Tsunami

Made By:Poorva Priyadarshini

B.Arch 5th yr (ar)

What is a tsunami?
Tsunami is the Japanese name given to large waves that sometimes devastated the shores and
ports of Japan. A tsunami is a wave in the ocean but it is very different to normal waves.
Tsunamis have very long wavelengths. Crest to crest they measure between 10 and 500 km and
they travel through the ocean at more than 700 km/h. Sometimes there appears to be just one
wave but often there are multiple waves travelling a few minutes apart.

Causes of Tsunami

Earthquake
Volcanoes
Underwater explosions
Meteorite impacts

Facts about Tsunami

Before tsunami hits the water along the shoreline recedes

dramatically, exposing normally submerged areas.

A tsunami may be less than a foot (30 cms) in height on

the surface of the open ocean which is why they go
unnoticed. But powerful shock waves of energy travel
rapidly through the ocean. Once a tsunami reaches
shallow water near the coast, it is slowed down. The top of
the wave moves faster than the bottom, causing the sea to
rise dramatically.

Geological features such as reefs, bays, river

entrances, and undersea formations may dissipate
the energy of a tsunami. In some places a tsunami
may cause the sea to rise vertically only a few
inches or feet.

Flooding can extend inland by a thousand feet

(300 meters) or more.

The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami could rank as

the most devastating on record. More than
200,000 people lost their lives, many of them
washed out to sea.

Warning signals

An earthquake is a natural tsunami warning. If you feel a strong

quake do not stay in a place where you are exposed to a
tsunami.

Witnesses have reported that an approaching tsunami is

sometimes preceded by a noticeable fall or rise in the water
level.

Many people were killed by the Indian Ocean tsunami because

they went down to the beach to view the retreating ocean
exposing the seafloor. Experts believe that a receding ocean
may give people as much as five minutes' warning to evacuate
the area.

 A tsunami surge may be small at one point of

the shore and large at another point a short
distance away. Do not assume that because
there is minimal sign of a tsunami in one
place it will be like that everywhere else.
Tsunamis can travel up rivers and streams that
lead to the ocean. Stay away from rivers and
streams that lead to the ocean as you would
stay away from the beach and ocean if there is
a tsunami.
It's always a good idea to keep a store of
emergency supplies that include sufficient
medications, water, and other essentials
sufficient for at least 72 hours.

How to protect your

property ?
Avoid building or living in
buildings within several
hundred feet of the
coastline.
Make a list of items to
bring inside in the event
of a tsunami.
Elevate coastal homes.
Follow flood
preparedness
precautions. Tsunamis are
large amounts of water
that crash onto the
coastline, creating floods.
Have an engineer check
your home and advise
about ways to make it
more resistant to tsunami
water.

What to do after a Tsunami ?

Help injured people.

Use telephone for emergency calls only.
Stay out of building if water remains around it.
Examine walls, doors, windows, staircases etc to
make sure that the building is not collapsing.
Inspect foundations for cracks and other damage.
Check for fire hazards, electrical system damage &
gas leaks.
Check for food supplies and any food that comes
in contact with flood water should be thrown
because it may be contaminated.

Disaster management.
Disaster Management Information System must be built in every district of the country linked with
each other, available on the web and also in public libraries. Location of critical equipments, skills,
resources and information and how can one access them on voluntary or payment basis should be
known. The database of various services should be updated regularly.
Set up national disaster management volunteers who would receive training to organize
themselves as effective teams for helping local communities around them
Resources would be required for repairing and building the primary school buildings, primary
health centres, livestock, clinics, tree climbing devices for palm workers, herbal and other
medicines, mat making machines, and machines which can use materials from damaged trees and
bio waste, old bamboo scrap, processing machine for various edible and non-edible oilseeds, etc.

 In cases where fishing communities or island based indigenous / tribal communities have been
affected very severely, long term rehabilitation plans have to be initiated.

There is very important need to document the experience of the damage caused and ensuing
suffering along with the coping strategies of local communities and administration.
One of the major problems in relief is that what is needed where is often not known to the people
who want to provide support. The result is that lot of materials get wasted or misdirected. We
need to put a spreadsheet immediately on the web pointing out village wise needs, contact
persons names and addresses so that civil society efforts can be targeted more efficiently

 The psychological rehabilitation is no less important. The children affected the by the shock and
tragedy are particularly vulnerable. The arrangements for adoption of orphan children with proper
community care have to be put in place.

A proper rehabilitation plan will have to be built for each village affected by the disaster with
proper accountability structure. The mobilization and use of funds should be made public.

Proper records should be maintained. It might save

the state and central governments some money
from the compensation fund but it would certainly
inflict damage on the social conscience of the
society

2004 Tsunami in the Indian subcontinent

The December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean
tsunami was caused by an earthquake that is
thought to have had the energy of 23,000
Hiroshima-type atomic bombs.
The epicentre of the 9.0 magnitude quake
was located in the Indian Ocean near the
west coast of Sumatra.
The violent movement of the Earths
tectonic plates displaced an enormous
amount of water, sending powerful shock
waves in every direction.
The tectonic plates in this area had been
pushing against each other and building
pressure for thousands of years. They
continue to do so and will likely cause
underwater earthquakes and tsunamis in
the future.

 The rupture was more than 600 miles

long, displacing the seafloor by 10 yards
horizontally and several yards vertically.
As a result, trillions of tons of rock
moved, causing the largest magnitude
earthquake in 40 years.
Within hours of the earthquake, killer waves
radiating from the epicenter slammed into
the coastlines of 11 countries, damaging
countries from east Africa to Thailand.
The Indian Ocean tsunami travelled as far as
3,000 miles to Africa and still arrived with
sufficient force to kill people and destroy
property.
The tsunami resulted in at least 227,898
fatalities.