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108 Tsunami Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

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Tsunamis are natural disasters that can have devastating impacts on coastal communities. They are often caused by underwater earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or landslides, and can result in massive waves that can cause widespread destruction and loss of life.

If you are studying tsunamis or writing an essay on the topic, it can be helpful to have a list of potential essay topics to choose from. Here are 108 tsunami essay topic ideas and examples to help inspire your writing:

• The causes of tsunamis
• The effects of tsunamis on coastal communities
• Tsunami warning systems and their effectiveness
• The history of tsunamis and notable events
• How tsunamis are formed
• The role of climate change in increasing the frequency and intensity of tsunamis
• The psychological impact of tsunamis on survivors
• Tsunami preparedness and response strategies
• The economic impact of tsunamis on local economies
• How tsunamis are different from other natural disasters
• The impact of tsunamis on marine ecosystems
• Tsunamis in popular culture and media
• The role of technology in monitoring and predicting tsunamis
• The connection between tsunamis and earthquakes
• Tsunamis and their impact on tourism
• The role of international cooperation in responding to tsunamis
• Tsunamis and their impact on infrastructure
• The role of education in preparing communities for tsunamis
• Tsunamis and their impact on global climate patterns
• The cultural significance of tsunamis in different societies
• The role of NGOs and aid organizations in providing relief after a tsunami
• Tsunamis and their impact on food security
• The impact of tsunamis on water quality and sanitation
• Tsunamis and their impact on vulnerable populations
• The role of social media in spreading information during a tsunami
• The impact of tsunamis on mental health
• Tsunamis and their impact on wildlife
• The role of government policies in mitigating the impact of tsunamis
• Tsunamis and their impact on renewable energy sources
• The connection between tsunamis and tsunamigenic volcanoes
• The impact of tsunamis on agriculture and food production
• Tsunamis and their impact on transportation systems
• The impact of tsunamis on coastal erosion
• Tsunamis and their impact on indigenous communities
• The connection between tsunamis and climate change adaptation
• The impact of tsunamis on fisheries and aquaculture
• Tsunamis and their impact on water resource management
• The role of early warning systems in reducing the impact of tsunamis
• Tsunamis and their impact on cultural heritage sites
• The connection between tsunamis and tectonic plate movements
• The impact of tsunamis on the tourism industry
• Tsunamis and their impact on coastal biodiversity
• The role of education in raising awareness about tsunamis
• Tsunamis and their impact on gender equality
• The connection between tsunamis and subduction zones
• The impact of tsunamis on urban planning and development
• Tsunamis and their impact on water scarcity
• The role of community-based organizations in responding to tsunamis
• Tsunamis and their impact on waste management
• The connection between tsunamis and seismic activity
• The impact of tsunamis on public health
• Tsunamis and their impact on energy infrastructure
• The role of international aid in responding to tsunamis
• Tsunamis and their impact on social cohesion
• The connection between tsunamis and tsunamigenic fault lines
• The impact of tsunamis on air quality
• Tsunamis and their impact on disaster risk reduction efforts
• The role of insurance in mitigating the impact of tsunamis
• Tsunamis and their impact on emergency response systems
• The connection between tsunamis and underwater landslides
• The impact of tsunamis on renewable energy infrastructure
• Tsunamis and their impact on water pollution
• The role of community resilience in responding to tsunamis
• Tsunamis and their impact on climate change adaptation strategies
• The connection between tsunamis and coastal erosion
• The impact of tsunamis on disaster preparedness efforts
• Tsunamis and their impact on coastal development
• The role of indigenous knowledge in responding to tsunamis
• Tsunamis and their impact on informal settlements
• The connection between tsunamis and sea level rise
• The impact of tsunamis on healthcare systems
• Tsunamis and their impact on food systems
• The role of community engagement in responding to tsunamis
• Tsunamis and their impact on climate change adaptation policies
• The connection between tsunamis and deforestation
• The impact of tsunamis on education systems
• Tsunamis and their impact on biodiversity conservation efforts
• The role of technology in improving early warning systems for tsunamis
• Tsunamis and their impact on disaster recovery efforts
• The connection between tsunamis and coastal habitat destruction
• The impact of tsunamis on water resource availability
• Tsunamis and their impact on social inequality
• The role of community-based adaptation in responding to tsunamis
• Tsunamis and their impact on climate change mitigation efforts
• The connection between tsunamis and ocean acidification
• The impact of tsunamis on ecosystem services
• Tsunamis and their impact on climate change resilience
• The role of gender mainstreaming in responding to tsunamis
• Tsunamis and their impact on renewable energy access
• The connection between tsunamis and coastal land loss
• The impact of tsunamis on water scarcity
• Tsunamis and their impact on global food security

These are just a few examples of the many possible essay topics related to tsunamis. Whether you are writing a research paper, a reflective essay, or a creative piece, there are plenty of angles from which to explore this important and impactful natural phenomenon. Happy writing!

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Natural Disaster Essay: How to Write, Topics, & Examples

What would you do if someone told you that a tsunami would wipe out your house tomorrow afternoon? You won’t believe them. It always seems that natural disasters happen in someone else’s life. But every year, millions of people worldwide suffer from various natural calamities. This article attempts to systemize the chaos of nature for you to write an impressive natural disaster essay. You will get acquainted with the seven types of disasters, get a long list of topics and examples of natural disaster essay in 200 words and 300 words.

• 🌪️ Natural Disaster: The Basics
• 💡 114 Essay Topics
• 📑 Outlining Your Essay
• 🌊 Essay Sample (200 Words)
• 🏜️ Essay Sample (300 Words)

🌪️ Natural Disaster Essay: What Is It About?

A natural disaster is a large-scale meteorological or geological event that can to cause loss of life or massive damage to people’s property. Floods and severe storms are the most reported acts of nature in the US, but other incidents also happen from time to time. That is why you can dedicate your essay on natural disasters to earthquakes, droughts, wildfires, floods, tsunamis, hurricanes, or tornadoes.

💡 114 Natural Disasters Essay Topics

What could you write in a natural disaster essay? You can invent your own topic about various types of natural disasters, their causes, and aftermath, or their impact on human life and the economy. Depending on the discipline, you can also describe historic calamities that changed the direction of human civilization. Alternatively, choose one from our comprehensive list below.

• Why are the Great Plains of the central US ideal for tornado formation?
• Global Warming and Climate Change Legislation.
• Research the atmospheric parameters inside a tornado.
• Energy, Technology and Climate Change.
• Why are the boundaries of Tornado Alley in the US so debatable?
• The global climate change as a manmade disaster.
• Which actions should you never do when a tornado is nearby?
• Volunteers’ Role During Disasters.
• Suggest your opinion on the best action strategy in a hurricane.
• The Columbia Disaster and safety violations.
• What were the causes and effects of a flood?
• Analysis on Climate Change and Global Impact.
• Describe the most devastating wildfires in the US and find their common features.
• Earthquake Engineering Considerations and Methods.
• Brainstorm ideas to prevent wildfires.
• Global warming and the greenhouse effect.
• How can building dams cause earthquakes?
• Climate Change and Its Impact on Freshwater.
• Analyze the impact of droughts on tourism.
• Climate Change Effect on Coral Reef Communities.
• Describe the most extended droughts in human history.
• Marine and Coastal Climate Change in Australia.
• Write an essay on natural disasters and earthquakes in particular.
• Air pollution and mortality rates
• What are the distinctive features of droughts in third-world countries?
• Global Warming, Climate Change, and Society’s Impact on the Environment.
• Study the relationship between global warming and droughts.
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder After a Hurricane.
• Evaluate the damage caused by Hurricane Maria in 2017.
• Social Media’s Role in Disaster Response.
• Classify the effects of natural disasters in an essay.
• Sustainability and Climate Change.
• Describe the 1815 volcanic eruption of Mt. Tambora, Indonesia.
• Hurricane Katrina: Overview, Impact, Response.
• Each new leap of civilization causes new responses of nature.
• Animal Exploitation. Animal Agriculture and Climate Change.
• Think of any positive effects a volcanic eruption may have.
• In Arizona, Collaboration Averts Water Disaster.
• Children are the poorest victims of any disaster.
• A Solution to Remedy Climate Change.
• Which ways of disaster risk reduction do you know?
• An Emergency Operations Center During Hurricane Harvey.
• Research the current problems in disaster management.
• Disaster Recovery Plan for Information Technology Organizations.
• Analyze ineffective disaster management in an essay about hurricane Katrina.
• Nurse Competencies and Scope of Practice in Disaster.
• What should a household have at home in the case of a disaster?
• Hurricane Katrina: The Powerful Natural Disaster.
• Describe the humanitarian disaster during the drought in Somalia.
• Technology in Disaster Preparedness.
• Can man-made disasters entail natural calamities?
• Disaster Management in Philadelphia.
• Review the criteria for disaster classification.
• Jeddah Floods and Adaptation Strategies in the City of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
• Search for real examples of hybrid disasters.
• Natural Disasters Prevention: A Tabletop Exercise.
• Who is responsible for casualties after a natural disaster?
• The Sand Storms: Remote Sensing and Meteorological Variables.
• List the lessons we could learn from our past disaster experience.
• Fire Development, Growth, and Spreads.
• The ice storm and silver thaw: A gentle disaster.
• Fire Crisis Management in the UAE.
• Rockslides: A pressing issue for rural areas.
• 1d – 2d Flood Modeling Using PCSWMM.
• What are the psychological benefits of disaster preparedness?
• Structural Control and Origin of Volcanism in the Taupo Volcanic Zone.
• When does a blizzard become a disaster?
• Extreme Weather Events + Geographies of Globalization.
• Research the causes of dust storms and name the affected areas.
• Strategies for Sustainable Integrated Oil Disaster Management in West Africa.
• Why did the San Francisco earthquake (1906) cause devastating fires?
• Causes of Climate Change.
• What could be done to help people who lost their homes in an earthquake?
• Book Review: Energy and Global Climate Change.
• Analyze the role of World Vision in humanitarian aid after disasters.
• Tangshan earthquake of 1976 showed that high population density is disastrous.
• The Role of Carbon Dioxide in Climate Change.
• Rock avalanche: Why water is the most powerful geological agent.
• Aspects of Climate Change.
• When do extreme weather conditions turn into a disaster?
• Climate Change: Reasons, Kyoto Protocol.
• Write an article on shelter-providing organizations for disaster victims.
• Establishing an IT Disaster Recovery Plan.
• Describe earthquake cycles in Haiti.
• Effects of Climate Change on Agriculture and Food.
• How can nature damage ecology in natural disasters?
• Climate Change. Problems. Effects.
• Disaster management should include psychological help to the survivors.
• Climate Change Causes: Position and Strategies.
• Suggest ways to prevent damage caused by debris flow.
• HAT 4: Disaster in Franklin Country.
• How did the lack of evacuation after the Bhola cyclone (1970) result in the massive death toll?
• The Effects of Climate Change.
• The most significant Yellow River flood: 2 million deaths in 1887.
• Resilience Building Against Natural Disasters in the Caribbean Islands.
• Sinkholes: A natural disaster or attraction for cavers and water-divers?
• Global Climate Change and Health.
• Describe the dynamics of landslides in California.
• Which early-warning systems to detect avalanches do you know?
• Los Angeles Regional Collaborative for Climate Action.
• Pyroclastic flow: The deadliest volcanic hazard.
• Communication During Disaster Response.
• Describe the volcano eruption of Vesuvius that destroyed the Herculaneum and Pompeii.
• Disaster Planning for Families.
• Disaster prevention measures: Investments that save millions of lives.
• Natural Disaster Management and Historical Prospective Study in the UAE.
• Research the PTSD in survivors of natural disasters.
• Are the latest disasters the nature’s fightback to humanity?
• Estimate the human impact on natural disasters.
• List the countries with the largest number of disasters and find their standard features.
• Everyday Communication on Climate Change.
• Insurance coverage against disasters: Our inevitable future.
• Emergency Planning Before and After Hurricane Katrina.
• One natural disaster could bring the world to its end.

