ATWS centre that could monitor and analyze capacity for the nations 24/7.In addition the money was used to upgrade networks around Australia that were concerned with monitoring sea-level and seismic.Moreover,tsumani education and training programmes were implemented nationwide.

The funds were also used in developing Pacific Tsunami warning system and in establishment of Indian Ocean Warning System in addition to providing technical assistance (Tad et al 3).

Australia tsunami warning system work was to keep the public in Australia and Territories informed about programmes and activities that related to tsunami. This was possible after the department carried out research to examine those areas that required improvement. The establishment of ATWS led to many positive impacts such as development of tsunami awareness brochures, delivery of in-service tsunami education system among others.

Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System

United Nation established it after the 2004 tsunami that occurred along Indian Ocean coastline and greatly affected countries like Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The tsunami led to great destruction of buildings, infrastructure, trees, crops and loss of lives and other people went missing. This was because of not informing the people in good time as in the case of Pacific Ocean. This made the governments and scientists with the help of United Nation to set up mechanisms that could help them detect the tsunami early enough. The purpose of this warning system is to give tsunami warning to those along the coastline of Indian Ocean (Tad et al 7).

At first, the Seismic gauges detected the presence of earthquakes and other volcanic eruptions by monitoring the sea level. However, this was not reliable because not all earthquakes cause tsunami. As a result, pressure recorders and tide gauges were developed by scientists to help them find out if tsunami was triggered. However, another system that was very effective to use was the Deep-Ocean Ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami (Dart) that uses buoys and sensors located away from the sea. Here a pressure recorder that is on the seabed measures the weight of the water that is above it. The height of the wave determines the weight of the water. After detecting a tsunami, the pressure recorder sends the information to a buoy that monitors the surface’ conditions and send the information to a satellite which then t relay the data back to the receiving station (Athukorala and Budy 8). Dart system help the tsunami warning system overcome the challenge of conveying the information in good time and this makes it effective.

The UN members involved in monitoring the success of IOTWS have provided permanent methods of managing the emergency. This is by creating tsunami awareness in school, training broadcasters and people involved in making decisions about the crisis.UN has also availed the information available in local languages. Moreover, a group of UN Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System mapped the coastline. These maps showed which areas were likely to flood and which were appropriate to evacuate the people who lived along the coastline in case of emergency (Tad et al 8).

North Eastern, the Mediterranean and connected Oceans Tsunami Warning System

Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission established the system in 2005 during its 23^rd session. Just as other warning systems discussed above, this system was involved in detecting tsunami and warning those people who lived along the coastline in North Eastern Atlantic, Mediterranean and other connected seas.

Regional Warning Systems

These systems determine the likely occurrence of tsunami by using the seismic data of nearby earthquake. They are able to warn the public within a short period of time that can even be less than fifteen minutes. This may not be possible with International Warning Systems. With these systems, it is possible to calculate the arrival time of tsunami but it is hard to know whether displacement of water bodies have occurred to such an extent to cause tsunami. This can lead to false alarms but localization of these quick warnings reduces disruption. The people in coastal areas are usually warned after detecting abnormal seismic waves without confirming tsunami. This help to ensure that people evacuate and prepare for the occurrence of flooding in good time before tsunami occurs. Some examples of RWS are discussed below.

Urgent Local Tsunami

Pacific Tsunami Warning System warns Hawaii of tsunamis generated in coastal waters. It is issued without tsunami confirmation and is based on seismic and sea level data. Its aim is to alert people early enough on the potentiality of destructive local tsunami.

Japan tsunami warning system

Japan experiences many earthquakes and tsunamis and this has made it develop an extensive tsunami warning system in the pacific and beyond. Its Meteorological Agency involved in observation is located in Tokyo but there are other five regional observatories involved in giving tsunamis warnings. In the collection of data, the system uses satellites and cellular communications.

Japan uses many methods for notification such as Simultaneous Announcement Wireless System (SAWS) consisting of transmitters and receivers, national media, Sirens and bells Mobile Announcer System, telephone network and word of mouth among other (Geological Society of Australia 7).

Tsunami awareness are so effective in Japan to an extent that even people who were asleep and at risk have been found to evacuate within five minutes to safe grounds. It is important to note that after the management system detect and predict tsunami it is important to convey the warning to people.

Conveying of Warnings

The tsunami emergency warning system warns the people on areas that are prone to tsunami and the best places for evacuation. However, not even a single system will be able to protect against a sudden tsunami that occurs so soon after the earthquake. For example, a devastating tsunami occurred in Japan where many people lost their lives and injured others as tsunami occurred three to five minutes after the earthquake. Many people were running for their lives in higher grounds but tsunami caught them up. As a result many recommendations has been put forth to ensure public safety incase of emergency tsunami.

Recent Recommendations to ensure public safety during tsunami emergency

These recommendations show what individuals and government ought to do before tsunami occurs, during and after its occurrence. Firstly the government should develop a multi-language education system that inform people on the nature and dangers of tsunami, how to respond to changes in water levels and large earthquakes. In addition, inform people about the areas in coastal regions that are at risk of experiencing tsunami and the best routes where they can evacuate to incase of the tsunami warning. Secondly, enhance better tsunami warning and conveying of appropriate tsunami messages to avoid cases of unsuitable alarms. This is by improving the technology for detecting tsunami (Tsunami Protection Committee 34).Thirdly; inspect all roads, railways and airports near coastlines to ensure safety during tsunami emergency.

The government should also provide sufficient funds to improve communication emergency agency and work with other states at the coast to ensure they get information from all over the world. Moreover, use land at the coastline well to ensure it is highly resistant to tsunami. Additionally, provide tsunami materials to the visitors at the coastal area and put signs on the coast showing evacuation areas (State of California Seismic Safety Protection 1).

It is also important for the government department involved in tsunami emergency management to collect information concerning regional damage that has occurred after tsunami. This allows investigation to be done and know how to deal with such kind of disaster in future. Lastly, it is important to ensure that people are well prepared. Next, I am going to comment on how the government and people can best be prepared for the tsunami emergency (Mitchell J 10).

Preparedness of the Government and people for tsunami emergency

As discussed above, it is very clear that living along the coastline has many risks and therefore one ought to be careful and well informed about the dangers to expect. To best prepare individuals inform them that incase of tsunami warnings they should move inland or to higher grounds in an orderly and safe manner. In addition, make them aware of the signs of a potential tsunami. For example, shaking grounds that knock you and d other objects down or unnatural behavior of water suddenly. In this case, one should not wait for warning, as there may not be enough time for warning systems to inform people.

It is also important for one to share information about tsunami with one’s family members and friends. In addition, one should protect his family and property by ensuring that one knows where they can evacuate to incase of tsunami and which means to use to get there. One should also have emergency kit in place. Moreover, one should be aware of the tsunami warning system used locally and quickly respond to the warning. If the individual is working along the coastline, they should seek to know areas that are prone to tsunami and where to evacuate to incase of tsunami warning or watch (Telford et al 6).The people who might be in school incase of tsunami warning or watch should follow instructions given by their teachers. Those along the beaches should not stay near the rivers that are likely to source their waters from tsunami.

The government can best be prepared for tsunami emergency by setting up agencies that give tsunami warning to the public. Apart from setting up these agencies, the government should continually fund them to enhance improvement especially on conveying the message to the public.Additionaly; the government should have evacuation plans always in place for all areas prone to tsunami. In case of Evacuation plans, Evacuation route signs to be posted in these areas either on the streets, beaches among others(Robert 105-124).The government should also develop education programmes to inform all people on dangers of tsunami and what to do incase it occurs. Either this can be through the media or published tsunami materials that are distributed to all people especially those living in tsunami prone areas. In addition, the government should develop evacuation shelters to host and feed displaced people during tsunami warning or after tsunami has occurred (Houghton 13).Every government should budget for tsunami emergency management and work with other international emergency agencies to ensure they get tsunami warnings. Lastly, the government should have maps showing areas prone to tsunami and best areas for evacuation (State of California Seismic Safety Commission 15).

Conclusion

From the discussion above tsunami are long oceanic waves that occur because of large displacement of water bodies caused by earthquakes, landslides or volcanic eruptions. They do not occur often but when they occur they causes great loss of economy, lives and properties. This has called for different emergency management systems to be developed. These systems are of two types that is International and Regional and their work is to predict tsunami and give warning to the public. However, these systems cannot protect against a tsunami that occurs suddenly and that is why preparedness for the emergency is important for both the government and individuals. For example, the individual should be aware of local warning systems and areas they can evacuate to incase of emergency. On the other hand, the government should develop education programmes to inform people on dangers of tsunami and what they should do incase of emergency. This being a natural and international disaster, it is very important for nations to work together in its management. For instance, rich nations and NGOS should give donations to poor nations to ensure they are also able to manage the disaster.

