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INDEX:
Introduction: Page 2
Hypothesis
Plan
Background Information
Media Articles
Questionnaire
Results of the questionnaire
Experiment
Results
Second-hand Source Data
Maps
Interview
Conclusion
Self-evaluation and suggestions for improvement
Acknowledgements
Bibliography

INTRODUCTION
The main reason why I chose this topic was to increase my
knowledge towards tsunamis and also to find out whether Buenos
Aires might be potentially threatened by a tsunami or not.
Since I was eight, fears about tsunamis appeared in my life. But I
was told that we had no risk and that nothing would happen. So Id
like to verify what my parents told me and see if it is true or if they
were just trying to make my fear disappear. I`d also like to know and
get more information about tsunamis that occurred in different parts
of the world and how they affected the enviroment and place. I felt
realy curious and I find it really interesting; I wanted to know which
were the possibilities and which consequences it could bring to us if it
ever happens.
The aims are to find out whether:

People and authorities are aware of the potential threat

represented by tsunamis.
The city of Buenos Aires and the local government are ready for
a tsunami.

HYPOTHESIS:
I strongly believe Buenos Aires
is not ready to front the
consequences left by the tsunami, and that people are not aware of
the potential threat represented by tsunamis.

PLAN:
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The phenomenom we call tsunami is a series of traveling ocean waves of
extremely long length generated primarily by earthquakes occurring below
or near the ocean floor (seaquake). Tsunamis can be generated when the sea
floor abruptly deforms and vertically displaces the overlying water. Tectonic
earthquakes are a particular kind of earthquake that are associated with the
earth's crustal deformation; when these earthquakes occur beneath the sea,
with a magnitude of 7 or higher in Richter scale, the water above the
deformed area is displaced from its equilibrium position. Waves are formed
as the displaced water mass, which acts under the influence of gravity,
attempts to regain its equilibrium. When large areas of the sea floor elevate
or subside, a tsunami can be created. Underwater volvanic eruptions and
landslides can also generate tsunamis. In deep ocean, the tsunami waves
propagate with a speed exceeding 800 kilometers per hour, and a wave
height of only a few tens of centimeters.

Tsunami waves are distinguished from ordinary ocean waves by their great
length between wave crest, often exceeding 100 km or more in the deep
ocean, and by the time between these crests, ranging from 10 minutes to an
hour.
Tsunamis are a threat to life and property for all coastal residents living
near the ocean. During the 1990s, over 4,000 people were killed by 10
tsunamis, including more than 1000 lives lost in the 1992 Flores region,
Indonesia, and 2200 lives in the 1998 Aitape, Papua New Guinea tsunamis.
Property damage was nearly one billion United States dollars.
Although 80% of all tsunamis occur in the Pacific, they can also threaten
coastlines of countries in other regions, includin the Indian Ocean,
Mediterranean Sea, Caribbean region, and even the Atlantic ocean.
Tsunamis are natural phenomena and cant be prevented, what can be
prevented, however, are some of the casualties and damage that tsunamis
cause. Their effects can be reduced by the construction of sea
defences. Coastlines in certain areas of the world are in part protected from
tsunami by mangroves where the trees and shrubs act as a buffer zone
between the sea and land, acting to reduce or dissipate the energy of a
tsunami, reducing its potential impact.

We never know when a major earthqake will happen. Tsunami

waves travel very fast, and it is impossible to provide warnings for those very
close to the earthquake zone which generates the wave. However, it is
certainly possible to provide other coastal areas further away with adequate
time for many people to get out of danger by moving to higher ground.
All oceanic regions of the world can experience tsunamis, but in the Pacific
Ocean and its marginal seas, there is a much more frequent occurrence of
large, destructive tsunamis because of the many large earthquakes along
the margins of the Pacific Ocean.
The 11 March 2011 magnitude 9.0 Honshu, Japan earthquake (38.322 N,
142.369 E, depth 32 km) generated a tsunami that was observed all over the
Pacific region and caused tremendous devastation locally. As of 30 May 2011,
the Japan National Police Agency reports 15,270 persons killed and 8,499
persons missing from the earthquake and tsunami.
The 11 March 2011 Japanese tsunami was the first to cause deaths since the
1993 Sea of Japan magnitude 7.7 earthquake caused 23 deaths and
generated a tsunami that caused an additional 208 deaths in Japan. In
comparison, the most fatal and damaging tsunami that has ever occurred in
the world was the 2004 magnitude 9.1 Sumatra earthquake and tsunami that

caused almost 230,000 deaths, $10 billion in damage, and a maximum water
height of 50 m.

There

are

dangerous convergent boundaries in the South Atlantic that might threaten

Buenos Aires in case a tsunami develops. You can see them in the map below:

A- The Nazca Plate is being subducted beneath the continental South American
Plate:

B-Scotia plate:

People in Buenos Aires are not conscious about an arrival of a

tsunami. This is clearly shown because of building constructions near
the estuary. These buildings are going to be the first one receiving
damage, and they are going to be the first one to be destroyed. This
happens because they are not well informed about the possibilities of
an approximation of a tsunami. The ground is near the sea level, it is
not raised, and thats why this place will be easily flooded one a storm
comes, and the sea level rises.