Haven’t found a suitable topic in the list above? Use our essay topic generator to get more ideas.

📑 Natural Disaster Essay Outline

Outlines differ, depending on the assigned length and essay type. It is a reference sample. Feel free to modify it, extending some points and narrowing the others. Still, the overall structure should remain the same. We have chosen the “Causes of Earthquakes” essay topic for demonstrative purposes.

• Hook . There are millions of possible ways to start your essay, from a rhetorical question to any imaginable scenario. The point is to grab the reader’s attention, showing them that your writing is unique and creative. For example: We are always concerned with the consequences of a natural disaster. But what brought us into such a calamity in the first place?
• Concepts. Natural disasters can be studied in the framework of various disciplines. But in all cases, they are linked with geology, biology, chemistry, geography, and some other subjects with broad and complicated terminology. Explain the terms that could be elusive for your readers here. For example: For the purposes of this essay, an earthquake is a sudden displacement of the land surface.
• Background. How did you come to think of this problem? Why is it topical? The causes of earthquakes are numerous and often unrelated. To understand them as a system, we need a strict classification.
• Thesis statement . Clearly state the aim of your essay. This essay attempts to group the causes of earthquakes to determine which factors can be tackled by human forces.
• Transition sentence. It comes in the previous sentence (for paragraphs 2 and 3) and ensures smooth reading. E.g.: Tectonic movements are the most powerful causes of earthquakes, and we cannot influence them. But still, there is something we could do.
• Topic sentence . What will you explain in this paragraph? Human interference with nature can also cause earthquakes.
• Evidence. How can you confirm the topic sentence? Heavy clubbing of dam water can disturbance the crustal balance. Nuclear bombing causes shockwaves that penetrate the surface, changing the tectonic plates and their natural alignment. Mining can also cause earthquakes by removing extensive volumes of stone from under the ground.
• Warrant. Why does the reader need this information, and how does it relate to the thesis statement? Knowing these facts can help us change the old-fashioned approaches and lessen the ecological damage to our planet.
• Summary. Collect and summarize all your arguments here. Tectonic movements, volcano eruptions, and geological faults cause a significant part of earthquakes worldwide. But various man-made causes bring us to the same result.
• Rephrased thesis. We cannot stop the tectonic movements or hinder volcanic eruptions, but we can use natural resources with more care.

🌊 Natural Disaster Essay 200 Words

Below you will find a short natural disaster essay for 200 words. It explores the causes and effects of the tsunami in Japan in 2011.

Tsunami in Japan: Causes and Effects The proximity of the deadliest disasters is often unpredictable. As a result, the consequences of a tsunami can exceed any possible expectations. This essay looks for the decisive factors that caused the tsunami in Japan in 2011 and its results for the local population and other countries. The causes were out of human control and could not be predicted. The Pacific plate moved in the horizontal and vertical plane, advancing beneath the Eurasian Plate. It displaced the seawater above and entailed several destructive waves. The disaster had enormous consequences for the Japanese people and their economy. It killed almost 16,000 people, although the country had a sophisticated alarming system. Besides, the earthquake caused fires and explosions at oil factories. The cooling system of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant went out of service. Two people were lost, and many were injured. Nissan, like many other large corporations, had to suspend the operation of its four factories. The economic losses due to the catastrophe amounted to 300 billion dollars. But the disaster moved to other places. On 24 March 2011, the earthquake in the east of Myanmar claimed the lives of 60 people and destroyed 300 buildings. As we can see, everything is linked on our planet. Movements of the earth’ crust in any part of the world bring about earthquakes and tsunami in other countries. The series of waves in Japan was caused by the underwater earthquake and had horrible consequences.

🏜️ Natural Disaster Essay 300 Words

If your assignment is longer, you will have to provide your opinion in the essay. Or, you can make your argumentation more detailed. Below you can check our 300-word sample of a disaster essay.

The Economic Effects of the Dust Bowl Drought When someone says “a natural disaster,” we usually imagine an earthquake or a tsunami. Buildings are destroyed, and property is lost. But imagine a scenario of a devastating drought, which happened in the US in the 1930s. Its effect is less visible because it lies in the domain of the national economy. This essay reveals the economic consequences of the Dust Bowl drought. During the third decade of the XX century, strong winds raised choking dust in the southern states, from Texas to Nebraska. People and animals died as the crops failed in the area for several years in a row. The Dust Bowl lasted for almost a decade and was also called “the Dirty Thirties.” This drought intensified the impact of the Great Depression. Local farmers had to migrate to urban areas in search of better conditions and other sources of living. About 2.5 million people moved West from the worst-hit states, namely New Mexico, Texas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Kansas. But they found only discrimination, meager salaries, and inhuman working conditions. Many had to live in tents near irrigation ditches. They were called “Okies,” a disdainful name for migrants of any state. Regular rains returned to the southern states by the end of 1939, closing the drought. However, the economic aftermath persisted. The counties that suffered the most failed to recover the agricultural value of their land till the 1950s. Thus, the local population kept decreasing for twenty years. Although a drought does not ruin property, it can tangibly lower human life levels. The Dust Bowl threw people into a lose-lose situation. Their farms were unfit for gaining any profit, and the new places of living gave them no better opportunities. It took two decades to restore public wellbeing in the Southern States.

Researching the worst acts of nature can teach you to value what you have. We hope that this article has made your creative writing more manageable and pleasurable. You can write an essay of any length by simply following our outline. All you will need to do after that is make a cover page for it.

Please share your natural disaster essay ideas in the comments below.

❓ Natural Disaster Essay FAQ

How to write an essay about natural disaster.

Your approach should depend on the discipline. But in any case, you can discuss the types of disasters, their consequences, characteristics, and preconditions. The excellent idea is to select a past disastrous event and analyze it from the economic, social, or individual point of view.

What Is a Disaster Essay?

A disaster essay explores the stages of a natural or man-made calamity and seeks the possible ways to prevent similar emergencies in the future. An article on disaster management studies the correct and efficient activities to lower the casualties and property loss after a disaster.

What Is Disaster Preparedness Essay?

This type of writing analyzes the level of readiness of a region or municipality to an unexpected natural disaster. You can highlight the vulnerable groups of the population that will suffer the most. Or, you may invent measures that could reduce the disaster response and coping time. Such assignments teach you strategic thinking and a systematic approach to problem-solving.

How to Describe a Natural Disaster for an Essay?

You should specify that the event was unexpected and led to many deaths and property loss. The most critical things include the causes of the disaster, its progress and duration, and the negative consequences for the locals. You can also specify the negative effect on the economy and humanitarian condition of the area.

🔗 References

• Natural Disasters and Severe Weather | CDC
• Types of Disasters | SAMHSA
• Natural Disaster – an overview | ScienceDirect Topics
• Natural Disasters – National Geographic
• What Is Disaster Management: Prevention and Mitigation

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• Forecast & Warning

The Tsunami Story

Tsunami is a set of ocean waves caused by any large, abrupt disturbance of the sea-surface. If the disturbance is close to the coastline, local tsunamis can demolish coastal communities within minutes. A very large disturbance can cause local devastation AND export tsunami destruction thousands of miles away. The word tsunami is a Japanese word, represented by two characters: tsu, meaning, "harbor", and nami meaning, "wave". Tsunamis rank high on the scale of natural disasters. Since 1850 alone, tsunamis have been responsible for the loss of over 420,000 lives and billions of dollars of damage to coastal structures and habitats. Most of these casualties were caused by local tsunamis that occur about once per year somewhere in the world. For example, the December 26, 2004, tsunami killed about 130,000 people close to the earthquake and about 58,000 people on distant shores. Predicting when and where the next tsunami will strike is currently impossible. Once the tsunami is generated, forecasting tsunami arrival and impact is possible through modeling and measurement technologies.

Generation. Tsunamis are most commonly generated by earthquakes in marine and coastal regions. Major tsunamis are produced by large (greater than 7 on the Richer scale), shallow focus (< 30km depth in the earth) earthquakes associated with the movement of oceanic and continental plates. They frequently occur in the Pacific, where dense oceanic plates slide under the lighter continental plates. When these plates fracture they provide a vertical movement of the seafloor that allows a quick and efficient transfer of energy from the solid earth to the ocean (try the animation in Figure 1). When a powerful earthquake (magnitude 9.3) struck the coastal region of Indonesia in 2004, the movement of the seafloor produced a tsunami in excess of 30 meters (100 feet) along the adjacent coastline killing more than 240,000 people. From this source the tsunami radiated outward and within 2 hours had claimed 58,000 lives in Thailand, Sri Lanka, and India.

Underwater landslides associated with smaller earthquakes are also capable of generating destructive tsunamis. The tsunami that devastated the northwestern coast of Papua New Guinea on July 17, 1998, was generated by an earthquake that registered 7.0 on the Richter scale that apparently triggered a large underwater landslide. Three waves measuring more than 7 meter high struck a 10-kilometer stretch of coastline within ten minutes of the earthquake/slump. Three coastal villages were swept completely clean by the deadly attack leaving nothing but sand and 2,200 people dead. Other large-scale disturbances of the sea -surface that can generate tsunamis are explosive volcanoes and asteroid impacts. The eruption of the volcano Krakatoa in the East Indies on Aug. 27, 1883 produced a 30-meter tsunami that killed over 36,000 people. In 1997, scientists discovered evidence of a 4km diameter asteroid that landed offshore of Chile approximately 2 million years ago that produced a huge tsunami that swept over portions of South America and Antarctica.

Figure 1. Click to see and animation of a tsunami generated by an earthquake.

Wave Propagation. Because earth movements associated with large earthquakes are thousand of square kilometers in area, any vertical movement of the seafloor immediately changes the sea-surface. The resulting tsunami propagates as a set of waves whose energy is concentrated at wavelengths corresponding to the earth movements (~100 km), at wave heights determined by vertical displacement (~1m), and at wave directions determined by the adjacent coastline geometry. Because each earthquake is unique, every tsunami has unique wavelengths, wave heights, and directionality (Figure 2 shows the propagation of the December 24, 2004 Sumatra tsunami.) From a tsunami warning perspective, this makes the problem of forecasting tsunamis in real time daunting.

Warning Systems. Since 1946, the tsunami warning system has provided warnings of potential tsunami danger in the pacific basin by monitoring earthquake activity and the passage of tsunami waves at tide gauges. However, neither seismometers nor coastal tide gauges provide data that allow accurate prediction of the impact of a tsunami at a particular coastal location. Monitoring earthquakes gives a good estimate of the potential for tsunami generation, based on earthquake size and location, but gives no direct information about the tsunami itself. Tide gauges in harbors provide direct measurements of the tsunami, but the tsunami is significantly altered by local bathymetry and harbor shapes, which severely limits their use in forecasting tsunami impact at other locations. Partly because of these data limitations, 15 of 20 tsunami warnings issued since 1946 were considered false alarms because the tsunami that arrived was too weak to cause damage.

Figure 2. Click to see the propagation of the December 24, 2004 Sumatra tsunami.