Works Cited

1. Athukorala, Chandra and Budy, Resosudarmo.The Indian Ocean tsunami: economic Impact, disaster Management and lessons. Canberra: Australian National University, 2005.Print.
2. Geological Society of Australia. Causes of tsunami. 2009.
3. Houghton, Rachel. Tsunami Emergency Lessons from Previous Natural Disaster. Australia: Australia Development Gateway, 2005.Print.
4. Mitchell, Julian.Learning from the past: a look back at evaluation and reviews of disaster Preparedness programmes. London: IFRC, 1999.Print.
5. Robert, John. The Indian Ocean Tsunami:” how can the region recover economically?The Indian Ocean tsunami of December 26, 2004: observations in Sri Lanka and Thailand.” Natural Hazards, 42.1(2007):105-124.
6. State of California Seismic Safety Commission.The Tsunami Threat of California: Findings and recommendations of tsunami hazards and risks. SCS, 2005. Print.
7. Tad, Murty, Aswathanaraya, Uppugunuri and Niru,Nirupama).The Indian Ocean Tsunami. New York: Taylor &Francis, 2006.Print.
8. Telford, John et al. Learning lessons from disaster recovery: The case of Honduras, 2004. Print.
9. Tsunami Protection Committee.Recommendations of the Tsunami Protection Committee. Tsunami Protection Committee, 2005.Print.
10. US. West Coast Tsunami Warning Centre. Strategic Implementation Plan for Tsunami Mitigation Projects, NOAA Technical Memorandum, Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, NOAA, Dept. of Commerce, 2004.Print.

Japan has experienced many disasters that have caused massive loss of property and lives. In 1993, the Hokkaido Nansei-Oki Earthquake Tsunami hit Okushiri Island located to the west of Hokkaido. This disaster was identified as one of the major Tsunamis that have led to destruction of property and lives.

Sources revealed that about 200 people were killed by the raging waters, and property worth about 66 billion Japanese Yen was damaged (Shuto, 2006). Fire outbreaks that resulted from destroyed power lines magnified the losses. Landslides were also rampant owing to the devastating effects of the earthquake.

In Okushiri town, 29 people were killed by a landslide when a hotel built under a cliff succumbed to the strong forces of the quake (The Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters, 2009). The earthquake affected residents both economically and psychologically. The incident left many people traumatized for losing both their property and families.

In 2004, another tsunami disaster was experienced on the Indian Ocean frontier. It was reported to be greatest in the land since 1900 (Kelman et al., 2006). In fact, it was reported to be the third largest tsunami in the world. Over 227, 000 people lost lives in 11 countries and about 1.7 million others were left homeless (Kelman et al., 2006).

Many children died in the waters and fire outbreaks that resulted from faulty power lines and gas pipes. Statistics also showed that more women than men died. Apart from loss of lives, there was massive damage on coastal ecosystems, coastal forests, mangroves, coral reefs, and rock formations.

Marine life was adversely affected and many sea animals died due to strong waves, industrial chemicals, and liquid and solid waste. This disaster had far-reaching economic impacts compared to the Japan’s 1993 tsunami in Hokkaido.

Several factors contributed to the impact of tsunami disasters. Concerning the 1993 tsunami disaster in Hokkaido Japan, the geographical location of the Onkushiri town was a major factor that multiplied the damages (Shuto, 2006). This area was hit by a tsunami whose tides reached magnitudes of 11 meters in height. As anticipated, the tide washed away buildings and caused massive destruction of coastal structures.

Massive destruction of coastal buildings was also attributed to an earthquake that was experienced on the shores of the sea. In addition, fire outbreaks also contributed to the devastating effects of the tsunami (Shuto, 2006).

Just as was the case with the 1993 tsunami in Hokkaido, the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami had far-reaching economic effects on the economies of affected countries. Geographical location was one of the factors that contributed to the severity of the impacts. Coastal lands were massively destroyed by high forceful tides (Asian Disaster Preparedness Council, 2005). Vegetation and structures near the coastal waters were swept away.

It can be argued that poor planning contributed to negative economic effects after the tsunami. Locating buildings and infrastructure near ocean shores was not a good idea (Asian Disaster Preparedness Council, 2005). In addition, the question of educating and passing information about dangers of tsunami contributed to massive loss of lives.

Governments should have issued a warning to coastal residents in order to avert the disaster (Asian Disaster Preparedness Council, 2005). This would have avoided the massive deaths in one way or another. It is the responsibility of meteorological departments to ensure that in cases of threats such as tsunami, notices are issued to residents so that they can relocate before disaster strikes.

The effects of tsunami in Japan could have been reduced if a well-established land use policy had been developed (Shuto, 2006). Such a policy would have prevented establishment of structures such as buildings on coastal areas that are vulnerable to tsunamis.

If such areas have to be developed, strict design standards should be developed and followed to the letter (Shuto, 2006). In addition, increased awareness on tsunami risks could as well have reduced the number of deaths in the disaster. The government should also construct barriers along the coastline to protect land from rising tides.

Similar mitigation or preventive procedures could have been used during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Establishment of strict building codes in areas that are exposed to tsunami inundation would have prevented massive destruction of buildings and other infrastructure (Kelman et al., 2006). It could as well have prevented destruction of power lines that caused fire outbreaks.

Oil pipelines should be removed from these places as a precautionary measure in order to reduce the possibility of fire outbreaks that result from broken fuel and gas pipes when quakes and tsunamis strike (UNESCO, 2006). Stringent land management policies would have prevented establishment of residential and business premises near seashores, and this would have averted the massive loss of lives.

Enhanced public awareness both before and during the tsunami would have given people time to prepare and evade the disaster (Kelman et al., 2006). Governments in tsunami-prone areas should consider establishing warning systems that will alert people when such disasters strike or when they are about to occur.

References

Asian Disaster Preparedness Council. (2005). Social and Economic Impact of 2004 Tsunami. Web.

Kelman, I., Spence, R., Palmer, J., Petal, M., and Saito, K. (2008). Tourists and disasters: lessons from the 26 December 2004 tsunamis. Journal of Coastal Conservation, 12(3), 105-113.

Shuto, Nabuo. (2006). Damage and Reconstruction at Okushiri Town Caused by the 1993 Hokkaido Nansei-Oki Earthquake Tsunami. Journal of Disaster Research, 2(1), 44-45.

The Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters. (2009). EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International disaster database. Web.

UNESCO. (2006). Five Years after the Tsunami in the Indian Ocean – from Strategy to Implementation. Advancements in global early warning systems for tsunamis and other ocean hazards. Web.

Introduction

Among the most exemplary cases of natural disasters and their management was Katrina, a hurricane that hit America in 2004. In that regard, such example demonstrated that the preparedness for natural hazards was not about unifying all the branches of security under one department, but also about coordination as well. Additionally, the tsunami that hit the coastal area of the Indian Ocean in 2004 was one of the events that led to reconsiderations of the preparedness levels in dealing with catastrophes of such scales. In the light of the aforementioned, the present paper examines the literature of emergency and disaster, in order to identify the recent recommendations made in the field of tsunami emergency managements.

Tsunami Emergency Management Systems

With definitions being an essential and critical aspect of emergency and disaster management, due to “confusion over the meaning given to core terms” (Moore and Lakha, p. 110), the establishment of the category to which tsunamis belong is necessary. In that regard, a tsunami qualifies as a catastrophe, based on such factors as severity, consequences, costs, and socio-legal impact. According to the New Oxford Dictionary of English (1999), cited in Moore and Lakha (2006), a catastrophe is “an event causing great and often sudden damage or suffering: a disaster” (Moore and Lakha, p. 110). Nevertheless, it should be noted that in chapter 36 of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, emergency is the main word used to classify all categories of events, which in this case implies an event or situation threatening serious damage to human welfare and/or the environment of a place in the United Kingdom (Parliament of the United Kingdom, p. 1).

With the definitions clarified, the general framework for Disaster and Emergency Management Systems (DEMS) consists of the following elements:

• Assessment of external and internal factors
• A disaster and emergency policy
• Organization for disasters and emergencies
• Disaster and emergency planning
• Monitoring the disaster and emergency plans
• Audit and review (Moore and Lakha, p. 117)

Applying such framework to the case of tsunami, it can be stated that the first element, i.e. the assessment of the internal and external factor, is concerned with gathering important statistics. The statistics include the environmental factors, such as weather conditions around the site, the locations of potential impacts, the terrain at such locations, the distance to the nearest Emergency and Accidents Centres, etc. Taking the Tsunami Ready Program as an example of a specific tsunami-based DEMS (Haddow, Bullock and Coppola 216), the assessment stage can be paralleled to the stage in which the communities eligible for the participation in Tsunami Ready are determined. The eligibility criteria might include identifying at risk communities, their descriptions, the availability of weather monitoring equipment, and others. The historical factor might be included as well, specifically for the cases of major incidents occurred in the past, assessing the response of the community, in terms of assisting emergency service and volunteers (Moore and Lakha, p. 119).

An important factor to consider is the influence of established policies in such issues. In that regard, it can be stated that one of the most important policies governing the emergency management in the UK is the Civil Contingencies Act (2004), which establishes the general guidelines for emergency management. Although the Act lacks specific instructions on tsunami preparedness, it provides a general framework, in which the roles of authorities in case of emergency are established as well as the coordination regulations. It should be noted that DEMS should identify the role of the government, their representatives, their location, and their plans. In that regard, an assessment of the gaps that might exists in the government policies might facilitate coordination efforts between agencies.

