Tsunami: Definition And Prevention - Research Paper Example

Tsunami: Definition and Prevention The world was surprised by March when a large tsunami hit Japan and large numbers of casualties were recorded. Fisheries and agricultural areas were greatly devastated. The great calamity led to another dangerous outbreak when the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant was broken and radioactive waste leaked from the plant to the residential areas. The food produced at the affected areas posed a threat in the health safety of the Japanese people (Johnson 1). Many damages were also recorded such as: port facilities, sensitive electronic equipment, 2,126 roads, and 56 bridges also were harmed.

These were located in a wide area of the country that even reached Tokyo’s northern suburbs. The human toll also has been great. An estimated 245,000 people are in evacuation shelters; 243,000 homes are without power; and 720,000 homes without potable water. (Nanto, Cooper and Donnelly 5). The disastrous natural calamity that commonly hits Japan shows up when “a large volume of the ocean is quickly displaced, it will sometimes create a huge wave,” (Jeffrey 4). The source of tsunami is an underground earthquake usually from the ocean floor that can travel great distances and once the waves reach the coastline, it produces a giant wave called as “harbor wave.

” The term was coined by the fishermen who experienced the surging waves. They found out later on when they returned to their harbor villages already destroyed by the waves (Spilsbury and Spilsbury 4). Tsunamis form usually from underwater earthquakes but may also come from volcanic eruptions and landslides that may hit the water and produce giant waves (Schuh 8). Tsunami is so fast that scientists cannot warn the people about the upcoming surge of the natural disaster. The speed of tsunami is almost as fast as an airplane.

The damage can be tremendous and buildings and towers can be gone in a matter of seconds (Draper 18-20). An upcoming tsunami can be noticed by seeing the seawater to be sucked back greatly and exposing vast areas of the rocks and ground which are not usually seen even at low tides. The blowing of the strong wind comes with the forward pushing of the strong winds by continuous surging of the waves known as wave train. The waves may hit the land for hours (Spilsbury and Spilsbury 5). The disastrous effects of tsunami can be minimized by prevention.

Three main countermeasures can be done: permanent structures, emergency management, and reconstruction after the damage. Permanent structures include permanent transfer of residence to highly-elevated land, seawall construction and tide gate for emergency purposes. Emergency management is a set of practices that are soft countermeasures which include evacuation, tsunami damage reduction plans, and relief and rescue. Regional planning is done as a form of reconstruction after the damage which includes land insurance and resettlement recovery program (Bernard and Robinson 329).

Works Cited Bernard, Eddie and Allan Robinson. Tsunamis. USA: the President and Fellows of Harvard College. 2009. Jeffrey, Gary. Tsunamis and Floods. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group. 2007. Johnson, Renee. Japan’s 2011 Earthquake and Tsunami: Food and Agriculture Implications. USA: Congressional Research Service. 2011. Nanto, Dick, William Cooper and J. Michael Donnelly. Japan’s 2011 Earthquake and Tsunami: Economic Effects and Implications for United States. USA: Congressional Research Service. 2011. Schuh, Mari. Tsunamis. Minnesota: Capstone Press. 2010. Spilsbury, Louise and Richard Spilsbury.

Tsunamis in Action. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group. 2009.