Forecasting impacts. Recently developed real-time, deep ocean tsunami detectors (Figure 3) will provide the data necessary to make tsunami forecasts. The November 17, 2003, Rat Is. tsunami in Alaska provided the most comprehensive test for the forecast methodology. The Mw 7.8 earthquake on the shelf near Rat Islands, Alaska, generated a tsunami that was detected by three tsunameters located along the Aleutian Trench-the first tsunami detection by the newly developed real-time tsunameter system. These real-time data combined with the model database (Figure 4) were then used to produce the real-time model tsunami forecast. For the first time, tsunami model predictions were obtained during the tsunami propagation, before the waves had reached many coastlines. The initial offshore forecast was obtained immediately after preliminary earthquake parameters (location and magnitude Ms = 7.5) became available from the West Coast/Alaska TWC (about 15-20 minutes after the earthquake). The model estimates provided expected tsunami time series at tsunameter locations. When the closest tsunameter recorded the first tsunami wave, about 80 minutes after the tsunami, the model predictions were compared with the deep-ocean data and the updated forecast was adjusted immediately. These offshore model scenarios were then used as input for the high-resolution inundation model for Hilo Bay. The model computed tsunami dynamics on several nested grids, with the highest spatial resolution of 30 meters inside the Hilo Bay (Figure 5). None of the tsunamis produced inundation at Hilo, but all of them recorded nearly half a meter (peak-to-trough) signal at Hilo gage. Model forecast predictions for this tide gage are compared with observed data in Figure 5. The comparison demonstrates that amplitudes, arrival time and periods of several first waves of the tsunami wave train were correctly forecasted. More tests are required to ensure that the inundation forecast will work for every likely-to-occur tsunami. When implemented, such forecast will be obtained even faster and would provide enough lead time for potential evacuation or warning cancellation for Hawaii and the U.S. West Coast.

Reduction of impact. The recent development of real-time deep ocean tsunami detectors and tsunami inundation models has given coastal communities the tools they need to reduce the impact of future tsunamis. If these tools are used in conjunction with a continuing educational program at the community level, at least 25% of the tsunami related deaths might be averted. By contrasting the casualties from the 1993 Sea of Japan tsunami with that of the 1998 Papua New Guinea tsunami, we can conclude that these tools work. For the Aonae, Japan case about 15% of the population at risk died from a tsunami that struck within 10 minutes of the earthquake because the population was educated about tsunamis, evacuation plans had been developed, and a warning was issued. For the Warapa, Papua New Guinea case about 40% of the at risk population died from a tsunami that arrived within 15 minutes of the earthquake because the population was not educated, no evacuation plan was available, and no warning system existed.

Eddie N. Bernard

References:

Bernard, E.N. (1998): Program aims to reduce impact of tsunamis on Pacific states. Eos Trans. AGU, 79(22), 258, 262-263.

Bernard, E.N. (1999): Tsunami. Natural Disaster Management, Tudor Rose, Leicester, England, 58-60.

Synolakis, C., P. Liu, G. Carrier, H. Yeh, Tsunamigenic Sea-Floor Deformations, Science, 278, 598-600, 1997.

Dudley, Walter C., and Min Lee (1998): Tsunami! Second Edition, University of Hawai'i Press, Honolulu, Hawaii.

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Essay On Tsunami – 10 Lines, Short & Long Essay For Children

Key Points To Remember: Essay On Tsunami For Lower Primary Classes

10 lines on tsunami for kids, a paragraph on tsunami in english for children, short essay on tsunami for kids, long essay on tsunami for children, what will your child learn from this essay, interesting facts about tsunami for kids.

The word ‘Tsunami’ is of Japanese origin, which means harbour wave. A tsunami is the repetition of long-wavelength water waves triggered due to quakes and volcanic eruptions in ocean beds. If the earthquake fails to cause a tsunami inside the ocean, it will mostly cause a landslide. This tsunami essay for classes 1, 2 and 3 will help your child learn about new things. A tsunami essay in English will also improve ability to convert thoughts into words, positively impacting communication and vocabulary.

A topic like tsunami isn’t a very easy topic to write about. Children might need the assistance of parents or teachers to write about tsunamis. Here are a few key points to remember when writing a composition on tsunami for lower primary classes:

• Use videos or pictures while explaining tsunamis to kids. Visual aids help in better memorisation.
• Keep the content crisp and clear. A tsunami is a phenomenon that involves geographical terms. So, keep in mind to use simple language.
• Encourage your child to write their essay independently once the basics are covered.

What is a tsunami? How does it occur, and what is its impact? Get answers to these questions from the essay for class 1 and 2 kids on tsunamis. Mentioned below are a few lines on tsunami:

• Tsunamis are natural disasters that cause harm to the environment.
• It happens due to an earthquake underwater.
• These occur unexpectedly.
• Volcanic eruptions, plate shifting, the sinking of the earth, etc., are other reasons for tsunamis.
• The term tsunami means harbour waves.
• It has a series of waves with a high wavelength, capable of serious damage.
• The waves created in seas and oceans move towards the land and destroy buildings, homes, forests, etc.
• Landslides also lead to tsunamis.
• Most tsunamis often happen in the Pacific ocean.
• India experienced a similarly destructive Tsunami in 2004.

Do you want to read a short paragraph on tsunamis for children? Then, you are at the right place. Given below is a template for reference:

A tsunami is a series of waves of high wavelengths that cause water to move toward the land. It happens due to earthquakes whose main point is in the water/ocean. Greeks were the first to notice the effects of tsunamis. Sudden volcanic eruptions in the ocean beds, the sinking of the earth, etc., are the other major reasons for tsunamis. Like any other natural calamity, it causes widespread damage to human lives, buildings and trees. Underwater explosions can lead to tsunamis as well. The Pacific Ocean is known to be the hub of tsunamis. Ports and harbours get affected badly by tsunamis.

Looking for a simple-written short essay for classes 1,2 and 3 on tsunamis for kids to understand? Well, search no further. Given below is the template for the same:

A tsunami is defined as a series of waves of high wavelengths that cause water to move toward the land. It happens due to earthquakes whose main point is in the water. Greeks were the first to study the effects of tsunamis, and the only difference between earthquakes and tsunamis is that the latter happens in water. Tsunamis are called seismic waves. We should know that all seismic waves are tsunamis, but earthquakes are not the sole cause of all tsunamis. It also occurs due to sudden volcanic eruptions in the ocean beds, the sinking of the earth, etc. Like any other natural calamity, it causes widespread damage to human lives, public and private properties, and forests. Underwater explosions can lead to tsunamis as well. The Pacific Ocean is known to be the hub of tsunamis. During tsunamis, marine life is also get affected.

Natural calamities like tsunamis occur due to various reasons and cause damage to living and non-living. Here is an essay for class 3 kids on the causes, impacts and history of tsunamis.

History of Tsunami

According to legend, the Greek historian Thucydides suggested that there might be a connection between undersea earthquakes and tsunamis. But until the 20th century, knowledge of the causes and nature of tsunamis was limited. Ammianus, a Roman historian, characterised the sequence of events leading up to a tsunami as an earthquake, a quick retreat of the sea, and then a massive wave. The highest ever tsunami took place in a bay along the coasts of Alaska on July 9th, 1958.

What are the Causes and Effects of Tsunami?

Causes of Tsunami 

• Earthquakes and Landslides:  Shifts in tectonic plates cause earthquakes, and when the main point is in the water, a tsunami is triggered. Sometimes landslides induced by earthquakes lead to these tidal waves.
• Volcanic Eruptions in Sea Beds:  Volcanic eruptions in sea beds are another cause of these high wavelength waves.
• The Sinking of The Earth:  Changes in the earth’s crust or interiors often lead to the sinking of the earth, and this sudden shift can trigger a tsunami.
• Underwater Explosions:  Incidents like meteor collisions with the earth, or chunks of ice breaking off from glaciers lead to underwater explosions.

Effects of Tsunami

• Boats and Ships Sink:  The crashing of such high waves causes widespread damage to boats and ships off the coast.
• It Ruins Buildings, Trees and Houses:  Since the water moves towards the land and is of high velocity, it can destroy homes, uproot trees and displace vehicles.
• Causes:  As in the case of any natural calamity, a tsunami also takes a toll on people’s lives.

How Can Tsunami Be Prevented?

The effects of a tsunami can be reduced by avoiding inundation areas, slowing down water by building ditches, slopes, etc. and steering water to strategically placed walls or structures. An alert well ahead of time can also reduce the damage percentage.

How To Prepare for a Tsunami Disaster?

• To escape a tsunami, go 100 feet above sea level or 2 miles away.
• Often there are weather reports and cautionary warnings for a tsunami. Please take care to follow them.
• Every foot inland or upward is sure to make a difference!
• If you can see the wave, you are too close for safety!

Your child will learn about the causes, history and effects of natural disasters such as tsunamis. They will also understand essay writing and its ways better.

• The word tsunami means harbour wave in Japanese.
• The Pacific Ocean is the hub of tsunamis.
• The first wave of a tsunami is never the biggest.
• The series of waves generated by a tsunami is called a wave train.
• Often called tidal waves, tsunamis are not related to ocean tides.

What is the Difference Between Earthquake and Tsunami?

The major difference between an earthquake and a tsunami is that tsunamis are triggered by earthquakes whose main point is in the oceans or seas. And earthquakes happen on the land.

Topics like composition on tsunamis create awareness about natural calamities and the damage these can cause to humans. Teach your child about possible effects and help them learn new things.

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Cause & Effect Essay: Natural Disasters and Their Causes

Natural disasters happen all over the world, and they can be utterly devastating for people’s lives and the environments in which they live. Although natural disasters are caused by nature and there is nothing that we can do to prevent them happening, there are many different natural causes that lead to natural disasters, and being aware of these causes enables us to be better prepared when such disasters do arrive.

One common natural disaster is flooding, which occurs when a river bursts its banks and the water spills out onto the floodplain. This is far more likely to happen when there is a great deal of heavy rain, so during very wet periods, flood warnings are often put in place. There are other risk factors for flooding too: steep-sided channels cause fast surface run-off, while a lack of vegetation or woodland to both break the flow of water and drink the water means that there is little to slow the floodwater down. Drainage basins of impermeable rock also cause the water to run faster over the surface.

Earthquakes are another common natural disaster that can cause many fatalities. The movements of the plates in the earth’s crust cause them. These plates do not always move smoothly and can get stuck, causing a build-up of pressure. It is when this pressure is released that an earthquake occurs. In turn, an earthquake under the water can also cause a tsunami, as the quake causes great waves by pushing large volumes of water to the surface.

Tsunamis can also be caused by underwater volcanic eruptions. Volcanic eruptions are another natural disaster, and they are caused by magma escaping from inside the earth. An explosion takes place, releasing the magma from a confined space, which is why there are often also huge quantities of gas and dust released during a volcanic eruption. The magma travels up the inside of the volcano, and pours out over the surrounding area as lava.

One of the most common natural disasters, but also one of the most commonly forgotten, is wildfires. These take place in many different countries all over the world, particularly during the summer months, and can be caused by a range of different things. Some of the things that can start the wildfires can be totally natural, while others can be manmade, but the speed at which they spread is entirely down to nature. The two natural causes of wildfires are the sun’s heat and lightning strikes, while they can also be caused by campfires, smoking, fireworks and many other things. The reasons that they spread so quickly are prolonged hot, dry weather, where the vegetation dries out, which is why they often take place in woodland.

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• Paragraph Writing
• Paragraph On Tsunami

Paragraph on Tsunami - Check Samples for 100, 150, 200, 250 Words

A tsunami is a kind of natural disaster which is caused due to volcanic eruptions in the ocean beds. Tsunamis are natural occurrences in which a series of powerful waves cause a surge in water that can reach heights of several metres. There are various other reasons that can cause a tsunami which is equally hazardous to people as other natural disasters.