The DEMS should acknowledge the existence of the all the agencies which are concerned with the managing emergencies, which frameworks have “guidance, information and templates on response” (Moore and Lakha, p. 119). An important factor that should be considered is the identification of authorities which have the power to make emergency regulations as well as the power to modify them. In the case of UK, the power to make emergency regulations, as stated in Chapter 36 of the Civil Contingencies ACT (2004), is held by Her Majesty the Queen by Order in Council, the First Lord of the Treasury (the Prime Minister, any of Her Majesty’s Principal Secretaries of State, and the Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury (Parliament of the United Kingdom, p. 13). Additionally, as a part of the identification of the existing policies, the Act identifies the local authorities and the emergency services that have the responsibilities to handle the management of emergencies and disasters within their counties. In that regard, the Act identifies the categories of responders to include local authorities such as a county council, a district council, etc, and responders of emergency services, such the chief officer of police, the chief constable of the British Transport Police Force, the National Health Service, and others (Parliament of the United Kingdom, pp. 23-24). The aforementioned and other agencies and respondents has the responsibilities to provide information about the actions that were taken in regards of an emergency or a disaster, and accordingly provide explanations for the actions that were no taken under their duty (Parliament of the United Kingdom, p. 8). The acknowledgement of the coordination schemes and their hierarchical structures, in both handling the situation and reporting can be seen as an essential aspect of the DEMS. The example of the latter, in terms of the previously mentioned Tsunami Ready Program, can fall under the category of Administrative guidelines, which in this case include the framework developed by the National Storm Ready Board, the representative of Federal Emergency Management, State emergency service directors, and others (Haddow, Bullock and Coppola, p. 223).

The organization for disaster and emergencies stage of the DEMS is concerned with planning, in which a general framework for actions that should be undertaken is outlined. In that regard, such framework might contain elements of the Civil Contingencies Act (2004) as well as elements from the Tsunami Ready Program, which initiative is aimed specifically for managing such kinds of disasters. One of the most important elements of the DEMS is the establishment of effective communication. The scope and the purpose of establishing effective means of communication can be seen through the definition of communication, which is the “process of transmission, reception and feedback of information, whether the information is verbal, written, pictorial or intimated” (Moore and Lakha, p. 126). The responsibilities for responding on the aforementioned aspect, namely communications networks, lie within the Contingencies Act (2004) on the persons assigned to provide “a public electronic communications network which makes telephone services available”, which provision and explanations are given within section 32(4)(a) and (b), 32(1), and 151(1) of the Communications Act 2003 (c. 21) (Parliament of the United Kingdom, p. 25).

In the context of emergency and disaster management the establishment of communication can be seen on two levels, where on the one hand, the communication should serve as a communication and coordination mean within the system itself, e.g. between Emergency Operations Centres (EOCs) and warning points (Haddow, Bullock and Coppola, p. 220), as well as a mean of regular planning initiatives with all the stakeholders involved in a particular DEMS (Haddow, Bullock and Coppola, p. 222). On the other hand, effective communication should be also directed toward the population, where communication channels should serve as the main mean for issuing warnings for the population, specifically in case of short-fused events. In tsunami-related context the warnings against such events is specifically important, where the arrival of waves can occur merely within minutes. Another purpose of communication channels can be seen through not only the communication of alerts, but also through educating the population on the actions that they should undertake through various media. In terms of alert communication, the mediums for such communication include television and radio overrides, local broadcast systems, dial-down systems, and tone alert receivers (Haddow, Bullock and Coppola, p. 221). Timely information delivered to authorities and the public should be considered as one of the responsibilities of the DEMS.

The planning stage is based on a clear identification of the goals and the objectives of the DEMS, which in the case of a tsunami might take the form of the following:

• Reducing, controlling and mitigating the effects of the tsunami
• Enabling other actions to be taken in connection with an emergency.
• Maintain arrangements to warn the public (Parliament of the United Kingdom).

It should be noted that an important objective of the DEMS, outlined within the Contingencies Act, is not related to the case of the tsunami, which is prevention. It might be assumed that a tsunami as a category of disaster that cannot be prevented, as long as there is a threat of its occurrence.

Dividing the stages of planning to those prior to the event, during the event, and after the event, it can be seen that initiative such as Tsunami Ready are concerned with the preparation period, where the promotion of preparedness is the main focus of such initiative. Nevertheless, other stages are important as well, where there elements that should be considered during the event such as coordination of actions and following the code of conduct, although it can be noted that the success of the processes during the tsunami is largely connected following the stages prior to the event itself.

With all the steps of managing the event being followed, the framework of the DEMS plan should be monitored and regularly reviewed, which can be seen as the main concern of the last two elements of the DEMS. The experience gained during the mitigation of a tsunami should be considered during the training programs as well as during the making and/or modification of the existing regulations concerned with emergency management. Monitoring the plan, on the other hand, is concerned with the “process of assessing and evaluating the value, efficiency and robustness” of the implemented plan (Moore and Lakha, p. 138).

Local Communities Preparation

The aforementioned overview of the emergency management system puts the main responsibility on the agencies to conduct the preparedness and mitigation initiatives. Nevertheless, the local communities in which the event occurred have their own set of responsibilities, facilitate tsunami response as well as raise their level of preparedness. In that regard, it can be stated that the Tsunami Ready Program is more exemplary in that matter, when demonstrating the list of possible actions of the local communities. The list of actions that local communities should undertake might include the following points:

• Conducting an assessment of the capacity of the community to meet the requirements of tsunami preparedness programs.
• Adopt curriculums and educational courses that can be used as a learning material to increases the knowledge and awareness level of the population.
• Purchase and locate equipment and devices, recommended by the program to meet the eligibility criteria.
• Provide assistance to the representatives of the program as well as other agencies’ representatives in the distribution of educational materials (Haddow, Bullock and Coppola, pp. 216-25).

It can be seen that the role of local communities cannot be underestimated in preparedness initiatives, specifically in educational context and increasing awareness. The role of the government in that regard can be seen in providing the assistance for the communities through expert workshops and forums, in which the community-government collaboration will be discussed. One aspect of such collaboration can be seen through the assessment stage during the development of a tsunami DEMS, where the identification and the assessment of the external factor include societal factors as well (Moore and Lakha, p. 118). The better the community is prepared for emergency management, the easier it is for the government to mitigate the impact of the disaster.

Recovery

Among the significant aspects of a tsunami response are the recovery efforts, which in the context of a tsunami preparedness program can be defined as providing individuals and communities affected by a disaster with information on “how to register for a receive disaster relief” (Haddow, Bullock and Coppola 228). The complexity of the recovery process can be seen in identifying the period when the response stage ends and the recovery begins, as well as the complexity of the issues and decisions that should be undertaken during recovery, unlike the narrow focus of the response function (Haddow, Bullock and Coppola, p. 155). One of the most important aspects that should be considered in terms of recovery is effective media partnership, which benefits can be seen in managing public expectations, delineating the roles of emergency management organizations and boosting the relief workers and disaster victims (Haddow, Bullock and Coppola, p. 231). Accordingly, it can be seen that that recovery functions are connected mainly to communications, where “the provision of timely and accurate information directly to the public and the media is critical to the success of any response and recovery effort” (Haddow, Bullock and Coppola, p. 232).

Conclusion

It can be concluded that the provided recommendations establish the general framework for response, which include the stages for developing a Disaster and Emergency Management Systems (DEMS), an overview of each of the stages, and the role and actions of the local community. In that regard, it can be seen that the most significant aspects that can be outlined form the aforementioned recommendations are the coordination and collaboration. Developing a framework for tsunami response can be considered successful as long as all the parties involved work in coordinated efforts, including the local communities.

Works Cited

1. Haddow, George D., Jane A. Bullock, and Damon P. Coppola. Introduction to Emergency Management. Butterworth-Heinemann Homeland Security Series. 3rd ed. Amsterdam ; Boston: Elsevier/Butterworth-Heinemann, 2008. Print.
2. Moore, Tony, and Raj Lakha. Tolley’s Handbook of Disaster and Emergency Management. 3rd ed. Amsterdam ; Boston: Elsevier, 2006. Print.
3. Parliament of the United Kingdom. “Civil Contingencies Act 2004: Chapter 36.” Crown, 2004. 1-34. Print.

Tsunami Funds

When the news went across the globe about the tsunami, an undersea earthquake that had hit the southern part of Asia in December 2004, Putnam and Rosinski (2005) described it as killing more than 120,000 people in the twelve countries neighboring the Indian Ocean. People around the world, regardless of their color or race, joined hands together and dug deep into their pockets with only one aim: lending a hand as a way of saying sorry to the victims. According to Grattan and Torrance (2010), the western countries were the first to send their donations worth 15 billion US dollars, which analysts said was the largest amount collected in a period of one week in American history.

Murty (2007) talks of African countries not being left behind in the donation, despite the increase in malaria, HIV/AIDs, and financial constraints. In the US, through the help of the United Nations Organization in conjunction with the Red Cross, sited and established centers where people in the community would take their donations. These places included big shopping centers and supermarkets and banks. The government was also not left behind since it established the National Disaster Operations Centre for Tsunami Victims, where people would give their donations. Others who contributed included the media houses and the private organization.

The relief supplies donated that were to be flown to Sri Lanka were as follows; Kshs 100,000 worth of tea leaves, 59,000 blankets, 2,000 buckets, 11,000 jerry cans, 35,000 tarpaulins, 120 medical kits, and four tones of hygiene and sanitary materials.

Tsunami Funding Observations

Non-governmental organizations, the UN, governments, regional and local authorities, financial institutions, and experts worldwide met in 2005. The purpose of the meeting was to come up with an idea that can help in reducing the numerous natural disasters that get people unaware, destroying almost every property and killing hundreds of people. Its purpose was to involve the post-tsunami victims in the rehabilitation activities in the coastal area. The drafts acts would unite by providing the right information to every citizen. This gave the governments a period of time within which they should operate in the coastal region to resolve conflicts of jurisdiction and disputes between the government and the stakeholders

According to Sisira and McCawley (2010), the draft allowed the citizens of Thailand to involve themselves in the country’s decision-making, creating links of recognition between the coastal communities. This gave them a sense of personality among the victims of the disaster. Moreover, selecting a qualified committee to share their opinions helped to create and enforce the law.

