Tsunami Facts in National Geographic - Assignment Example

Nelson (2012) informs about a tsunami as an elongated wavelength of water that is created because of certain ‘displacement of the sea floor or disruption of any body of standing water’. Nelson (2012) calls tsunamis tidal waves but it is rejected as tidal waves by the governmental website for tsunamis. Tsunami is not essentially generated because of displacement of the sea floor, but there are many other reasons. Its occurrence can be sudden and damaging for coastal communities (Nelson).

The word Tsunami was unknown to people before December 2004 when an earthquake of 9.1 magnitudes hit Indonesia and vertically displaced the sea floor after which, a Tsunami got created and became the reason for killing nearly two hundred and thirty thousand people and affecting several million. People suffered because of a lack of proper warning measures taken by the authorities. Even after getting knowledge of tsunamis, people continue getting affected as people saw a Tsunami in 2009, 2010, and 2011. There were tsunamis before, but the tsunami of 2004 made scientists research it in depth (Nelson).

The tsunami waves reach up to a height of 100 meters that build a wall against the land and the eruption of this walled water on the coasts can be destructive for the residents of the coasts. These waves as per national geography are created because of the displacement of tectonic plates under the sea (National Geographic). With the rise or fall of boundary walls of the plates, the water over the ocean floor is displaced that moves forward in form of a tsunami. Landslides and volcanic eruptions can also be comprehended as the reasons for the creation of tsunamis. In deep water, they do not have noticeable height, but in shallow water, their speed gets lessened and they get elevated energy and height that is damaging for the shores (National Geographic).

Warnings can be sent to areas that are far from earthquakes and other regions as there is plenty of time to take action. However, for coastal areas, the time for the warning is less and people have to move to safe areas within less time. Pacific Tsunami Warning System is installed in the Pacific Ocean for giving early warning in case of a probability of a tsunami. In case of an earthquake, the warning system analyzes the situation and sends a warning (Nelson).

A tsunami is a series of strong waves that are destructive in shallow water. They get generated because of earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, and displacement of the sea floor and when they reach coastal areas, they have damaging effects on people and their lives. In case of late warnings to people, many people get killed and also receive severe injuries. Read More