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Paragraph on tsunami in 100 words, paragraph on tsunami in 150 words, paragraph on tsunami in 200 words, paragraph on tsunami in 250 words, frequently asked questions on tsunami.

Tsunamis are caused due to various reasons. There are many factors that can lead to tsunamis and cause harm to humankind. Before writing a paragraph on tsunamis, check the samples provided below.

Tsunamis are caused majorly due to volcanic eruptions and earthquakes that occur under the ocean. There are various factors that cause tsunamis, like the sinking of the earth, explosives, etc. Tsunamis occur primarily in areas where two continents meet. Tsunamis also happen due to volcanic eruptions under the ocean beds. The Pacific Ocean is well-known for the frequent occurrence of tsunamis. Tsunamis cause a lot of damage to the environment. It destroys buildings, forests, livelihood, etc. Since it is a sudden event, no one can anticipate its occurrence.

Tsunamis are natural disasters that are destructive to the environment. It is caused due to an earthquake underwater. Just like earthquakes are unpredictable, tsunamis occur suddenly, and no one can anticipate their occurrence. There can be various reasons for a tsunami to occur, like the sinking of the earth, explosives, etc. Tsunamis occur primarily in areas where two continents meet. It is known that the Pacific Ocean is a hub of tsunamis. Tsunamis also happen due to volcanic eruptions under the ocean beds. Tsunami is a term that refers to tidal waves. Therefore, a tsunami is defined as a sequence of ocean waves with a very long wavelength. Due to the tsunami, strong waves of water are created and move landwards. As a result, there is a large inland water movement that lasts for a long time. As a result, these waves have significant destructive power. Like other natural disasters, tsunamis also bring great destruction to the environment. It brings losses to livelihood, property, forests, etc.

A sudden movement under the sea beds causes tsunamis. It is an earthquake inside the sea or ocean. The Pacific Ocean is known to be a hotspot of tsunamis. Other than earthquakes, there are other reasons for tsunamis to occur. One of the major reasons is volcanic eruptions under the sea beds. Other reasons for the occurrence of tsunamis are the sinking of the earth, explosives, etc. These natural disasters occur primarily in areas where two continents meet. A tsunami is a term that refers to tidal waves. Therefore, a tsunami is defined as a sequence of ocean waves with a very long wavelength. Due to the tsunami, strong waves of water are created and move landwards. As a result, there is a large inland water movement that lasts for a long time. As a result, these waves have significant destructive power. Like any other natural disaster, tsunamis bring massive destruction to the environment. When a tsunami strikes, the sea waves reach a speed of 420 kilometres per hour. Beaches are ruined, trees and plants are broken, and human settlements, residences, buildings, and ports are demolished due to the tsunami.

The term “tsunami” refers to tidal waves. As a result, a tsunami is characterised as a series of extraordinarily long-wavelength ocean waves. Strong waves of water are formed by the tsunami and move landward. As a result, there is a massive and long-lasting inland water movement. As a result, these waves have considerable destructive power. Tsunamis are caused by abrupt movement beneath the seabed. It’s an earthquake that occurs deep within the water or ocean. The Pacific Ocean is known to be a hotspot of tsunamis. Tsunamis can develop for a variety of reasons other than earthquakes. Volcanic explosions beneath the seabed are one of the leading causes. Tsunamis can also be caused by the earth sinking, the explosion of bombs, and other factors. Tsunamis are especially common in locations where two continents meet. Tsunamis cause strong water waves to move towards the ground. The Greeks were the first people on the planet to assert that tsunamis had occurred. As per the Greeks, a tsunami is a ground quake. Tsunamis and earthquakes are only distinguished by the fact that tsunamis occur in the oceans. As a result, controlling the size and spread of tsunamis is nearly impossible. Tsunamis, like every other natural calamity, wreak havoc on the environment. The sea waves reach a speed of 420 kilometres per hour when a tsunami strikes. Due to tsunamis in seas or oceans, beaches are wrecked, trees and plants are washed away, and human settlements, dwellings, buildings, and ports are destroyed.

What is meant by a tsunami?

A tsunami is a strong and abrupt movement inside the water, causing destruction to the environment. It is a kind of natural disaster which is similar to earthquakes. It occurs inside the water causing strong tidal waves.

How are earthquakes different from tsunamis?

Earthquakes are strong and sudden movements on land, but tsunamis are caused by earthquakes inside the seas or oceans.

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Geography Notes

Tsunami: compilation of essays on tsunami | natural disasters | geography.

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Here is a compilation of essays on ‘Tsunami’ for class 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short essays on ‘Tsunami’ especially written for school and college students.

Essay on Tsunami

Essay Contents:

• Essay on Preparedness for Tsunamis

Essay # 1. Definition of Tsunami:

The word tsunami is a Japanese word, represented by two characters: tsu, meaning, ‘harbour’, and nami meaning, ‘wave’. Tsunami is a set of ocean waves caused by any large, abrupt disturbance on the sea- surface. If the disturbance is close to the coastline, local tsunamis can demolish coastal communities within minutes. A very large disturbance can cause local devastation and export tsunami destruction thousands of miles away.  

Tsunamis rank high on the scale of natural disasters. Since 1850 alone, tsunamis have been responsible for the loss of over 420,000 lives and billions of dollars of damage to coastal structures and habitats. Most of these casualties were caused by local tsunamis that occur about once per year somewhere in the world.

For example, the December 26, 2004, tsunami killed about 130,000 people close to the earthquake and about 58,000 people on distant shores. Predicting when and where the next tsunami will strike is currently impossible. Once the tsunami is generated, forecasting tsunami arrival and impact is possible through modelling and measurement technologies.

Essay # 2. Meaning of Tsunami:

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.

The waves travel out of the area of origin and can be extremely dangerous and damaging when they reach the shore. The word tsunami (pronounced tsoo-nah’-mee) is composed of the Japanese words ‘tsu’ (which means harbour) and ‘nami’ (which means ‘wave’).

Often the term, ‘seismic or tidal sea wave’ is used to describe the same phenomenon, however the terms are misleading, because tsunami waves can be generated by other non-seismic disturbances such as volcanic eruptions or underwater landslides, and have physical characteristics different from tidal waves.

The tsunami waves are completely unrelated to the astronomical tides—which are caused by the extra-terrestrial, gravi­tational influences of the moon, sun, and the planets. Thus, the Japanese word ‘tsunami’, meaning ‘harbour wave’ is correct, official and ail-inclusive term. It has been internationally adopted because it covers all forms of impulsive wave generation.

Essay # 3. Characteristics of Tsunami :

Tsunami in the deep ocean may have very long wave length of hundreds of kilometre and travels at about 800 km per hour, but an amplitude of only about 1 km. It remains undetected by ships in the deep sea. However, when it approaches the coast its wavelength diminishes but amplitude grows enormously, and it takes very little time to reach its full height.

Computer model can provide tsunami arrival, usually within minutes of the arrival time. Tsunamis have great erosion potential, stripping beaches of sand, coastal vegetation and dissipating its energy through the destruction of houses and coastal structures.

In the open ocean, tsunamis would not be felt by ships because the wavelength would be hundreds of miles long, with an amplitude of only a few feet. This would also make them unnoticeable from the air. As the waves approach the coast, their speed decreases and their amplitude increases. Unusual wave heights have been known to be over 100 feet high. However, waves that are 10 to 20 feet high can be very destructive and may cause many deaths or injuries.

From an initial tsunami generating source area, waves travel outward in all the directions much like the ripples caused by throwing a rock into a pond. As these waves approach coastal areas, the time between successive wave crests varies from 5 to 90 minutes. The first wave is usually not the largest in the series of waves, nor it is the most significant.

Furthermore, one coastal community may experience no damaging waves while the other, located not that far away, may experience destructive deadly waves. Depending on a number of factors, some low-lying areas could experience severe inland inundation of water and debris of more than 1,000 feet.

Essay # 4. Prediction of Tsunamis :

There is no historic record of a tsunami in the Indian Ocean: the only earlier reference to a tsunami was in relation to the 1941 Andaman Island earthquake and prior to that in 1880s. That too is not documented. Tsunami is most infrequent and it is almost impossible to predict as compared to a normal earthquake.

Since this phenomenon has been experienced mostly in the pacific ocean region stretching from Chile in Latin America to Japan in far East-Asia. The international group for the Tsunami warning system does not extend to Indian Ocean.

The area of Sumatra where the earthquake occurred, was considered to lie in an endangered zone by many geologists and other experts, even though the exact date and time of catastrophe could not be forecast. The strength of the quake could not have been predicted nor its location below the ocean. No one had thought that such a dangerous tsunami would result as it happened in December, 2004.

Early warning can be made about the presence and advance of a tsunami. But this can be practical only for those who are some distance away from ground zero. These waves could be detected by specially designed synchronous satellites mandated to keep a watch. A more reliable method might be to locate several pressure sensors at the bottom of the ocean.

These sensors would detect the periodic changes in pressure produced by the variations of the water column height above caused by the passing waves. They would send the information up to the floating buoys using ultrasound chirp signal.

The buoys could be equipped to communicate through satellite communication with control, analysis and operational centres, which could then issue appropriate warnings to the people in potential impact zones. Although prediction of Tsunamis is an uphill task, however, disaster mitigation centres can be established in those areas, where there is an urgent need to provide relief and rehabilitation facilities.

The global tsunami warning system set up in 1965 is said to predict where tsunamis will strike up to 14 hours in advance, using network of seismic centres and tidal gauges attached to buoys in the oceans. According to the scientists in the Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), a reliable early detection system for tsunamis is yet to be developed.

Essay # 5. Causes of Tsunami:

A tsunami is a large ocean wave that is caused by sudden motion on the ocean floor. This sudden motion could be an earthquake, a powerful volcanic eruption, or an underwater landslide. The impact of a large meteorite can also cause a tsunami. Tsunamis travel across the open ocean at great speeds and convert into large deadly waves in the shallow water of a shoreline.

(i) Subduction Zones are Potential Tsunami Locations :

Most tsunamis are caused by earthquakes generated in a subduction zone, an area where an oceanic plate is being forced down into the mantle by tectonic plate forces. The friction between the subducting plate and the overriding plate is enormous. This friction prevents a slow and steady rate of subduction and instead the two plates become ‘stuck’.

(ii) Accumulated Seismic Energy :

As the stuck plate continues to descend into the mantle the motion causes a slow distortion of the overriding plate. The result is an accumulation of energy very similar to the energy stored in a compressed spring. Energy can accumulate in the overriding plate over a long period of time—decades or even centuries.

(iii) Earthquake Causes Tsunami :

Energy accumulates in the overriding plate until it exceeds the frictional forces between the two stuck plates. When this happens, the overriding plate snaps back into an unrestrained position. This sud­den motion is the cause of the tsunami—because it gives an enormous shove to the overlying water. At the same time, inland areas of the overriding plate are suddenly lowered.

(iv) Tsunami Races away from the Epicentre :

The moving wave begins travelling out from where the earthquake has occurred. Some of the water travels out across the ocean basin, and, at the same time, water rushes towards the land to flood the recently lowered shoreline.

Essay # 6. Generation of Tsunamis:

Tsunamis are commonly generated by earthquakes in marine and coastal regions. Major tsunamis are produced by large (greater than 7 on the Richter scale), shallow focus (< 30 km depth in the earth) earthquakes associated with the movement of oceanic and continental plates. They frequently occur in the Pacific, where dense oceanic plates slide under the lighter continental plates.

