What is Tsunami ? What are its effects????

Question

Give the answer in paragraphs .
It will be useful for my exams

Answer 1

An ocean wave produced by a sub-marine earthquake, landslide, or volcanic eruption. These waves may reach enormous dimensions and have sufficient energy to travel across entire oceans.

tsunami's effects
By V Dhuruvasangary
Friday, January 21 2005 18:36 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

There is a sense of fear and helplessness after the latest tsunami (Dec 26, 2004) that killed more than 150,000 people and caused material damage worth many billion dollars.

All over the world scientists are exploring ways and means to prevent such events.

A summit has now decided to create a tsunami warning system for the Indian Ocean. The high-tech equipment could detect tsunami that is still one mile out at sea (Julianna Kettlewell, BBC).

Unless you warn the people in the remote areas, who are not equipped to receive the warning messages, the technology is not only useless but also wastage of money and labour.



Spotlight: Tidal Waves hit South Asia
An Australian scientist, Phil McFadden says as follows, "There's no point in spending all the money on a fancy monitoring and analysis system unless we can make sure the infrastructure for the broadcast systems is there". The Pacific Basin already has a warning system and, when there was a rash of tsunami in the 60s, it proved invaluable. If it is so, why we need another tsunami warning system.

I myself have come to same conclusion while working for the Ministry of Agriculture, Sri Lanka. When I installed expensive imported meteorological instruments, very often they failed due to various reasons. What is the guarantee that multimillion-dollar worth tsunami warning system will give accurate warning signals well in advance to save lives and infrastructures?

Even if it gives accurate warning signals, it is impossible to take necessary measures to prevent losses, within short period of time. Therefore it is very important to device a new method.

Answer 2

A tsunami is a series of waves created when a body of water, such as an ocean is rapidly displaced on a massive scale. Earthquakes, mass movements above or below water, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explosions, landslides and large meteorite impacts all have the potential to generate a tsunami. The effects of a tsunami can range from unnoticeable to devastating. The term tsunami comes from the Japanese language meaning harbour and wave ("nami", æ³¢). Although in Japanese tsunami is used for both the singular and plural, in English tsunamis is often used as the plural. The term was created by fishermen who returned to port to find the area surrounding their harbour devastated, although they had not been aware of any wave in the open water. Tsunamis are common throughout Japanese history, as 195 events in Japan have been recorded.

A tsunami has a much smaller amplitude (wave heights) offshore, and a very long wavelength (often hundreds of kilometres long), which is why they generally pass unnoticed at sea, forming only a passing "hump" in the ocean.Tsunamis have been historically referred to as tidal waves because as they approach land, they take on the characteristics of a violent onrushing tide rather than the sort of cresting waves that are formed by wind action upon the ocean (with which people are more familiar). Since they are not actually related to tides the term is considered misleading and its usage is discouraged by oceanographers. Since not all tsunamis occur in harbours, however, that term is equally misleading, although it does have the benefit of being misleading in a different language.

Answer 3

Where have you been? Type Tsunami in yahoo or google.. tons of information

A tsunami (pronounced /tsʊˈnɑːmi/ or /sʊˈnɑːmi/) is a series of waves created when a body of water, such as an ocean is rapidly displaced on a massive scale. Earthquakes, mass movements above or below water, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explosions, landslides and large meteorite impacts all have the potential to generate a tsunami. The effects of a tsunami can range from unnoticeable to devastating. The term tsunami comes from the Japanese language meaning harbour ("tsu", 津) and wave ("nami",

Hope your not taking the test now

Answer 4

Tsunami is a Japanese word with the English translation, "harbor wave." The phenomenon we call tsunami is a series of large waves of extremely long wavelength and period usually generated by a violent, impulsive undersea disturbance or activity near the coast or in the ocean. When a sudden displacement of a large volume of water occurs, or if the sea floor is suddenly raised or dropped by an earthquake, big tsunami waves can be formed by forces of gravity. Earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, explosions, and even the impact of cosmic bodies, such as meteorites, can generate tsunamis. Tsunamis can savagely attack coastlines, causing devastating property damage and loss of life.

Answer 5

A Tsunami is earthquake in the middle of the ocean. Its caused by tectonic plates moving about and letting lava be released. The lava make a massive wave which flies across the ocean and destroys anything in its path. Look up the phillipines indian tsunami that happened 2 years ago to find out alot more about the effects

Answer 6

Tsunami is a japanese word meaning "harbuor wave" used for a seismic sea wave, a large ocean wave generated by an under sea earthquake.it causes a large scale destruction and also submerges coastal areas.

Answer 7

Tsunami are big waves which often cause disaster.Tsunami waves are caused by earthquakes, underwater volcanic eruption or any such disturbancaes.

Answer 8

Tsunami is a type of cyclone.It hAs affect's in our daily life.

Answer 9

A tsunami (pronounced /tsʊˈnɑːmi/ or /sʊˈnɑːmi/) is a series of waves created when a body of water, such as an ocean is rapidly displaced on a massive scale. Earthquakes, mass movements above or below water, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explosions, landslides and large meteorite impacts all have the potential to generate a tsunami. The effects of a tsunami can range from unnoticeable to devastating. The term tsunami comes from the Japanese language meaning harbour ("tsu", 津) and wave ("nami", 波). Although in Japanese tsunami is used for both the singular and plural, in English tsunamis is often used as the plural. The term was created by fishermen who returned to port to find the area surrounding their harbour devastated, although they had not been aware of any wave in the open water. Tsunamis are common throughout Japanese history, as 195 events in Japan have been recorded.