In areas like Southern province Barrow (2005) says dispute resolution was to be established by forming a multilateral committee that would look into it. This was because most of the inhabitants in the province were Muslims practicing Islamic shariah laws. Redeveloping along the coastal regions as well as asking the local authorities and other communities to protect the coastal marine environment and against any dangerous species also went a long way towards reducing the effects of the disaster.

The draft act considers human beings and the environment as precious, hence offering protection against any type of pollution. For instance, it condemns the emission of waste such as oil spillage by sea vessels into water bodies. All the tsunami annotated funds seem to be similar because they all talk about what they accomplished as per their manifesto.

References

Barrow, C.J, (2005).Social Impact Assignment, an Introduction.London: Arnold.

Grattan, J, & Torrance, R. (2010). Natural Disaster and Cultural Change. New York: Taylor& Francis.

Murty, T.S, (2OO7).The Indian Ocean Tsunami. New York: Taylor & Francis.

Putnam, F. & Rasinski, V.T, (2005). Tsunami: Deadly wall of water, Coughlan publication.

Sisira, J, & McCawley, P, (2010). The Asian Tsunami, aids and reconstruction after disaster. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar publication.

For many inhabitants of the Earth, a tsunami threat looks like an abstract and very exotic danger. However, the vagaries of nature in recent years are such that it is quite difficult to feel completely protected from such a danger. Moreover, even in a small lake, under a certain confluence of circumstances, a large wave can arise. If it is about the cities located on the seashore or beside the ocean, the problem is urgent enough.

The knowledge of how to survive during a tsunami can be useful at the most unexpected moment and in almost any part of the globe. Therefore, it is essential to know ​​how to anticipate the place and time of the occurrence of a tsunami and to determine which factors are the main in assessing the potential wave’s power and the speed at which it approaches the land.

Main Causes of Tsunami

The central and most frequent cause of tsunami occurrence is underwater earthquakes. Powerful jerks create a directional movement of huge masses of water that roll to the shore with waves more than 10 meters high and bring casualties and destruction. It is not surprising that the greatest risk of occurrence of this natural disaster exists in coastal areas with increased seismic activity. Thus, everyone knows the example of the tsunami in Japan in 2011, which led to an incredible number of human casualties and triggered an accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant (Ikehara et al. 2014).

Quite often, there is a tsunami threat in the Philippines, Indonesia, and other island states of the Pacific. The consequences of tsunamis can be very serious, and this danger should be discussed in detail since many people are exposed to it.

Ways to Recognize the Approach of a Tsunami in Advance

The first reason to take care of a tsunami threat is the announcement of increased seismic activity in the coastal area. Earthquakes are natural signals notifying about a possible runup of a tsunami. In case seismologists manage to predict earth tremors in advance, the residents of settlements on the coast should ensure their safety in order not to expose their lives to danger. According to Melgar and Bock (2015), such warnings are relevant even if the earthquake’s strength in the city is low because the epicenter can be in the sea. That is why the threat is very dangerous in coastal areas where people, as a rule, are in no way protected from such a natural disaster.

During the moments of increased tsunami threat, the authorities’ reports on radio and television should be carefully monitored. In most cases, the danger becomes known in a few hours, which gives residents the opportunity to timely react to it. As tsunami witnesses note, animals are especially sensitive to the approach of a giant wave. Long before the onset of danger, they are worried. Many wild animals and birds tend to leave the area in advance.

It is also possible to predict the approach of a tsunami in fifteen-twenty minutes judging by the changes of the coastline. At this moment, the water quickly recedes, the sound of the surf subsides, the normal regime of tides breaks. In some cases, unusual and untimely tides lasting from several minutes to half an hour can be observed. As Leonard and Bednarski (2014) note, the tsunami of 2012 in Haida Gwaii was accompanied by a drift of unusual objects: fragments of ice or, for example, coastal debris that is raised from the bottom by the movement of water. The runup of the wave is always accompanied by thundering sounds since the mass of water is very large, and at high speed, its movement creates a very perceptible noise.

Ways to Reduce the Risks of Tsunami Impacts

Modern technologies make it possible to predict not only the power of an upcoming tsunami but also an approximate time in which it will happen. The fact is that experts from the Japanese National Research Institute of Geophysics and Natural Disaster Prevention have developed a high-tech system that predicts these natural disasters. This unique project, as Lin et al. (2014) note, enables residents of the coastal areas to escape from a tsunami within twenty minutes after the alarm. This time will be enough to completely evacuate the area that is endangered and to save all the residents. There have not been severe disasters in Japan that could be similar to that in 2011, but if one happens, people are likely to be ready.

This system has already been launched and includes dozens of different detectors installed at one hundred and fifty points on the seabed along the Pacific coast of Japan from Hokkaido to Tokyo. Information from the sensors comes through the cable directly to the Japanese meteorological office. The development and construction of the system cost the Japanese budget several hundred million dollars. Nevertheless, today, scientists and rescuers will be able to learn about the earthquakes that took place under the water about twenty minutes earlier.

According to Riquelme et al. (2015, p. 6487), the primary idea of any work related to the ways of identification tsunamis is “to provide a tool for emergency response, trading off accuracy for speed”. The creation of a new system has become a new step in the development of science. It is quite easy to imagine how many lives can be saved by possessing the information that can be acquired with the help of those useful data that come from sensors located on the seabed.

Additional Ways to Predict Tsunami

In the middle of the twentieth century, after the catastrophic earthquake in Hawaii, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Service was established in the Pacific Ocean (Yeh & Mason 2014). Seismic stations record the time and place of the earthquake; if its epicenter lies under water, it is possible to expect a tsunami. In this case, all stations monitoring sea level are notified of the need to monitor the approach of big waves.

In order to calculate an approaching time, there are special maps of the duration of the tsunami run from various points to the Hawaiian Islands. The notification about the expected time of the approach of waves is transmitted via the international Pacific communication system. The headquarters of the Tsunami Warning Service (subordinate to the National Ocean Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) is in Honolulu.

Conclusion

Thus, it is significant to find out ​​how to anticipate the place and time of the occurrence of a tsunami. Those factors that signal an imminent threat are always important to consider. Appropriate equipment was invented after the disastrous effects of the tsunami in Japan. Earthquakes, as a rule, are the most common reasons for the emergence of large waves.

Reference List

Ikehara, K, Irino, T, Usami, K, Jenkins, R, Omura, A & Ashi, J 2014, ‘Possible submarine tsunami deposits on the outer shelf of Sendai Bay, Japan resulting from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami off the Pacific coast of Tohoku’, Marine Geology, vol. 358, no. 1, pp. 120-127.

Leonard, LJ & Bednarski, JM 2014, ‘Field survey following the 28 October 2012 Haida Gwaii tsunami’, Pure and Applied Geophysics, vol. 171, no. 12, pp. 3467-3482.

Lin, JH, Cheng, CY, Yu, JL, Chen, YY & Chen, GY 2014, ‘Quick estimation of tsunami induced runup on coastal area’, Coastal Engineering Proceedings, vol. 1, no. 34, pp. 8-22.

Melgar, D & Bock, Y 2015, ‘Kinematic earthquake source inversion and tsunami runup prediction with regional geophysical data’, Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, vol. 120, no. 5, pp. 3324-3349.

Riquelme, S, Fuentes, M, Hayes, GP & Campos, J 2015, ‘A rapid estimation of near-field tsunami runup’, Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, vol. 120, no. 9, pp. 6487-6500.

Yeh, H & Mason, HB 2014, ‘Sediment response to tsunami loading: mechanisms and estimates’, Géotechnique, vol. 64, no. 2, pp. 131-143.

Introduction

Tsunamis have gained worldwide notoriety following the two devastating tsunamis that have occurred in the course of the last ten years. These natural catastrophes have demonstrated that tsunamis are high-impact disasters that can cause massive destruction and death within a few minutes of their occurrence.

The impact of tsunamis is especially considerable since the world has a higher coastal population today than ever before in history. Considering the significance of tsunamis, this paper will set out to define tsunami, explain their causes and offer some real-life examples.

Tsunami: Definition and Causes

A tsunami is defined as a series of waves most commonly caused by violent movements of the sea floor (Dudley and Lee 61). The tsunami can travel up to the coastline with the water penetrating into the coastal area leaving great devastation in its wake. The first cause of tsunami is seismic activity on the ocean floor.

The second cause is submarine landslides, which can be triggered by earthquakes. These landslides cause large displacements of water thereby generating tsunamis. Coastal volcanoes are the third source of tsunamis. If a volcano originates from the ocean bed, it can displace water and generate large tsunamis. Most tsunamis occur in the Pacific Ocean since active features such as deep ocean trenches, explosive volcanic islands, and dynamic mountain ranges surround the ocean basin (Dudley and Lee 62).

Seismic activity on the ocean floor is the most prominent cause of tsunami and Bryant reveals that earthquakes have caused 82.3% of all tsunamis that have occurred in the Pacific Ocean over the past two millennia (127). The displacement of the Earth’s surface during underwater earthquakes produces great potential energy to the overlying water.

Dudley and Lee reveal that most of these earthquake tsunamis occur at the great ocean trenches where the tectonic plates that make up the earth’s surface collide and are forced under each other (62). Submarine earthquakes can generate dangerous tsunamis and that the intensity of this tsunami is generally proportional to the earthquake magnitude (2033).