Propagation of Waves:

Because earth movements associated with large earth­quakes are thousands of square kilometres in area, any vertical movement of the seafloor immediately changes the sea-surface. The resulting tsunami propagates as a set of waves whose energy is concentrated at wavelengths corresponding to the earth movements (-100 km), wave heights determined by vertical displacement (~lm) and wave directions determined by the adjacent coastline geometry.

Because each earthquake is unique, every tsunami has unique wavelengths, wave heights and directionality. From a tsunami-warning perspective, this makes the problem of forecasting tsunamis in real time daunting.

How do Earthquakes Generate Tsunamis?

By far, the most destructive tsunamis are generated from large, shallow earthquakes with an epicentre or fault line near or on the ocean floor. These usually occur in regions of the earth characterized by tectonic subduction along tectonic plate boundaries. The high seismicity of such regions is caused by the collision of tectonic plates.

When these plates move past each other, they cause large earthquakes, which tilt, offset, or displace large areas of the ocean floor from a few kilometres to as much as a 1,000 km or more. The sudden vertical displacements over such large areas disturb the ocean’s surface, displace water, and generate destructive tsunami waves. The waves can travel great distances from the source region, spreading destruction along their path.

For example, the Great 1960 Chilean tsunami was generated by a magnitude 8.3 earthquake that had a rupture zone of over 1,000 km. Its waves were destructive not only in Chile, but also as far away as Hawaii, Japan and elsewhere in the Pacific. It should be noted that not all earthquakes generate tsunamis. Usually, it takes an earthquake with a Richter magni­tude exceeding 7.5 to produce a destructive tsunami.

How do Volcanic Eruptions Generate Tsunamis?

Although relatively infrequent, violent volcanic eruptions represent impulsive disturbances, which can displace a great volume of water and generate extremely destructive tsunami waves in the immedi­ate source area. According to this mechanism, waves may be generated by the sudden displacement of water caused by a volcanic explosion, by a volcano’s slope failure, or more likely by a phreatomagmatic explosion and collapse/engulfment of the volcanic magmatic chambers.

One of the largest and most destructive tsunamis ever recorded was generated on August 26, 1883 after the explosion and collapse of the volcano of Krakatoa (Krakatau), in Indonesia. This explosion generated waves that reached 135 feet, destroyed coastal towns and villages along the Sunda Strait in both the islands of Java and Sumatra, killing 36,417 people. It is also believed that the destruction of the Minoan civilization in Greece was caused in 1490 B.C. by the explosion/collapse of the volcano of Santorin in the Aegean Sea.

How do submarine landslides, rock falls and underwater slumps generate tsunamis?

Less frequently, tsunami waves can be generated from displacement of water resulting from rock falls, icefalls and sudden submarine landslides or slumps. Such events may be caused impulsively from the instability and sudden failure of submarine slopes, which are sometimes triggered by the ground motions of a strong earthquake.

For example, in 1980’s, the earth moving and construction work of an airport runway along the coast of Southern France, triggered an underwater landslide, which generated destructive tsunami waves in the harbour of Thebes.

Major earthquakes are suspected to cause many underwater landslides, which may contribute significantly to tsunami generation. For example, many scientists believe that the 1998 tsunami, which killed thousands of people and destroyed coastal villages along the northern coast of Papua-New Guinea, was generated by a large underwater slump of sediments, triggered by an earthquake.

In general, the energy of tsunami waves generated from landslides or rock falls is rapidly dissipated as they travel away from the source and across the ocean, or within an enclosed or semi-enclosed body of water—such as a lake or a fjord. However, it should be noted that the largest tsunami wave ever observed anywhere in the world was caused by a rock fall in Lituya Bay, Alaska on July 9, 1958.

Triggered by an earthquake along the Fairweather fault, an approximately 40 million cubic metre rock fall at the head of the bay generated a wave, which reached the incredible height of 520 metre wave (1,720 feet) on the opposite side of the inlet.

An initial huge solitary wave of about 180 metres (600 feet) raced at about 160 kilometres per hour (100 mph) within the bay debarking trees along its path. However, the tsunami’s energy and height diminished rapidly away from the source area and, once in the open ocean, it was hardly recorded by tide gauge stations.

Can Asteroids, Meteorites or Man-Made Explosions Cause Tsunamis?

Fortunately, for mankind, it is indeed very rare for a meteorite or an asteroid to reach the earth. No asteroid has fallen on the earth within recorded history. Most meteorites burn as they reach the earth’s atmosphere. However, large meteorites have hit the earth’s surface in the distant past. This is indicated by large craters, which have been found in different parts of the earth.

Also, it is possible that an asteroid may have fallen on the earth in prehistoric times—the last one some 65 million years ago during the Cretaceous period. Since, the evidence of the fall of meteorites and asteroids on earth exists, we must conclude that they have also fallen in the oceans and seas of the earth, particularly since four-fifths of our planet is covered by water.

The fall of meteorites or asteroids in the earth’s oceans has the potential of generating tsunamis of cataclysmic proportions. Scientists studying this possibility have concluded that the impact of moderately large asteroid, 5-6 km in diameter, in the middle of the large ocean basin such as the Atlantic Ocean, would produce a tsu­nami that would travel all the way to the Appalachian Mountains in the upper two-thirds of the United States. On both sides of the Atlantic, coastal cities would be washed out by such a tsunami.

An asteroid 5-6 kilometres in diameter impacting between the Hawaiian Islands and the West Coast of North America, would produce a tsunami which would wash out the coastal cities on the West coasts of Canada, U.S. and Mexico would cover most of the inhabited coastal areas of the Hawaiian islands.

Con­ceivably, tsunami waves can also be generated from very large nuclear explosions. However, no tsunami of any significance has ever resulted from the testing of nuclear weapons in the past. Furthermore, such testing is presently prohibited by international treaty.

Warning Systems :

Since 1946, the tsunami warning system has provided warnings of potential tsunami danger in the Pacific basin by monitoring earthquake activity and the pas­sage of tsunami waves at tide gauges. However, neither seismometers nor coastal tide gauges provide data that allow accurate prediction of the impact of a tsunami at a particular coastal location.

Monitoring earthquakes gives a good estimate of the potential for tsunami generation, based on earthquake size and location, but gives no direct information about the tsunami itself. Tide gauges in harbors provide direct measurements of the tsunami, but the tsunami is signifi­cantly altered by local bathymetry and harbour shapes, which severely limits their use in forecasting tsunami impact at other locations.

Partly because of these data limitations, 15 of 20 tsunami warnings issued since 1946 were considered false alarms because the tsunami that arrived was too weak to cause damage.

Essay # 7. Risk Assessment of Tsunami:

A preliminary risk assessment has been done for the Indian coast w.r.t. tsunamis taking into account the seismo-tectonic setting, historical seismicity and past-tsunami events.

The east and west coasts of India and the island regions are likely to be affected by Tsunamis generated mainly by subduction zone related earthquakes from the two potential source regions, viz., the Andaman- Nicobar-Sumatra Island Arc and the Makran subduction zone north of Arabian Seat.

Depending upon the location of the earthquake, the response time for evacuation of coastal population could range between 10 minutes to few hours. Tsunami modelling studies indicate that the least response time available is for the Andaman & Nicobar Islands which are situated right on the subduction zone capable of triggering tsunami earthquakes.

Considering that a credibly worst earthquake of 7.5 or higher occurs near Nicobar, the travel time to the nearest coast in Nicobar would be approximately 20-30 minutes and for the Indian mainland about 2-3 hours.

Where and How Frequently are Tsunamis Generated?

Tsunamis are disasters that can be generated in all of the world’s oceans, inland seas, and in any large body of water. Each region of the world appears to have its own cycle of frequency and pattern in generating tsunamis that range in size from small to the large and highly destructive events. Most tsunamis occur in the Pacific Ocean and its marginal seas.

The reason is that the Pacific covers more than one-third of the earth’s surface and is surrounded by a series of mountain chains, deep-ocean trenches and island arcs called the ‘ring of fire’—where most earthquakes occur (off the coasts of Kamchatka, Japan, the Kuril Islands, Alaska and South America). Many tsunamis have also been generated in the seas which border the Pacific Ocean.

Tsunamis are generated by shallow earthquakes all around the Pacific, but those from earthquakes in the tropical Pacific tend to be modest in size. While such tsunamis in these areas may be devastating locally, their energy decays rapidly with distance. Usually, they are not destructive a few hundred kilometres away from their sources.

That is not the case with tsunamis generated by great earthquakes in the North Pacific or along the Pacific coast of South America. On an average of about half-a-dozen times per century, a tsunami from one of these regions sweeps across the entire Pacific, is reflected from distant shores, and sets the entire ocean in motion for days.

For example, the 1960 Chilean tsunami caused death and destruction throughout the Pacific. Hawaii, Samoa, and Easter Island all recorded runups exceeding 4 m; 61 people were killed in Hawaii. In Japan 200 people died.

A similar tsunami in 1868 from northern Chile caused extensive damage in the Austral Islands, Hawaii, Samoa and New Zealand. Although not as frequent, destructive tsunamis have also been generated in the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans, the Mediterranean Sea and even within smaller bodies of water, like the Sea of Marmara, in Turkey.

In 1999, a large earthquake along the North Anatolian Fault zone, generated a local tsunami, which was particularly damaging in the Bay of Izmit. In the last decade alone, destructive tsunamis have occurred in Nicaragua (1992), Indonesia (1992, 1994, 1996), Japan (1993), Philippines (1994), Mexico (1995), Peru (1996, 2001), Papua-New Guinea (1998), Turkey (1999), Vanuatu (1999) and India-Sri Lanka (2004).

How does Tsunami Energy Travel across the Ocean and How far can Tsunami Waves Reach?

Once a tsunami has been generated, its energy is distributed throughout the water column, regardless of the ocean’s depth. A tsunami is made up of a series of very long waves. The waves will travel outward on the surface of the ocean in all directions away from the source area, much like the ripples caused by throwing a rock into a pond.

The wavelength of the tsunami waves and their period will depend on the generating mechanism and the dimensions of the source event. If the tsunami is generated from a large earthquake over a large area, its initial wavelength and period will be greater. If the tsunami is caused by a local landslide, both its initial wavelength and period will be shorter. The period of the tsunami waves may range from 5 to 90 minutes.

The wave crests of a tsunami can be a thousand km long, and from a few to a hundred kilometre or more apart as they travel across the ocean. On the open ocean, the wavelength of a tsunami may be as much as two hundred kilometres, many times greater than the ocean depth, which is in the order of a few kilometres. In the deep ocean, the height of the tsunami from trough to crest may be only a few centimetres to a metre or more—again depending on the generating source.

Tsunami waves in the deep ocean can travel at high speeds for a long period of time for thousands of kilometres and lose very little energy in the pro­cess. The deeper the water, the greater the speed of tsunami waves will be. For example, at the deep­est ocean depths the tsunami wave speed will be as much as 800 km/hr, about the same as that of a jet aircraft.

Since the average depth of the Pacific Ocean is 4000 m (14,000 feet), wave speed of tsunami will average about 200 m/s or over 700 km/hr (500 mph). At such high speeds, a tsunami generated in Aleutian Islands may reach Hawaii in less than four and a half hours. In 1960, great tsunami waves generated in Chile reached Japan, more than 16,800 km away in less than 24 hours, killing hundreds of people.

Essay # 8. Capacity-Building for Tsunami :

UNDP describes ‘capacity-building’ as the creation of an enabling environment with appropriate policy and legal frameworks, institutional development, including community participation (of women in particular), human resource development and strengthening of managerial systems. It adds that capacity-building is a long-term, continuing process, in which all stakeholders participate (ministries, local authorities, non-governmental organizations, and water user associations, professional associations, academics and others).

