Tsunami

Tsunami, Japanese word for “harbor wave”, is a series of waves that are generated in a body of water by disturbances within the earth’s crust that displaces the water column vertically, often due to causes like: earthquakes, landslides, artificial undersea explosions, volcanic eruptions or cosmic impacts. These skyscraping waves are considered as one of the most deadly and devastating natural disasters, known and feared by man. Scientifically acknowledged to be a natural process of the earth, the study of a tsunami’s origin is, indeed, an advanced development, although, what is a far more potent argument to humans are its disastrous effects upon the earth’s geography and, above all, mankind. As a result, many will never forget the terrifying ordeal of being caught in a tsunami effect.

The effects of tsunamis on the country range from the loss of human life as well as that of animals, damage and destruction of infrastructure of millions of dollars in financial loss, environmental and agricultural changes due to flooding, the risk of diseases that is the direct result of inactive and contaminated water, and lastly, but not least, the long lasting psychological problems of the families.

A tsunami’s damage and destruction depends upon the strength and the energy of the source that originated it. However, a tsunami gains its true destructive power as it approaches the coastline. The water level becomes shallower causing the waves to compress and combine. This is what creates the massive and vicious waves that don’t exclude anyone from its path that’s caught in it. Once the waves have knocked down infrastructure on the shore, the waves continue to move inland, dragging along any object, like boats with it for many more miles, thus, obliterating more buildings and homes. As the enormous amount of rapidly moving waters rush across the land it sweeps away more trees, cars, structures and other manmade equipment, causing erosion of the land. As the water recedes, it leaves a trail of destruction that looks like an enormous bomb has exploded in the area. Entire towns are often destroyed in minutes of the event.

Unfortunately, one of the most detrimental effects of a tsunami is the loss of countless lives, because it is extremely hard to foretell when a tsunami will hit, consequently, the people that reside in towns or cities on the coast have very few minutes to escape. The force of the tsunami wave may kill people instantly or they may drown as water rushes on the land. People may also be killed if a building is knocked down by the tsunami and it hits them. They can also be electrocuted if wires fall down into the water or they may be killed by fires or explosions.

The deadliest tsunami in recorded history was the Christmas tsunami of 2004, in the Indian Ocean. On December 24, 2004, a massive 9.2 earthquake occurred of the island of Sumatra. It created a deadly series of tsunamis that swept Indonesia, India, Madagascar, and Ethiopia. The death toll was estimated to be in the neighborhood of 300,000 to 350,000. This was one of the greatest losses of life due to a major natural catastrophe

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