In spite of their frequency, most of the tsunamis produced by seismic activity go unnoticed since their force dies down before they reach the shore or their amplitude is so small that they go unnoticed. Bryant reports, “damaging tsunamis are often associated with earthquakes with a surface wave magnitude of 7.5 or more” (125).

Dudley and Lee state that most of the tsunamigenic earthquakes occur in small thrusts and only small tsunamis are produced by these smaller quakes (62). However, large earthquakes periodically occur and these generate large and deadly tsunamis.

Recent Tsunamis

The two most recent tsunamis have been caused by large magnitude subduction zone earthquakes. The devastating Sumatra Tsunami of 2004 was caused by a mega-thrust earthquake at the floor of the Indian Ocean. Igarashi documents that the aftershock zone of this earthquake was longer than 1,300km and it generated a tsunami that killed nearly 230,000 people (2049). The coastal regions closest to the source suffered the most severe damage as big and powerful waves of water hit the coastline.

The powerful North Pacific Coast tsunami of 2011 was also caused by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and the tsunami arrived within minutes after the earthquake shaking had stopped. Igarashi reports that ground shaking was felt at 3:46 pm and the tsunami generated by the earthquake occurred within 15 minutes (2049).

This tsunami hit the east coast of Japan at a speed of 800Km/hr and destroyed property along the coast. The tsunami waves continued to wash over the coastline for hours with wavelengths reaching 30 meters. The damages by the tsunami were increased exponentially by the breach on the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

Warning systems

Igarashi states that while governments were indifferent to tsunamis before 2004, the devastating effect of the Sumatra tsunami changed this (2049). Governments have invested in tsunami warning communication systems due to the realization that a tsunami can be hugely destructive. There are numerous efforts today aimed at establishing tsunami warning systems to protect life and property in coastal regions.

Tabuchi reports that predicting tsunami causing earthquakes is still an imperfect science and the estimated predictions are normally wrong. Seismic and sea level data offer the best means for predicting the likelihood of a tsunami occurring and alerts and warnings can be issued if necessary. Earthquake information provides the initial tsunami threat evaluation since this data provides the fastest early indicator of the tsunami’s potential.

Conclusion

This paper set out to briefly research on tsunamis with focus on the causes of these features and some examples that have happened in recent history. To this end, the paper has defined tsunamis and noted that seismic activity is the main cause of tsunamis.

It has documented how enormous earthquakes originating from the ocean floor have generated the most devastating earthquakes in the world’s history. The research concluded by highlighting the efforts that governments have made to come up with effective warning systems that can help alert people of impeding tsunamis.

Works Cited

Bryant, Edward. Tsunami: The Underrated Hazard. NY: Springer, 2008. Print.

Campbell, Phillips. The 10 most destructive tsunamis in history. 2011. Web.

Dudley, Walter and M. Lee. Tsunami! Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press, 1998. Print.

Igarashi, Yan. “Anatomy of Historical Tsunamis: Lessons Learned for Tsunami Warning.” Pure Appl. Geophys. 168.1 (2011): 2043–2063. Print.

Tabuchi, Hiroko. “Tsunami Projections Offer Bleak Fate for Many Japanese Towns.” The New York Times. 2012. Web.

Introduction

The tsunami of December 26 ^th 2004 was a natural disaster that occurred in the Indian Ocean. According to Shibayama (2005), the tsunami was caused by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake which released 23,000 Hiroshima-type atomic bombs in terms of energy.

The earthquake struck the coastal area off northern Sumatra in Indonesia triggering a gigantic tsunami that affected many countries including India, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Africa. Being a region of soaring volcanic and earthquake activity, the eastern Indian Ocean basin experienced the tsunami that left many countries with devastating consequences.

According to Bappenas (2005) the impact of the tsunami was more devastating in the nations that border the Indian Ocean because such nations had no tsunami warning systems and timely communication.

According to Shibayama (2005), the tsunami attracted worldwide aid and effort from the United Nations, community groups, national institutions and international organizations because of the immense ecological, economic and social consequences experienced in Indonesia and the neighbouring countries.

According to Bappenas (2005), the Indonesian tsunami was the most devastating disaster as more than 250,000 people lost lives and 1.7million were displaced. This paper looks at consequences of this tsunami to the country of Indonesia in terms of general consequences, i.e. overview and physical mechanisms, physical consequences and socio-economic consequences.

Overview and Physical Mechanisms

Although tsunamis can originate from many geophysical mechanisms like volcanoes, landslides and earthquakes, the Indonesian tsunamis have been known to occur along the subduction zones and active seismic regions from tectonic earthquakes.

Latief et al. (2000) argue that there were 105 tsunamis in Indonesia from 1600-1999 most of which originated from tectonic earthquakes (90%) and a few from landslides and volcanic activity (10%). The areas prone to tsunamis on the Indonesian coast are:

The west coast of Sumatra, the south coast of Java, the north and south coasts of West Nusa, Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara provinces, the islands of Maluku and North Maluku Provinces, the north coast of Papua and most of the Sulawesi coastline (2000, p. 28)

Prasetya et al. (2001) state that the Indonesian region is prone to earthquakes and tsunamis due to its location in an active seismic zone where the Caroline, Indo-Australian, Philippine and Eurasian plates converge. The joining of these plates results to a multifaceted area having a fault zone, subduction zone, back-arc thrusting zone, collision zone and back-arc spreading zone as shown in Figure 1.

Majority of the seismic active zones are found under the sea and they have been known to generate huge shallow earthquakes that lead to tsunamis (Silver et al. 2006). Historical records show that since 1900, about eighteen tsunamis have been produced in this region by such earthquakes with fourteen of the tsunamis occurring in eastern Indonesia (Prasetya et al.2001, p. 296-298).

This is an indication of an unstable seabed in the region that is able to produce tsunamis than other parts of Indonesia (p. 296-298).

Figure 1: Tectonic and tsunami map of Indonesian archipelago (Adapted from Silver et al. 2006)

Frequent tsunamis in Indonesia occur in the Makassar Strait, which forms a vital border between the western and eastern regions (Silver et al. 2006). Six of the recorded eighteen tsunamis since 1900 occurred in Makassar Strait from large shallow earthquakes formed through back-arc spreading.

These tsunamigenic earthquakes have epicentres near the western shore of Sulawesi Island and these epicentres are disseminated relative to two fault zones that traverse the Makassar Strait (Prasetya et al. 2001, p. 297). These are Palu-Koro fault zone which connects with Sulawesi subduction zone to the north and Paternoster fault to the south.

The 2004 tsunami was the most tragic event occurring in Indonesia from the Sumatra earthquake that generated a tsunami that not only affected Nangroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) and north Sumatra provinces but also spread to nearby nations.

Nevertheless, Indonesia was the most affected region where the disaster killed many people and displaced others. According to Bappenas (2005), there was insufficient time for any alerts and evacuations hence causing a crisis.

Physical Impacts of the Disaster

The 2004 tsunami had significant geological effects on the Indian basin and destructive effects on communities living at the coastal region and its environs. Studies have shown that the tsunami greatly damaged fishing boats, houses, prawn culture ponds, tourist resorts, soils and crops as well as livelihoods of coastal communities.

Moreover, since most people preferred to live near the coast, such regions were usually highly populated which needs us to understand the impacts of this natural disaster (Saatcioglu et al. 2005, p. 80-3). This tsunami hit hard the offshore islands and the Sumatra coasts on the south and northern sides.

The west-facing coastlines of Sumatra were hit by waves exceeding 30 meters within a period of fifteen to thirty minutes of the earthquake (Richmond et al. 2006, p. 240-5). There were tsunami flow depths of above thirteen meters along a 135km stretch of the Northwestern coast that led to extensive damage and alteration of the coastal region (Moore et al.2006, p. 254).

Furthermore, there was extensive deposition of tsunami deposits composed mainly of sand in northern Sumatra from the zone of erosion near the shoreline to within twenty meters of flooded sites. According to Moore et al. (2006), the erosion zone width increased with the 2004 Indonesian tsunami height.

A survey of the physical impacts of the tsunami indicated that the highest shore sand deposits were about 1660 meters and five kilometres of mud deposit layers inland (p. 256).

According to Richmond et al. (2006), the tsunami deposit coverage depended on the limit of flooding, which was controlled by the slope of land and waves (p. 244-9). The different levels of deposits along the land led to irregular deposition of mass.

Generally, there was a thick deposit away from the shoreline to a place where it levelled at some point then became thin near the landward boundary. The changes in surface topography greatly influenced different levels of thickness of the sand sheets, especially with depressions that were in-filled and highs that lacked or had minimal deposits.

For example, areas with beach ridges had varied deposit thickness with high sand deposits of eighty centimetres far from the normal five to twenty (Moore et al. 2006, p. 255-7). There were many layers of deposits whose entire width reflected depositions at different instances of either numerous waves or up-rush and return flow.

The tsunami also transported rock sized matter as evidenced by isolated coral boulders deposited on the landward side of the beach (Brown 2005).

Reef surveys done in eight offshore islands and one mainland Aceh spots over a 650km distance indicated that the tsunami inverted coral colonies as well as the tree debris on the reef (Silver et al. 2006, p. 372). Most areas experienced severe tsunami damage and most corals were killed. According to Brown (2005), the earthquake resulted to the subsidence and uplift of some islands which affected the reef ecosystem dynamics.