Capacity may include physical, institutional, social or economic means as well as skilled per­sonal or collective attributes such as leadership and management. Capacity may also be described as capability.

Capacity-building is much more than training and includes the following:

i. Human resource development, the process of equipping individuals with the understanding, skills and access to information, knowledge and training that enables them to perform effectively,

ii. Organizational development, the elaboration of management structures, processes and pro­cedures, not only within organizations but also the management of relationships between the different organizations and sectors (public, private and community).

iii. Institutional and legal framework develop­ment, making legal and regulatory changes to enable organizations, institutions and agencies at all levels and in all sectors to enhance their capacities.

Approach to Capacity-Building :

The National Policy on Disaster Management (NPDM) describes its approach to capacity development. A strategic approach to capacity development can be addressed effectively only with the active and enthusiastic participation of the stakeholders.

This process comprises of awareness generation, education, training, research and development (R&D) etc. It further addresses to put in place an appropriate institutional framework, management systems and allocation of resources for efficient prevention and handling of disasters.

The approach to capacity development includes:

i. Accordingly, priority to training for develop­ing community based DM, systems for their specific needs in view of the regional diversi­ties and multi-hazard vulnerabilities,

ii. Conceptualization of community based DM systems at the national level through a consul­tative process involving the States and other stakeholders with the state and local level authorities in-charge of implementation,

iii. Identification of knowledge-based institutions with proven performance,

iv. Promotion of international and regional coop­eration.

Essay # 9. Preparedness for Tsunamis — What To Do?

The United Nations has been engaged for fifteen years in a process of creating awareness and promoting the development of policies to diminish the loss of life and property from natural and man- made disasters. This was first done through efforts during the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction and then through the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction that followed, as well as by the establishment of the UN Disaster Task Force, in which UNESCO and IOC participate.

Awareness-raising and policy-development issues in disaster reduction were raised to a higher level at the World Conference on Disaster Reduction held in Kobe, Japan, in January 2005 in which more than 6,000 delegates from 155 countries, and numerous inter-governmental and non-governmental agencies, United Nations, and other specialized organizations participated.

Early Warning Systems can save lives. In par­ticular, a number of elements are critical for an effective system to operate, and can be summarized as follows:

i. Proper instruments that enable the early detec­tion of potentially harmful earthquakes and tsu­namis. The data obtained by these instruments must be readily available to all nations continu­ously and in real-time to be effective.

ii. Warning systems that reliably inform the vulnerable populations immediately and in an understandable and culturally appropriate way. The Warning Centre must be able to analyze and forecast the impact of tsunamis on coasts in advance of the waves’ arrival and the local, regional, and/or national Disaster Management Organizations (DMOs) must be able to immediately disseminate information of the threat to enable evacuation of all vulnerable communities. The communication methods must be reliable, robust and redundant, and work closely with the mass media and telecommunication providers to accomplish this broadcast.

iii. Awareness activities that enable ordinary citizens to recognize a tsunami so that they know what to do. Citizens should recognize tsunami’s natural warning signs and respond immediately. This is especially true for the case of a local tsunami, which may hit within minutes and before an official tsunami warning can reach their communities.

iv. Preparedness activities which educate and inform a wide populace, including government responders and those providing lifeline and criti­cal infrastructure services, on the procedures and activities that must be taken to ensure public safety. Drills and exercises before an actual event, and proactive outreach and awareness activities are essential for reducing tsunami impact.

v. Planning activities which identify and create the public safety procedures and products, and build capacity for organizations to respond faster. It is necessary to create and widely disseminate tsunami evacuation or flooding maps, and instructions on when to go, where to go, and how to go. Evacuation shelters and evacuation routes need to be clearly identified and widely known by all segments of the coastal population.

vi. Strong buildings, safe structures, and prudent land-use policies which save lives and reduce property damage that are implemented as pre- disaster mitigations. Tall, reinforced-concrete buildings may be adequate places to which people can vertically evacuate if there is no time to reach higher ground inland. Long-term planning to avoid placing critical infrastructure and lifeline support facilities in inundation zones will reduce the time needed for services to be restored.

vii. Stakeholder coordination as the essential mech­anism that facilitates effective actions in warn­ing and emergency response. Clear designation of the national or local authority from which the public will receive emergency information, it is critical to avoid public confusion, which would compromise on public safety.

viii. High-level advocacy that ensures a sustained commitment to prepare for infrequent, high- fatality natural disasters such as tsunamis.

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Essay , Essay on Tsunami , Geography , Natural Disasters , Tsunami

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Essay on Tsunami For Students and Children

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Essay on Tsunami: A tsunami is a giant sea wave caused by underwater disturbances, like earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or landslides. Tsunamis can travel at incredible speeds and devastate coastal areas. Preparedness and early warning systems are crucial for staying safe during tsunamis. In this blog, we will explore the concept of tsunamis and provide sample essays of various lengths (100, 200, 400, and 500 words) to help you understand the science behind tsunamis, their impact, and safety measures.

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Long and Short Essay on Tsunami

Whether you are looking for a short essay on tsunami of 100 words or a long essay of 500 words, we have got you covered. Here we have provided sample essays on tsunami with all the information that you need.

Sample Essay 1: Tsunami (100 Words)

Tsunamis, often called “harbor waves,” are colossal ocean waves caused by various natural events. The most common trigger is an underwater earthquake, which displaces a massive amount of water. This displacement creates a series of powerful waves that can travel across entire ocean basins.

When these waves reach shallower coastal regions, their energy compresses, causing the waves to grow in height. Tsunamis can appear as rapid, massive walls of water crashing ashore. They bring widespread destruction, flooding, and loss of life.

Tsunami early warning systems use seismic sensors and buoys to detect potential threats. When an earthquake occurs, these systems send alerts to coastal communities, allowing time for evacuation.

Sample Essay 2: Tsunami (200 Words)

Tsunamis are natural disasters characterized by colossal sea waves. These waves are triggered by a variety of underwater disturbances, the most common being undersea earthquakes. When the Earth’s crust shifts during a quake, it displaces a significant volume of water. This displaced water forms waves that radiate outward from the earthquake’s epicenter.

In the open ocean, tsunamis may go unnoticed because they are relatively low and have long wavelengths. However, as they approach shallower coastal areas, the waves grow in height and can reach towering proportions. Tsunamis can move at remarkable speeds, covering vast distances and striking coastal communities with little warning.

The impact of a tsunami can be catastrophic. As the powerful waves surge inland, they inundate low-lying areas, causing widespread flooding and property damage. Coastal infrastructure and buildings are particularly vulnerable. The immense force of tsunamis can uproot trees, vehicles, and anything in their path, leading to loss of life and injuries.

To mitigate the devastating effects of tsunamis, early warning systems have been developed. These systems use a network of seismic sensors and ocean buoys to detect underwater disturbances that could trigger a tsunami. When an event is detected, warnings are issued to coastal communities, giving them precious time to evacuate to higher ground and seek safety.

Sample Essay 3: Tsunami (400 Words)

A tsunami is a powerful natural disaster that can cause widespread devastation. It is a series of ocean waves that are generated by geological disturbances such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or underwater landslides. These waves travel great distances across the ocean and can reach coastal areas with tremendous force, causing immense destruction. In this essay, we will explore the causes, effects, and precautionary measures associated with tsunamis.

Tsunamis are primarily caused by submarine earthquakes. When an earthquake occurs under the ocean, it can displace a large volume of water, creating a series of powerful waves. The strength and size of the waves are determined by factors such as the magnitude of the earthquake, the depth and location of its epicenter, and the characteristics of the seafloor. Volcanic eruptions and underwater landslides can also trigger tsunamis, although they are less common causes compared to earthquakes.

The effects of tsunamis can be devastating. As the waves approach the coast, their height increases, forming a wall of water that can reach heights of tens of meters. When these waves hit the shoreline, they can obliterate everything in their path, including buildings, infrastructure, and vegetation. The force of the waves can result in widespread flooding, with water infiltrating far inland. This can lead to the loss of human lives, displacement of populations, and destruction of entire communities. The economic and emotional toll of a tsunami can be immense and long-lasting.

Given the destructive potential of tsunamis, precautionary measures are crucial in order to minimize loss of life and property. Early warning systems, consisting of a network of sensors and communication systems, can detect the occurrence of an earthquake and subsequently issue a tsunami warning. This allows coastal populations to evacuate to higher ground or seek shelter in designated safe zones. Education and awareness campaigns are also important in order to educate people on how to respond to tsunami warnings and the importance of being prepared for such disasters.

In conclusion, tsunamis are a devastating natural disaster that can cause immense damage. They are primarily caused by submarine earthquakes but can also be triggered by volcanic eruptions or underwater landslides. The effects of tsunamis include widespread destruction, loss of life, and displacement of populations. Precautionary measures such as early warning systems and education campaigns are essential in minimizing the impact of tsunamis. It is important for coastal communities to be prepared and informed in order to mitigate the devastating consequences that tsunamis can bring.

Sample Essay 4: Tsunami (500 Words)

A tsunami is a tragic event that can cause immense destruction and loss of life. It is a series of ocean waves triggered by an underwater earthquake, volcanic eruption, or landslide. These waves can travel at incredible speeds across the ocean and reach massive heights when they make landfall. In this essay, we will explore the causes, effects, and preventive measures of tsunamis.

One of the primary causes of tsunamis is tectonic activity. When two tectonic plates beneath the Earth’s surface shift, it can result in an earthquake. If this earthquake occurs under the sea, it can displace a large volume of water, creating a tsunami. The magnitude of the earthquake determines the scale and intensity of the resulting tsunami. For instance, the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was caused by a massive earthquake with a magnitude of 9.1-9.3 off the coast of Sumatra.

The effects of a tsunami are devastating. As the waves travel towards the coast, they gain speed and height. When they finally crash onto the land, they can cause massive flooding and widespread destruction. Entire villages and cities can be wiped out in a matter of minutes. The force of the waves can also destroy infrastructure, such as homes, hospitals, and schools. The aftermath of a tsunami is filled with despair, as survivors struggle to recover and rebuild their lives.

Preventive measures are crucial to minimize the impact of tsunamis. Early warning systems play a pivotal role in alerting coastal communities about the imminent danger. These systems use buoys, seismographs, and satellites to detect and monitor earthquakes and other potential triggers of tsunamis. When a threat is detected, warnings are issued to the vulnerable areas, allowing people to evacuate to safer grounds. Additionally, coastal communities must have well-constructed infrastructure, such as sea walls and flood barriers, to minimize the impact of the waves.

Communities affected by tsunamis must also focus on building resilience. Education plays a crucial role in ensuring that residents are aware of the signs of a tsunami and know how to react in such situations. Regular drills and evacuation exercises can help prepare the population in case of a real event. It is also important to develop contingency plans that include emergency shelters, healthcare facilities, and systems to distribute food and supplies.

In conclusion, tsunamis are natural disasters that can cause immense devastation. They are triggered by underwater earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or landslides. The impact of tsunamis includes widespread flooding, destruction of infrastructure, and loss of life. To prevent the devastating effects of tsunamis, early warning systems, well-constructed infrastructure, and education must be in place. With these preventive measures, we can better protect coastal communities and minimize the impact of this natural disaster.

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FAQs on Essay on Tsunami

What is a tsunami.

A tsunami is a giant sea wave caused by underwater disturbances, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or landslides.

How are tsunamis formed?

