Tsunami Facts
There are many sources of information on tsunami facts online as well as offline. These bits of information will come in handy if ever the need arises. The recent tsunami that took place in December 2004 swept away thousands of lives, in an instant. It damaged countries that were located near the coast of the Indian Ocean, claiming 225,000 in eleven different countries. The coastal communities in these countries experienced waves that were 100 feet in height.
A tsunami is a series of waves occurring in a body of water, when there is a displacement caused by an earthquake, underwater explosions volcanic or otherwise, land slides and asteroid impacts. These tsunami facts are essentials in understanding the nature of the wave, and create awareness of the root cause of this disaster.
The word tsunami is Japanese in origin meaning harbor (tsu) and wave (nami). Tsunami occurrences are quite common in Japan. The common term used for the tsunami in the west is a tidal wave. The irony of this term is that tsunamis are not related to tides. It only appears as a very high tide and nothing else.
Tsunamis are hardly felt when you are offshore. It can occur during high tide or low tide. As mentioned, the main cause of a tsunami is an abrupt displacement of a converging plate boundary and produces a displacement on the vertically underlying water, these are earthquakes and the sudden surge displaces the water above it, creating a series of waves. There are occasional tsunamis away from these boundaries. Examples occurred in Papua New Guinea in 2001 and Grand Banks in 1929. An earthquake caused the sediments to fall causing a tsunami with a slow coverage which did not travel to other countries.
Trans-oceanic tsunamis are those which are big and strong enough to cross oceans just like what occurred in 2004.
While a tsunami cannot be prevented; it can be anticipated by being wary about the signs. Earthquakes are the main cause of this surge, so if you are near a body of water and a strong earthquake has occurred, chances are a tsunami is already building up.
It is a common occurrence that if a tsunami does occur, a trough, or a draw back occurs first, then a dramatic receding of the water happens in the shoreline exposing even those parts not normally seen during low tides. After this event expect a dramatic surge in the form of fast climbing of the tides to maximum heights, this is the main wave and the best way to avoid it is, to get to a higher ground.
Today, tsunami warning devices are already in use and are constantly worked on, for improvement. The most common device in use now is the bottom pressure sensors. These are attached to buoys and measure the pressure of the water. This is an accurate device that conveys if a tsunami is really on the way or if the earthquake did not do any shift in the water to produce a tsunami.
It is important to take note of the essential tsunami facts, should this natural disaster does occur in some location, which is close to you.