For instance, the uplifted reef-flat corals thrived well, the reef-front corals were moved to the reef-flat region and the reef-flat groups were repositioned to the reef-front. The tsunami mechanically damaged the corals, rolled them and caused sedimentation in the reef from the land run-off. This affected the coral biodiversity of Indonesia (Brown, 2005, p. 373).

The tsunami also resulted to loss of natural ecosystems along the coastal line. A damage assessment carried out in Indonesia by the State Ministry of National Development Planning of Indonesia showed that a large percentage of the coral reefs, wetlands, seagrass beds and sandy beaches located in the Western Indonesian coasts were totally damaged (Brown 2005, p. 374).

According to Moore (2006), the tsunami had tremendous effect on the environment, especially on vegetation, forests and groundwater. Large agricultural and non-agricultural lands were damaged by the tsunami due to waterlogging, deposits of debris and sediment, soil erosion and salt deposits created by sea waves (p. 258).

Seawater inundation occurred on a large area and surveys have indicated that pH and EC values increased irrespective of how far the area was from the sea thus making most wells and open ponds to have high salinity levels. According to Shibayama (2005), the soil, as well as freshwater supplies, were poisoned by infiltration of saline water and salt deposits over land.

The increased soil salinity negatively affected crops and made lands unsuitable for farming. Seawater intrusion also affected large fields of agricultural and horticultural croplands adjacent to the seacoast. The tsunami also damaged drainage channels, irrigation channels and canals. For instance, canals were widened by invasion and retreating action of waves and later deposition with sand particles.

The land cover on sea, sand dune and saltpan areas were changed by the tsunami. For example, eroded sand particles carried by waves were deposited in the sea during the receding action thereby covering a large area of the sea with sand (Moore et al. 2006, p. 257).

According to Bappenas (2005), the flooded tsunami waters contaminated water supplies leaving many people without safe water as well as exposing them to water-borne illnesses such as typhoid, cholera and malaria. This was shown by World Health Organization reports which indicated that death of many people due to the tsunami made waterborne disease-outbreaks an issue of chief concern.

Bappenas (2005) further reports that 16-17 coral reefs in Maldives which were struck by waves, did not have fresh water causing them to be inhabitable for a long time. The water sources were contaminated by dead vegetation, human corpses and animal corpses.

Edwards (2005) cites the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) report which indicated that about $675 million losses occurred in natural habitats and vital ecosystem dynamics from the 2004 tsunami damage to the Indonesian coast.

After the tsunami, principalities had difficulty in dealing with large debris combined with solid wastes like sand and sewage. The improper disposal of these wastes contaminated the soil and water supply systems.

Saatcioglu et al. (2005) cite a report from UNEP which indicated that the earthquake-damaged buildings, infrastructure and industrial sites including waste treatment centres and solid waste deposits causing oil and sewage spillage into the environment. This posed numerous health-related risks to humanity (p. 85-7).

According to Shibayama (2005), a lot of matter was possibly carried back during the return flow from land into the sea, leading to nitrification of Coastal waters as the matter contained nutrients and trace elements. This caused and continues to cause development of secondary consumers and a blossom of phytoplankton in the hypoxic conditions.

Therefore, after the tsunami, heavy deposits in forests altered the composition of species residing in forest soils. Richmond et al. (2006) conducted studies to determine effects of the tsunami on Biological Communities and Species and these studies showed that many species had been killed by the change in the environment (p. 248).

According to Saatcioglu et al. (2005), the tsunami was responsible for destruction of many structural and non-structural components. The waves of the tsunami imposed water pressures with great force on buildings, bridges and other structures near the coast which stirred up severe damage to infrastructure in surrounding land areas.

The breaking waves also exerted pressure on nearby structures along with hydro-dynamic pressures generated by high water velocity that caused full or partial crumple of buildings and other structures.

Saatcioglu also points out that damages in Thailand entirely resulted from water pressures which ranged from spontaneous gushy pressures of breaking waves at the shore to low dynamic pressures on land caused by reduced velocity of water and induced by surface friction. For instance, in the Indonesian region of Banda Aceh, floating debris made of large objects impacted on structures (p. 80-7).

According to Saatcioglu et al. (2005), widespread destruction and collapse of bridges due to tsunami waves was evident in Aceh province of Indonesia hence affecting transportation and relief efforts. Due to destruction of bridges, the Indonesian army put up bailey bridges to be able to find a way into nearby cement plants.

Therefore, transportation was greatly paralyzed and this endangered and hindered relief efforts. The worldwide humanitarian agencies were forced to clear the streets covered with debris from collapsed and damaged structures and vegetation. In addition, urban areas were inaccessible e.g. the 150km coastal road to Meulaboh, which was swept away by tsunami wave pressures and had its bridges weakened (p. 85-7).

The Indonesian storm drainage system had concrete open channels along the main streets roofed with solid slabs and prefabricated in most populous areas. According to Saatcioglu et al. (2005), the tsunami-damaged these drainage systems in Banda Aceh where waves broke cover-slabs and displaced them while debris and mud blocked channels leading to further flooding.

These drainage channels had to be thoroughly cleaned for reuse. Moreover, the water mains were damaged, resulting to disruption of water supply to Banda Aceh. Many main pipelines attached to bridges were said to have been broken and damaged by collapsed bridge materials or floating debris (Saatcioglu et al. 2005, p. 85-7).

Edwards (2005) points out that the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) participated in the Rapid Environmental Assessment (REA) of Aceh, Indonesia and reported that bulky debris and wastes were still evident in the destroyed settlements, along roads and adjacent to the ocean.

According to Edwards (2005), majority of the wastes and debris came from damaged buildings, soil and organic matter such as domestic waste and wood, and vegetation. In addition, the REA found out that household items, e.g. furniture, plastics, clothes, cars and damaged containers, as well as refrigerators, were part of the debris (this is shown in figure 2).

Edwards further points out that some areas reportedly had oil wastes and chemicals that mixed with water and sewage thus causing blockage of water sources like rivers and water channels (Edwards 2005). Following the tsunami, the wastes and debris created an ongoing problem in Indonesia due to improper management of the wastes.

Most wastes were dumped in the sea, rivers and beaches while others in emergency open dumps, thus causing fires. According to Edwards, there were three emergency open dumps in Banda Aceh and two old dumps at Gampong Jawa and Meulaboh and these open dumps were managed by local governments. However, waste management efforts were greatly affected as local governments lost a larger proportion of employees (Edwards 2005).

Figure 2: Waste and debris in Banda Aceh (Adapted from Edwards 2005)

Edwards (2005) cites reports from REA, which indicated that the tsunami exposed the environment to risks of chemical exposure, especially in places of usage, storage and manufacture. In addition, such environments had dangerous products e.g. lubricants, kerosene and diesel.

For example, chemical manufacturing industries, oil industries and the fishing industries are regarded as being the most important industries which underpin the economy of NAD province. However, these important investments were destroyed by the advancing waves of the tsunami, which produced a forceful, destructive and impacting force.

Therefore, the damage in Banda Aceh was devastating. The debris had oil patches due to oil spillage, which was also found on harbour water and mud. Surveys by Edwards (2005) showed that in Krueng Raya (40km North of Banda Aceh), some oil storage tanks were displaced by tsunami-waves and their contents spilt over (shown in Figure 3).

A similar case was witnessed in Meulaboh area where oil storage tanks were destroyed and dislodged with contents spilling over into the ocean without any trace of oil in the area (Silver et al. 2006).

Figure 3: A displaced fuel storage tank in Kreung Raya (Adapted from Edwards 2005)

Socio-Economic Impacts of The Disaster

The tsunami had devastating effects on the population and environment of affected zones. Shibayama (2005) highlights the fact that the effects were varied along the Sumatra West coast (due to the changing wave force and magnitude) with the adjacent regions being greatly affected.

The effects of the waves diminished away from the coastline, e.g. towards the southeast along Aceh to Sumut, thus the effects were minimal in these areas. Brown (2005) has argued that the height of water depended on the topography of the coast, the wave type and depth of the water (p. 372).

According to Bappenas (2005), the socio-economic activities were paralyzed along the coastline of NAD Province and Nias islands. Bappenas has further pointed out that the fishing industry, oil industry and chemical producing industries strongly influenced and dominated the economy of NAD province in Indonesia.

However, tables were turned especially due to the devastating effects of the tsunami, as all these industries bore the brunt of destruction. The agriculture sector, mainly fishing, was the greatest income-generating activity in 2004, making above 30% of regional gross domestic product (RGDP).

Among the industries mentioned above, the fishing industry was regarded as the most important industry which underpinned the Indonesian economy contributing approximately 160 million U.S dollars to the regional gross domestic product in Indonesia, especially in NAD province.

According to Bappenas (2005), the impact of the tsunami was felt in the fisheries industry where facilities and infrastructure were destroyed. Houses were also destroyed, displacing a larger proportion of the population and many people became jobless, especially those working in fisheries (Bappenas 2005).

NAD province had a total of 36, 597 hectares of fishponds for rearing sea bass, crab, milkfish and shrimp before the tsunami. When the tsunami occurred, vast aquaculture areas were totally damaged.

These were especially those adjacent to the coastal areas, including 20,000 hectares of fishponds and other fishery facilities (Moore et al. 2006, p. 256). According to Shibayama (2005), NAD province had large farms of rice and other plantations of coffee, coconuts and cashew nuts that were damaged along with livestock and poultry.