Tsunamis are typically formed when underwater earthquakes displace a massive volume of water, creating powerful waves that travel across the ocean.

What is the speed of a tsunami wave in the open ocean?

Tsunamis can travel at remarkable speeds in the open ocean, often exceeding 500 miles per hour (800 kilometers per hour).

What is tsunami short essay?

A tsunami is a massive sea wave caused by underwater disturbances like earthquakes, capable of devastating coastal areas. Early warning systems are crucial for tsunami preparedness.

What is tsunami in 150 words?

A tsunami is a natural disaster characterized by colossal ocean waves triggered by events such as underwater earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or landslides. These waves can travel at incredible speeds across entire ocean basins. In the open ocean, tsunamis are relatively low and have long wavelengths, making them challenging to detect. However, as they approach shallower coastal regions, their energy compresses, causing them to grow in height dramatically. Tsunamis can cause widespread devastation when they reach the coast, flooding low-lying areas, destroying infrastructure, and posing a severe threat to human lives. Early warning systems equipped with seismic sensors and ocean buoys play a crucial role in detecting potential tsunami triggers and issuing timely alerts to coastal communities. Preparedness, awareness, and swift evacuation are key factors in minimizing the impact of tsunamis and saving lives.

What is tsunami in 10 lines?

A tsunami is a powerful natural event with colossal ocean waves. It's often triggered by underwater earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or landslides. Tsunamis can travel at extraordinary speeds across the open ocean. In deep water, they may have long wavelengths and go unnoticed. As they approach shallower coastal regions, they grow in height. Tsunamis can cause widespread flooding, property damage, and loss of life. Early warning systems use seismic sensors and buoys to detect tsunamis. Alerts are issued to coastal communities, allowing time for evacuation. Preparedness and awareness are essential for tsunami safety. Swift action during a tsunami warning can save lives and reduce damage.

What is tsunami write brief?

A tsunami is a massive sea wave triggered by underwater events like earthquakes or volcanic eruptions. These waves can travel at high speeds across oceans and become dangerously large near coastlines. Tsunamis are known for their devastating impact, causing flooding, destruction of coastal infrastructure, and posing a significant threat to human lives. Early warning systems equipped with seismic sensors and ocean buoys help detect potential tsunamis and issue timely alerts to coastal communities. Preparedness and swift evacuation are critical for minimizing the impact of tsunamis and ensuring safety.

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Plate Tectonics and Natural Disasters

Natural disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis are linked to plate tectonics, the grinding movement of pieces of Earth’s crust.

Earth Science, Geology, Meteorology, Geography, Physical Geography

Damage from the Great Sendai Earthquake

The movement of plate tectonics is not always a slow process. At times it can be fast and violent, causing natural disasters, like the Japan earthquake and tsunami of 2011, also called Great Sendai Earthquake or Great Tohoku Earthquake.

Photograph by Hitoshi Yamada/SIPA

Earth’s surface may look solid—after all, we walk on it and construct buildings on it—but in fact it is a constantly moving puzzle of interlocking pieces. These pieces, known as tectonic plates, are giant sections of Earth’s crust whose edges interact with one another by either colliding or moving apart. The plates of the lithosphere float on top of the malleable asthenosphere in Earth’s interior. The movement of these plates is called plate tectonics, and scientists have studied this field since the 1950s. While the movement of tectonic plates is usually slow—typically just a few centimeters per year—plate tectonics are linked to several kinds of natural disasters , namely earthquakes , volcanoes, and tsunamis . On the afternoon of March 11, 2011, a large earthquake struck off the northeastern coast of Japan. This event, which would prove to be deadly, was caused by a specific type of plate movement: subduction . Subduction occurs when one tectonic plate—the one that is older and denser—sinks or is pulled under another tectonic plate. This process does not proceed smoothly, however—tectonic plates can shift and grind against each other, snagging on each other due to friction. Once plates overcome this friction and move past each other, the energy released leads to earthquakes . Near Japan, the Pacific Plate is subducting under the North American Plate. Although it may seem impossible, parts of Japan actually sit above a portion of the North American Plate. In the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake —so named for the part of northeastern Japan that was struck hardest by the quake—a submerged section of the North American plate jolted upward in the Japan Trench. This undersea valley is located roughly 130 kilometers (81 miles) from the main island of Japan. The magnitude 9.0 earthquake produced by the upward movement of this plate—one of the most powerful quakes in recorded history—hoisted a wall of seawater. That huge upwelling of water created a series of waves—a tsunami — that moved outward in all directions from the earthquake ’s epicenter, both toward and away from Japan. The waves moved at speeds of up to 800 kilometers (500 miles) per hour, roughly the speed of a jet airliner. When those waves rolled up on the eastern shore of Japan, the tallest measured more than 10 meters (33 feet) high. The waves that rushed toward the east eventually struck Hawai'i and then the western coast of the United States, though with much less force. The tsunami that hit Japan was far higher than the seawalls that had been built to protect the Japanese coastline from such inundations. The water rushed inland in a great flood, carrying with it ships, sweeping away cars, and destroying buildings. About 20,000 people were killed. Images captured on the day of the earthquake , as well as the days that followed, revealed a shattered landscape full of debris. The environmental impact of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami has been enormous; researchers studying soil samples have detected pollution from industrial chemicals and pesticides that leaked from the wreckage. That is not surprising given the amount of destruction caused by the disaster: oil refineries in flames, sewer and gas lines broken, and chemical plants damaged. The tsunami also crippled the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant near Sendai, Japan. Ocean waves caused flooding that cut off the plant’s electrical power, making it impossible to cool the plant’s nuclear reactors. As a consequence, three of the plant’s four reactors overheated, causing the uranium fuel rods to liquefy. The melted rods burned through the steel walls meant to contain them, releasing uranium and other radioactive materials into the air and sea. The airborne radioactive particles blanketed houses, crops, and schools. Over 100,000 people were forced to evacuate from their homes. The Japanese government expected to spend the equivalent of more than 200 billion U.S. dollars (and perhaps as much as 600 billion dollars) cleaning up radioactive contamination and dismantling the power station, a task that could take 30 years or more. A lot has been accomplished already, however: 1,500 fuel rods from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant have been removed and radioactive topsoil and vegetation from the surrounding area have been placed in bags for long-term storage. This earthquake also had far-reaching effects: tsunamis rolled up on distant shorelines in places as far away as Chile, and the intense ground shaking might have even changed the rotation rate of Earth, shortening the length of the day by about 1.8 microseconds. Earthquakes and tsunamis are powerful natural disasters capable of wreaking extreme havoc. For that reason, scientists are interested in being able to predict when and where these events will occur. By installing sensors capable of measuring ground movements, researchers can monitor earthquakes , even tiny ones, worldwide. This data allows scientists to assemble global maps of earthquakes to look for patterns in their locations. Researchers have also placed buoys in the ocean to detect tsunami waves traveling toward land. Detecting a tsunami before it floods a shoreline and issuing an alert can save many lives.

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What was the location of the earthquake that caused the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004?

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Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004

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• Academia - Tsunami 2004
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• NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - JetStream Max: 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami
• Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

What was the magnitude of the earthquake that caused the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004?

The magnitude of the earthquake that caused the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 was 9.1.

On December 26, 2004, an undersea earthquake struck off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. This quake caused the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, which reached out across the Indian Ocean, devastating coastal areas with waves that in some places reached a height of 30 feet (9 metres) or more when they hit the shoreline.

How long did the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 last?

The Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 lasted for seven hours and reached out across the Indian Ocean, devastating coastal areas of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Maldives, and Thailand, and as far away as East Africa.

How many people died in the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004?

The Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 killed at least 225,000 people across a dozen countries, with Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Maldives, and Thailand sustaining massive damage.

Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 , tsunami that hit the coasts of several countries of South and Southeast Asia in December 2004. The tsunami and its aftermath were responsible for immense destruction and loss on the rim of the Indian Ocean.

On December 26, 2004, at 7:59 am local time, an undersea earthquake with a magnitude of 9.1 struck off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra . Over the next seven hours, a tsunami —a series of immense ocean waves—triggered by the quake reached out across the Indian Ocean , devastating coastal areas as far away as East Africa . Some locations reported that the waves had reached a height of 30 feet (9 metres) or more when they hit the shoreline.

The tsunami caused one of the largest natural disasters in recorded history, killing at least 225,000 people across a dozen countries, with Indonesia , Sri Lanka , India , Maldives , and Thailand sustaining massive damage. Indonesian officials estimated that the death toll there alone ultimately exceeded 200,000, particularly in northern Sumatra’s Aceh province. Tens of thousands were reported dead or missing in Sri Lanka and India, a large number of them from the Indian Andaman and Nicobar Islands territory. The low-lying island country of Maldives reported more than a hundred casualties and immense economic damage. Several thousand non-Asian tourists vacationing in the region also were reported dead or missing. The lack of food, clean water, and medical treatment—combined with the enormous task faced by relief workers trying to get supplies into some remote areas where roads had been destroyed or where civil war raged—extended the list of casualties. Long-term environmental damage was severe as well, with villages, tourist resorts, farmland, and fishing grounds demolished or inundated with debris, bodies, and plant-killing salt water .

Natural Disasters Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on natural disasters.

A Natural disaster is an unforeseen occurrence of an event that causes harm to society. There are many Natural disasters that damage the environment and the people living in it. Some of them are earthquakes , cyclones, floods, Tsunami , landslides, volcanic eruption, and avalanches. Spatial extent measures the degree or severity of the disaster.

Levels of Disaster

The severity or degree of damage can be further divided into three categories:

Small Scale Disasters: Small scale disasters are those that extend from 50 Kms. to 100 Kms. So this kind of disasters does not cause much damage.

Medium-scale disasters: Medium Scale disasters extend from 100 Kms to 500 Kms. These cause more damage than a small scale disaster. Moreover, they can cause greater damage if they occur in colonial states.

Large Scale Disasters: These disasters cover an area of more than 1000 Kms. These cause the most severe damage to the environment. Furthermore, these disasters can even take over a country if the degree is high. For instance, the wiping out of the dinosaurs was because of a large scale natural disaster.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Types of Disasters

Causes: These can cause of releasing of the energy. This release is from the core of the earth. Furthermore, the release of energy causes seismic waves. Rupturing of geological faults causes earthquakes. But other events like volcanic eruptions, landslides mine blasts can also cause it.

Landslides: Landslides is the moving of big boulders of rocks or debris down a slope. As a result, landslides occur on mountains and hilly areas. Moreover, landslides can cause destruction to man-made things in many ways.

Causes: Gravitational pull, volcanic eruptions , earthquakes can cause landslides. Moreover, soil erosion due to deforestation is also a cause of landslides.

Avalanches: Avalanches are like landslides. But instead of rocks thousand tons of snow falls down the slope. Moreover, this causes extreme damage to anything that comes in its way. People who live in snowy mountains always have fear of it.

Causes: Avalanches takes places when there is a large accumulation of snow on the mountains. Moreover, they can also occur from earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Furthermore, the chances of surviving an avalanche are very less. This is because people die of hypothermia in it.

Tsunami: Tsunami is the production of very high waves in oceans and seas. Moreover, the displacement of the ground causes these high waves. A tsunami can cause floods if it occurs near shores. A Tsunami can consist of multiple waves. Moreover, these waves have a high current. Therefore it can reach coastlines within minutes. The main threat of a tsunami is if a person sees a Tsunami he cannot outrun it.

Causes: Tsunami is unlike normal eaves that occur due to the wind. But Tsunami is waves that occur by ground displacement. Thus earthquakes are the main causes of Tsunamis.