A tsunami has a much smaller amplitude (wave heights) offshore, and a very long wavelength (often hundreds of kilometres long), which is why they generally pass unnoticed at sea, forming only a passing "hump" in the ocean.Tsunamis have been historically referred to as tidal waves because as they approach land, they take on the characteristics of a violent onrushing tide rather than the sort of cresting waves that are formed by wind action upon the ocean (with which people are more familiar). Since they are not actually related to tides the term is considered misleading and its usage is discouraged by oceanographers. [1] Since not all tsunamis occur in harbours, however, that term is equally misleading, although it does have the benefit of being misleading in a different language.


Tsunami wave
Ocean waves are normally divided into 3 groups, characterized by depth:

Deep water
Intermediate water
Shallow water
Even though a tsunami is generated in deep water (around 4000 m below mean sea level), tsunami waves are considered shallow-water waves. As the tsunami wave approaches the shallow waters of shore, its time period remains the same, but its wavelength decreases rapidly, thus causing the water to pile up to form tremendous crests, in an effect known as "shoaling".

Signs of an approaching tsunami
The following have at various times been associated with a tsunami [3]:

An earthquake may be felt.
Large quantities of gas may bubble to the water surface and make the sea look as if it is boiling.
The water in the waves may be unusually hot.
The water may smell of rotten eggs (hydrogen sulfide), petrol, or oil.
The water may sting the skin.
A thunderous boom may be heard followed by
a roaring noise as of a jet plane
or a noise akin to the periodic whop-whop of a helicopter,
or a whistling sound.
The sea may recede to a considerable distance.
A flash of red light might be seen near the horizon.

[edit] Warnings and prevention

"Tsunami Hazard Zone" sign at the University of California, Santa Barbara

Tsunami wall at Tsu-shi, Japan
Tsunamis cannot be prevented or precisely predicted, but there are some warning signs of an impending tsunami, and there are many systems being developed and in use to reduce the damage from tsunamis.

In instances where the leading edge of the tsunami wave is its trough, the sea will recede from the coast half of the wave's period before the wave's arrival. If the slope is shallow, this recession can exceed many hundreds of metres. People unaware of the danger may remain at the shore due to curiosity, or for collecting fish from the exposed sea bed.


Tsunami warning sign on seawall in Kamakura, Japan, 2004. In the Muromachi period, a tsunami struck Kamakura, destroying the wooden building that housed the colossal statue of Amida Buddha at Kotokuin. Since that time, the statue has been outdoors.In instances where the leading edge of the tsunami is its first peak, succeeding waves can lead to further flooding. Again, being educated about a tsunami is important, to realize that when the water level drops the first time the danger is not yet over. In a low-lying coastal area, a strong earthquake is a major warning sign that a tsunami may be produced.

Regions with a high risk of tsunamis may use tsunami warning systems to detect tsunamis and warn the general population before the wave reaches land. In some communities on the west coast of the United States, which is prone to Pacific Ocean tsunamis, warning signs advise people where to run in the event of an incoming tsunami. Computer models can roughly predict tsunami arrival and impact based on information about the event that triggered it and the shape of the seafloor (bathymetry) and coastal land (topography). [4]

One of the early warnings comes from nearby animals. Many animals sense danger and flee to higher ground before the water arrives. The Lisbon quake is the first documented case of such a phenomenon in Europe. The phenomenon was also noted in Sri Lanka in the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. [5] Some scientists speculate that animals may have an ability to sense subsonic Rayleigh waves from an earthquake minutes or hours before a tsunami strikes shore (Kenneally, [6]).

While it is not possible to prevent a tsunami, in some particularly tsunami-prone countries some measures have been taken to reduce the damage caused on shore. Japan has implemented an extensive programme of building tsunami walls of up to 4.5 m (13.5 ft) high in front of populated coastal areas. Other localities have built floodgates and channels to redirect the water from incoming tsunamis. However, their effectiveness has been questioned, as tsunamis are often higher than the barriers. For instance, the tsunami which hit the island of Hokkaido on July 12, 1993 created waves as much as 30 m (100 ft) tall - as high as a 10-story building. The port town of Aonae was completely surrounded by a tsunami wall, but the waves washed right over the wall and destroyed all the wood-framed structures in the area. The wall may have succeeded in slowing down and moderating the height of the tsunami but it did not prevent major destruction and loss of life.

The effects of a tsunami can be mitigated by natural factors such as tree cover on the shoreline. Some locations in the path of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami escaped almost unscathed as a result of the tsunami's energy being sapped by a belt of trees such as coconut palms and mangroves. In one striking example, the village of Naluvedapathy in India's Tamil Nadu region suffered minimal damage and few deaths as the wave broke up on a forest of 80,244 trees planted along the shoreline in 2002 in a bid to enter the Guinness Book of Records. [7] Environmentalists have suggested tree planting along stretches of sea coast which are prone to tsunami risks. While it would take some years for the trees to grow to a useful size, such plantations could offer a much cheaper and longer-lasting means of tsunami mitigation than the costly and environmentally destructive method of erecting artificial barriers.