The islands of central Tapanuli, Sibolga and Nias Regencies were said to have a suitable environment for mariculture in their coastal waters such as rabbitfish, seaweed, sea bass and grouper (Brown 2005, p. 372). The province of North Sumatra is said to have had more than 1000 marine fish farms containing many units and about 18 800 fishing vessels before the tsunami.

According to Bappenas (2005), all the above were greatly affected, and about 9 563 units of fishing vessels, 38 fishing ports and landings were totally damaged when the tsunami struck.

In summary, the tsunami destroyed numerous structural and non-structural components which were disseminated as debris. The advancing and receding waves of the tsunami imposed water pressures which greatly and forcefully impacted on buildings, bridges and other structures near the coastal regions of different countries, Indonesia being the worst hit.

In addition, the water pressures stirred up severe damage to infrastructure in surrounding nations and land areas with devastating damage to the environment. Furthermore, the tsunami waves exerted pressure on nearby fishing facilities and other structures along with hydro-dynamic pressures produced by high water velocity which resulted to full or partial destruction of structures (Silver et al. 2000).

According to Saatcioglu (2005), the damages in other regions such as Thailand entirely resulted from water pressures which ranged from spontaneous gushy pressures of breaking waves at the coastal areas to low dynamic pressures towards land. Therefore, the force of impact was not only caused by water but also by the debris which impacted on the different structures.

Conclusion

Richmond et al. (2006) pointed out that the 2004 tsunami had significant effects along the Indian Ocean basin. Many nations in the Indian Ocean basin were greatly affected, with Indonesia bearing the greatest effect. Coastal properties, buildings, industries and ecosystem dynamics were destroyed. The extent of damage due to the tsunami varied with the size of waves and distance from the coastline.

For instance, the Indonesian coastline was hardly hit with the effect diminishing away from the coastline. There were lots of deposits of debris and waste which paralyzed activities including rescue efforts, transportation and agriculture. Contaminated water greatly posed health risks to survivors and economic activities were greatly affected with Aceh Province recording huge losses.

Therefore, the devastating effects of the tsunami hit many regions along the coasts of the Indian Ocean. These regions included “the west coast of Sumatra, the south coast of Java, the north and south coasts of West Nusa, Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara provinces, the islands of Maluku and North Maluku Provinces, the north coast of Papua and most of the Sulawesi coastline” (Latief et al 2000, p. 28).

List of References

Bappenas, R 2005, Damage assessment and recovery: Strategy for Aceh and North Sumatera, Journal of Natural Disaster Science, 171(4), 33-37

Brown, B 2005, The fate of coral reefs in the Andaman Sea, eastern Indian Ocean following the Sumatran earthquake and tsunami on December 26 2004, Geographical Journal, 171(4),372-374

Edwards, S 2005, Indian Ocean tsunami disaster of December 2004: UNDAC rapid environmental assessment of Aceh, Indonesia. Journal of Natural Science, 24(3), 45-54

Latief, H, Puspito, N, & Imamura, F 2000, Tsunami catalog and zones in Indonesia, Journal of Natural Disaster Science, 22(1), 25–43

Moore, A., Nishimura, Y, Gelfenbaum, G, Kamataki, T, & Triyono, R 2006,

Sedimentary deposits of the December 26 tsunami on the northwest coast of Aceh, Indonesia, Journal of Earth, Planets and Space, 58 (3), 253-258

Prasetya, G, De Lange, W, & Healy, T 2001, The Makassar Strait tsunamigenic region, Indonesia, Journal of Natural Hazards, 24(3), 295-307

Richmond, B, Bruce, E, Jaffe, A, Gelfenbaum, G, & Morton, R 2006, Geologic impacts of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami on Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Journal of Berlin Stuttgart, 146 (7), 235-251

Saatcioglu, M, Ghobarah, A, & Nistor, L 2005, Effects of the December 26, 2004 Sumatra earthquake and tsunami on physical infrastructure Journal of Earthquake Technology, 42 (4), 79-94

Shibayama, T 2005, The December 26, 2004 Sumatra earthquake tsunami, tsunami field survey in Banda Aceh of Indonesia, Journal of Natural Science, 24(3), 21–33

Silver, E, McCaffrey, R, & Smith, R 1983, Collision, rotation, and the initiation of subduction in the evolution of Sulawesi, Indonesia, Journal of Geophysical Research, 88(B11), 9407–9418

Introduction

The body that is involved with the understanding of scientific knowledge undergoes constant refinement and change. Major historical events that have occurred and scientific discoveries alter our understanding of the natural world. Scientific discovery is founded on the concepts of experimentation, study, and observation, which leads to new a understanding. Historical events such as earthquakes have led to new discoveries due to their ability to give real data that is subject to further study.

Evolution refers to change that occurs across successive generations that bring forth diversity in biological organization, which includes individual organisms, species, and molecules Ridley (2009). Evolution is important in that the understanding and discovery of the process of evolution represents a major achievement in the history of science. Evolution has been confirmed through experiments and observation in major scientific disciplines. Evolution science is the basis of modern biology, which has opened the way for new types of agricultural, environmental, and medical research.

How Science Works

Observation

This is through observing nature and asking testable questions concerning the natural world.

Experiment

Scientists test the questions through new observations and experiments after careful observation of nature.

Confirming evidence

After experiments, the scientists construct explanations of evolution based on the evidence that they have gathered.

As the scientists get new results and further findings, they go on refining their ideas. In some cases, explanations previously made are altered when compelling and contradictory evidence is discovered. In some instances, the scientific explanations are well established such that no further evidence can alter them. In this case, the explanations are referred to as a scientific theory, which is a comprehensive explanation of a feature of nature that is supported by facts that have been gathered overtime. Therefore, evolution is anchored on the pillars of observation, confirmation of evidence and experiments Hans (2001).

Theories of evolution

Darwin’s theory

It is the widely known theory that states that life descended from a common ancestor.

Biblical theory

According to this theory, evolution is the work of God. Evolution is documented in the bible in the book of Genesis. The six days of evolution are documented by the bible.

Spontaneous generation theory

According to this theory, living things evolve from non living matte.

Darwin theory

Darwin’s theory assumes the emergence of living things from non-life and the theory stresses a purely naturalistic and undirected mode of evolution. This means that complex creatures evolve from simplistic ancestors naturally overtime. In essence, as genetic mutations occur within an organism, the beneficial mutations are maintained since they aid survival in a process of natural selection. The beneficial mutations are passed on from one generation to the next generations. Over a long period of time, the beneficial mutations are accumulated, and they result to an entirely different organism Delage (2009).

Biblical theory of evolution

This theory is well supported by the Christians and the Jews. The biblical theory argues that God created the world and all life in it. This is supported by the creation story in the book of Genesis. God formed the world and all life in it in six days 4.5 billion years ago. The theory argues that, God was God and he was there in the beginning and, therefore, he was able to tell us what happened. The theory has a chronological order of how life came into being, and it is as follows:

• Creation of all the physical universe, that is, energy, space, matter, time, planets, stars.
• Transformation of the atmosphere from opaque to translucent
• Formation of the water bodies.
• Establishment of oceans and continents.
• Production of plants on the continent.
• Transformation of the earth atmosphere from translucent to transparent (stars, sun, moon).
• Creation of sea animals and sea mammals.
• Creation of birds of the air.
• Creation of land mammals.
• Lastly the creation of mankind Ridley (2009).

Spontaneous generation theory

According to this theory, life emerges spontaneously from matter. The theory argues that, mice and snakes emerged spontaneously from dust pits. The theory was believed since it seemed to explain the occurrence of maggots on decaying meat. By the 18th century, it was obvious that bigger organisms were not produced from nonliving matter. The origin of microorganisms was determined by Louis Pasteur in the 19th century who proved that microorganisms such as bacteria actually reproduce, and they do not occur spontaneously.

Scientific discoveries

Fossil Record

Supported by findings of fossils in layers of rocks. Fossils similar to today’s forms of life are found in rock layers. The evidence obtained here is of the bipedal dinosaurs and birds.

DNA Research

Genetics and molecular biology explain how evolution works.

Common ancestry

Many species have common behaviors and structures. A person rides a bicycle, a cow walks a bird flies and a whale swims.

Therefore, the fossil records, evidence that living things have a common ancestral origin and DNA Research and many other findings provide evidence that evolution by natural selection represents the way life on earth came into being.

The fossil record

Species change or evolve overtime through the process of natural selection. Scientists have found many fossils in layers of rocks of different ages that confirm that changes in life forms that are indicated by the theory of evolution.

DNA Research

Traits are usually passed from one generation to the other through DNA, which is a molecule that directs how cells reproduce and grow.

Common Ancestry

When fossils are compared to each other in terms of age and structure, it is clear that they share a common ancestral origin. As most of the findings have shown, most of the species existing today have their evolutionary line which can be traced back to a point where they share the same ancestor Delage (2009).

The tsunami in Indonesia

The Tsunami occurred in the Indian Ocean along the coast of Indonesia on 26.12.2004.

It is scientifically known as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake.

It is said to be one of the deadliest earthquakes ever to hit the world.

It claimed the lives of more than 230,000 people in fourteen countries with Indonesia being the worst hit.

Massive movement of seabed caused the tsunami during the earthquake movement. The Burma plates slipped around the earthquake’s epicenter. The waves took 15-20 minutes to get to the Indonesian coast Satake (2005).

History of the tsunami in Indonesia

The area around where the earthquake occurred has a history of seismic waves.