FAQs on Essay on natural disaster

Q1.What are natural disasters?

A1. Natural Disasters are unforeseen events that cause damage to the environment and the people.

Q2.Name some Natural disasters.

A2. Some Natural Disasters are earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, Landslides, floods, Tsunami, avalanches. Natural disasters can cause great damage to human society. But preventive measures can be taken to reduce the damage from these disasters.

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What is a tsunami?

A tsunami is a series of waves caused by earthquakes or undersea volcanic eruptions..

On September 29, 2009, a tsunami caused substantial damage and loss of life in American Samoa, Samoa, and Tonga. The tsunami was generated by a large earthquake in the Southern Pacific Ocean.

Did you know?

Tsunamis are giant waves caused by earthquakes or volcanic eruptions under the sea. Out in the depths of the ocean, tsunami waves do not dramatically increase in height. But as the waves travel inland, they build up to higher and higher heights as the depth of the ocean decreases. The speed of tsunami waves depends on ocean depth rather than the distance from the source of the wave. Tsunami waves may travel as fast as jet planes over deep waters, only slowing down when reaching shallow waters. While tsunamis are often referred to as tidal waves, this name is discouraged by oceanographers because tides have little to do with these giant waves.

More Information

Tsunami "Fast Draw" Animation

Tracking Tsunamis (Ocean Today Video)

National Weather Service TsunamiReady ™

NOAA Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART)

NOAA Tsunami Program

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Natural Disasters: Tsunami, Hurricanes and Earthquake Research Paper

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A tsunami is a wave in the ocean caused by an earthquake, which occurs on the ocean floor. The waves created in the ocean are different from normal waves because of their long wavelengths and devastating force. The distance between each crest can range from 10-100km, and normally travel at 700km/h.

When a tsunami occurs, it is difficult to determine its lethal capacity based on height because the height of a wave is dependent on the depth of the ocean floor. The telltale signs of a tsunami are usually indicated by a fall of the sea level owing to rupture of the earth’s crust. The response time upon the prediction of a tsunami is minimal owing to the rapid fall and rise of the sea level (Abbott 56).

It is challenging for modern instruments to predict the occurrence of a tsunami owing to their resemblance to normal waves. Therefore, it is difficult for authorities to fully prepare for devastating effects associated with tsunamis. As the waves advance towards the shore, the rear and front part of the wave couple-up as it grows in height. The process of a gradual increase in height is facilitated by shallow shores, which offer a proper surface for the increase in wave height.

The energy possessed in a tsunami originates from deep ocean regions where a large amount of water is displaced. Currently, there is no reliable technology, which can forecast the occurrence of a tsunami at a particular time. One of the factors that lead to a tsunami is an earthquake that occurs through the displacement of the crust in vertical lines.

Second, landslides on the ocean floors cause a small-scale tsunami, which also results from an earthquake. Third, volcanic eruptions on the sea bed cause displacement of water leading to the tsunami. Additionally, in rare cases, the impact of meteorites can lead to sufficient displacement of water; thus, causing the occurrence of a tsunami (Abbott 63).

Japan is one of the countries in the world that experience the devastating effects of a tsunami. In 2011, an earthquake of magnitude 9.0 hit the region off the coast of Japan generating immense energy. Waves observed on the shore reached a height of 38 meters causing dire consequences such as numerous deaths, property damage, and injuries. The tsunami damaged the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, leading to a high-level alert.

The destruction of the nuclear plant led to massive evacuations in a 30km radius. Over 400,000 people were displaced at the onset of the disaster leading to a rapid government response to relocate people into new houses. In 2013, an estimated 15, 882 were confirmed dead, and about 3,000 individuals were reported missing. The government has made significant progress in moving people to cordoned-off areas as of April 2012 (“Haiti Earthquake Fast Facts” par. 2).

The government put in place a budget of $231 billion to aid in the recovery process in a 10-year period. Two years after the disaster, the government has put in place recovery measures such as constructing new infrastructure, disposing of tsunami debris, kick-starting crippled industries, and installing new disaster preparedness measures.

The current population of Japan stands at 127.3 million people, and it is projected to fall to 100.6 million people owing to low fertility rates in the country. Other disasters such as typhoons are likely to hit Japan since the country consists of a number of islands. The most recent was the Typhoon Bolaven, which stuck in 2012 killing 59 people when the population stood at 127.6 million (“Haiti Earthquake Fast Facts” par. 3).

Hurricanes are at times referred to as tropical cyclones, which develop in the oceans as they advance toward the land. Hurricanes are caused by warm air currents over the oceans where they generate their energy. They are usually formed in tropical oceans and have a characteristic counter-clockwise motion. These natural occurrences have massive energy with wind speeds topping 350km/h, but the speeds normally dwindle as they advance towards the shore. It has a devastating effect due to its massive diameter covering up to 600km (Abbott 178).

Hurricanes normally have a characteristic circular motion around the eye, which represents the midpoint of the tropical cyclone. Before the incorporation of modern weather forecast measures, hurricanes were predicted through the changes in wind patterns. However, due to technological advances, hurricanes can be predicted and monitored long before they strike land.

The effects of hurricanes can be regulated; hence, people can be instructed to relocate to safer areas. Meteorologists often classify hurricanes based on their energy capacity. Category 1 and 2 represent the weakest hurricanes while 4 and 4 are the strongest (Abbott 184).

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast of the United States after its gradual development to become a tropical storm. The category three storm had winds reaching 140 miles per hour. The resulting consequences of the storm were catastrophic, causing damages of up to $100 billion.

New Orleans was extremely susceptible to this tropical storm owing to its elevation of 6 feet below the sea level. Evacuation notices were issued by the authorities in New Orleans, but some citizens did not have access to cars. Individuals who lacked vehicles sought shelter in the Superdome (“Hurricane Katrina Statistics Fast Facts” par. 3).

The effect of Katrina hit parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, but its tragic consequences occurred in New Orleans. The hurricane left in its wake 2,000 fatalities, and hundreds of thousands displaced individuals. The government swung into action to aid in the recovery process of the damage caused in a number of states.

Insurance companies forked out an estimated $41.1 billion to compensate the affected property owners. Hurricane Katrina is considered as the most expensive insurance payout in history. Additionally, the National Flood Insurance also compensated a staggering $16.1 billion to the people affected in the hit states (“Hurricane Katrina Statistics Fast Facts” par. 4).

The hurricane displaced over a million people in the Gulf Coast. In the aftermath of the hurricane, the federal government used $120.5 billion in relief services to the affected individuals who lacked shelter. The current population of New Orleans stands at 378715, and it is expected to rise gradually in the future.

Hurricane Katrina had a negative effect on the population. For instance, the population was 484, 674 in 2000 but dropped to 230, 172 in 2006 due to the effects of Hurricane Katrina. Moreover, the United States faces other disasters such as tornados, which also cause catastrophic results. The population figures clearly indicate the effects of natural disasters on population levels (“Hurricane Katrina Statistics Fast Facts” par. 5).

Earthquakes are described as rapid and unpredictable shift of the earth’s crust caused by the movement of the mantle. The mantle is molten in nature, exhibiting constant circulatory movements, which indicate that the earth reforms its surface. The conventional movement of the mantle causes the crust to slide; hence, causing plate tectonics.

The earth is made up of seven major tectonic plates, which move in different directions depending on the circulation in the mantle. Earthquakes occur at the boundary of these tectonic plates leading to catastrophic effects. Earthquakes are known to trigger landslides, tsunamis, and volcanoes (Abbott 132).

The prediction of an impending earthquake aims to establish its location, date, and the magnitude. An earthquake precursor is an evident sign that indicates an impending earthquake. In the past, animal behavior was an effective sign of an earthquake, but this warning came just a few seconds before the occurrence of the earthquake.

Radon emissions also indicate an impending earthquake, whereby movement of the crust results in the release of gas into the atmosphere. Nowadays, geologists can predict the occurrence of earthquakes hours beforehand through the measurement of electro-magnetic variations (Abbott 136).

In 2010, an earthquake occurred in Haiti affecting nearly 3.5 million people. The capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince was extremely affected by the tragedy whereby 2.8 million people were displaced by the earthquake. The aftermath of the earthquake was fatal with the Haitian Government suggesting that the quake killed 222, 570 people and injured a further 300, 572 people. Additionally, nearly 200, 000 houses were damaged by the catastrophe.

Most government buildings were also destroyed in the disaster; thus, causing administrative issues at the time of the earthquake. Losses incurred after the earthquake stood at $7.8 billion, which surpasses Haiti’s gross domestic product. It is estimated that 172,000 people remain internally displaced, and they live in government camps up to date.

People live in deplorable conditions in the camps lacking basic amenities such as clean water and health services. In 2013, waterborne diseases such as cholera claimed the lives of 9,000 people in living in the camps. The international community responded to alleviate the situation whereby the USAID contributed $450 million (“2011 Japan Earthquake – Tsunami Fast Facts” par. 3).

The recovery process was initiated by President Obama, who pledged to raise funds, which would be used for the reconstruction of roads and re-establish a working government. Several organizations and countries pooled their resources to rescue the situation.

For instance, Homeland Security offered to engage in the construction of sturdy buildings, which can withstand future quakes. It took long for the situation to normalize given massive damages in the city. In 2013, some progress was noted whereby people began moving out of the camps into stable communities (“2011 Japan Earthquake – Tsunami Fast Facts” par. 6).

The current population of Haiti stands at 10.3 million. It is noteworthy that disasters often lead to long-term population increase due to setbacks in government management strategies such as family planning. There are other natural disasters such as cyclones, hurricanes, and tropical storms, which are likely to occur in Haiti.

A disaster that occurred in recent history was the torrential rains of 2004, which resulted in the death of nearly 1,300 people. It is projected that the population of Haiti will rise in the future as a result of constant disruption in development.

2011 Japan Earthquake – Tsunami Fast Facts . 2014. Web.

Abbott, Patrick Leon. Natural Disasters . Boston: McGraw-Hill Education, 2013. Print.

Haiti Earthquake Fast Facts . 2014. Web.

Hurricane Katrina Statistics Fast Facts . 2014. Web.

• Managing Natural Disaster Risks in a Changing Climate
• Tsunami Geological Origin
• Tsunami Disasters in Okushiri Island
• The Impacts of Japan’s Earthquake, Tsunami on the World Economy
• Devastating Power of Hurricane Katrina
• Alaska Shoreline Erosion Impact
• Emergency Preparedness in New Jersey
• Effect of the 2004 Tsunami on Indonesia
• The Causes and Consequences of the 2004 Tsunami in Sri Lanka
• Aircraft Accidents Investigation
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2020, March 27). Natural Disasters: Tsunami, Hurricanes and Earthquake. https://ivypanda.com/essays/natural-disasters-tsunami-hurricanes-and-earthquake/

"Natural Disasters: Tsunami, Hurricanes and Earthquake." IvyPanda , 27 Mar. 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/natural-disasters-tsunami-hurricanes-and-earthquake/.

IvyPanda . (2020) 'Natural Disasters: Tsunami, Hurricanes and Earthquake'. 27 March.

IvyPanda . 2020. "Natural Disasters: Tsunami, Hurricanes and Earthquake." March 27, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/natural-disasters-tsunami-hurricanes-and-earthquake/.

1. IvyPanda . "Natural Disasters: Tsunami, Hurricanes and Earthquake." March 27, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/natural-disasters-tsunami-hurricanes-and-earthquake/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Natural Disasters: Tsunami, Hurricanes and Earthquake." March 27, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/natural-disasters-tsunami-hurricanes-and-earthquake/.

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