There were giant forces that were built underneath for hundreds of years. The forces were released on December 26.

It was a 9.0 magnitude earthquake in the Ritcher Scale.

Violent movements of tectonic plates displaced a large amount of water which sent powerful shockwaves in all directions.

It resulted from sliding of parts of the earth‘s crust, a method that has been in process for ages. It was recorded as one of the deadliest in the Indian Ocean for the last 700 years. There were three other major earthquakes recorded in by scientists along this coast. The Indonesia earthquake was recorded as the third most powerful and deadliest since 1900. The other most deadly earthquakes are the Tangshan in China which took place in 1976, the 1927 earthquake in Xining, China, the Great Kanto earthquake in Tokyo and Gansu. The 2004 Indonesia tsunami is one of the deadliest earthquakes to be recorded by man after the earthquake in Pacific Ocean in 1782.

Massive movement of seabed caused the tsunami during the earthquake movement. The Burma plates slipped around the earthquake’s epicenter. The waves took 15-20 minutes to get to the Indonesian coast Ramasamy (2006).

Social Impact

The tsunami led to:

• Economic:
  • Fishing, which was a major economic activity, was hampered.
  • Tourism, which is a main foreign exchange earner, was affected.
  • It affected shipping along the coast.
  • Loss of life and property.
  • Destruction of infrastructure.
• Humanitarian:
  • It led to chronic shortage of food and clean drinking water.
  • It led to diseases like cholera and typhoid.
  • Many countries donated foodstuffs and pledged to support Indonesia in the long term.
• Environmental impact:
  • Damage to coral reefs, vegetation, mangrove forests plant and animal diversity.
  • Water pollution, damage to sewer lines, spread of the solid waste and industrial chemicals.

Understanding of the natural world from the Tsunami of 2004

Geologists have not been able to understand the cause of earthquakes. However, after the tsunami of 2004 in Indonesia, there has been an increase in the use of technology to try to understand earthquakes. Geologists have identified that the earth’s crust comprises of plates that constantly move slowly, and vibrations occur which cause minor earthquakes. The natural world is made up of plates that move, when the plates move, they cause fractures in earth’s crust which later develop into earthquake. The fractures are called fault. Normal faults are vertical, and they occur where earth’s plates pull apart because of a divergent plate boundary nearby. Vertical faults occur when the earths crust is compressed when two plates collide. Geologists have understood that earthquakes occur when blocks are locked together because of the friction created when they move. When they attempt to move as they are locked, pressure builds until it has enough energy to push the rock and they move causing the earthquakes Satake (2005).

Understanding of the earthquakes

The tsunami led to detailed study of earthquakes by scientists all over the world in order to come up with measures to mitigate against the effects of earthquakes, countries have established disaster response units and installed earthquake detectors in strategic locations along the coasts.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it can be seen that evolution as a process takes time, and it involves various stages. There has been several theories talking about evolution and scientists still research on the topic, whereas, historical events continue to be documented and we still get new information concerning a past phenomenon.

References

Delage, Y. (2009). The Theories of Evolution. Chicago: BiblioBazaar.

Hann, J. (2001). How Science Works. New York: Reader’s Digest.

Ramasamy, S. (2006). Geomatics in Tsunami. Mumbai: New India Publishing.

Ridley, M. (2009). Evolution. London: John Wiley & Sons.

Satake, K. (2005). Tsunamis: Case Studies and Recent Developments. New York: Springer.

Introduction

A tsunami is one of the dangerous hazards, as it usually takes away the lives of many individuals. Additionally, tsunamis happen rather fast and often, and the researchers still lack knowledge in the prediction and announcements of the natural hazards in time. Despite the quick improvement of technology and political changes, tsunamis still have a tendency to be disturbing since not many people can react rapidly to the sudden alert of danger. Nonetheless, the primary goal of this paper is to evaluate and discuss the tsunami, which took place in 2011, in Tohoku. This devastating tsunami occurred after the strong earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 (Poster of the great Tohoku earthquake 2012). In this instance, Figure 1 presents the devastating results of the tsunami. It could be seen in the picture that the heavy cars are floating in the water, and the water occupies the whole coastline of the east of Japan (Vehicles are washed away by tsunami 2011). Nonetheless, the image does not present over destructions, as the building was also dramatically damaged by the tsunami.

Analysis

In this instance, the geological origin of the tsunami has to be discussed due to the fact that it plays a significant role in predicting the presence of a tsunami in the future. In turn, the types of tsunamis also have to be evaluated, as they have different levels of destructive power. All of these aspects will be also assessed in the context of Tohoku’s tsunami in 2011. In the end, the conclusions are drawn to determine the level of danger of this natural hazard to the existence of humankind. These aspects will help understand the nature of tsunamis and determine their impact on the existence of humankind.

Firstly, the geological origin of the tsunami has to be discussed to determine the potential reasons for tsunamis occurrence. One of the reasons is the volcanic eruption. A release of magma happens due to the high density of magma and other gasses under the Earth’s crust (Masters 2012). It remains evident that, in this case, significant volumes of debris crash into the ocean and cause the presence of strong waves in the ocean. In turn, the debris causes the water to move towards the shore with the high speed and make the tsunamis. Nonetheless, another primary cause of the tsunami is the earthquake. In this instance, the earthquake occurs due to the release of the pressure under the crust of the Earth, and the lithospheric plates slowly move (Levin & Nosov 2009). In this case, the epicenter of the earthquake is also the center of the tsunami since the waves start the slow movement. Speaking of the case of Tohoku in 2011, it remains evident that the primary reason is the earthquake, as its magnitude was 9.0. It could be said that this magnitude is enough to create a rapid and destructive tsunami, which is able to cause significant damage to Japan and other countries. In the end, all kinds of tsunamis are dangerous due to their rapid movement.

It remains apparent that different kinds of tsunamis have a tendency to be present. In this case, regional, local, and distant are the main types of tsunamis (Mercado-Irizarry & Liu 2006). The local tsunamis occur rather fast, and the population is not able to react fast to the danger. Additionally, the waves are rather fast, and the government is not able to announce the existence of danger to the population. In turn, regional and distant tsunamis are less dangerous, as their travel is longer (Mercado-Irizarry & Liu 2006). It could be said that, in this case, the population of the country can be evacuated, as more time is available. Nonetheless, despite having longer travel distance, these types of tsunamis are rather dangerous and destructive due to the high power. Speaking of the case of Tohoku, the tsunami had a short traveling distance, as the earthquake occurred near the coast of Japan. In this instance, the destructive power was high, as the population was not able to react fast to the accident.

Conclusion

In the end, tsunamis are one of the most dangerous hazards since they are still hard to predict. They tend to appear fast, and it is hardly possible to get the population evacuated on time. Its destructive power was displayed with the assistance of the tsunami in Tohoku. Nonetheless, the two primary reasons for their appearance are volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. This knowledge helps reduce the number of victims from natural hazards. However, it is still one of the most powerful hazards and causes high danger to the existence of humankind. Additionally, some of the animal species might disappear from the surface of the planet due to the occurrence of the tsunamis. It could be said that more research regarding the tsunamis has to be conducted to lessen the dangerous effects of these hazards and minimize the number of victims.

Reference List

Levin, B & Nosov, M 2009, Physics of tsunamis, Springer Science + Business Media B.V., New York.

Masters, N 2012, Volcanic eruptions, Cherry Lake Publishing, North Mankato.

Mercado-Irizarry, A & Liu, P 2006, Caribbean tsunami hazard, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., Singapore.

Poster of the great Tohoku earthquake (northeast Honshu, Japan) of March 11, 2011 – magnitude 9.0 2012, Web.

Vehicles are washed away by tsunami 2011, image, Web.

A tsunami is one of the critically dangerous natural disasters that might result in crucial devastations. On December 26, 2004, the areas of Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, India, and the Maldives were hit by a tsunami produced by the earthquake 155 kilometers from Sumatra (Schmidt, 2005). The 30 feet high waves killed more than 150,000 people and preconditioned traumas among millions of other victims, making it one of the worst natural disasters of this sort in history (Schmidt, 2005). At the same time, it demonstrated the inability of existing warning systems to respond fast and effectively and protect people by evacuating them and providing an appropriate shelter. The problem was that the Indian Ocean area lacked sensor technologies to detect earthquakes that might signalize the appearance of a tsunami (Schmidt, 2005). The absence of needed tools critically deteriorated the effectiveness of the whole warning system.

Today, multiple attempts are performed to avoid the repetition of the scenario and improve the current methods of managing tsunamis. There is a specific Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (IOTWMS), which is considered a successful end-to-end warning system that helps to detect the first signs of the earthquake in the ocean and warn the appropriate authorities responsible for organizing the population and its transporting to safe areas. (Hettiarachchi, 2018). Adopting systems results in increased preparedness and awareness levels, while the severity of outcomes decreases (Hettiarachchi, 2018). In such a way, it is possible to conclude that the poor functioning of awareness systems in the past preconditioned the reconsideration of the approach to monitoring tsunamis and warning people about them. Today, frameworks such as IOTWMS can be viewed as sufficient and adequate enough to save lives.

References

Hettiarachchi, S. (2018). Establishing the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System for human and environmental security. Procedia Engineering, 212, 1319-1346. doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2018.01.173

Schmidt, C. (2005). Natural disasters: Building a tsunami warning system. Environmental Health Perspectives, 113(2), A90. doi:10.1289/ehp.113-a90