Shannon Ruymen
Period 6
Tsunamis
A thirteen-foot tsunami devastated Japan on March 11th, 2011 and killed 25,000 people. Would more people’s lives have been saved if there was a better warning system? The main reason so many died was that the size and strength of the earthquake and tsunami were underestimated as well as the amount of time given to respond (1). On the day of the tsunami a warning went out within three minutes only giving people about ten minutes to react and even though 25,000 died it was still better than when 250,000 people died during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami which hit Indonesia and Southern Asia. There was no earlier warning given at all with that tsunami (2). Tsunamis are caused from the sudden displacement of huge water masses due to earthquakes on the sea bed, volcanic eruptions, landslides, or meteorite impacts (3). However, about 86% of all tsunamis are caused by earthquakes also known as “sea quakes” (4). Tsunamis will only occur after strong earthquakes of at least seven on the Richter scale. Some tsunamis can be as large as thirty feet or more and can move inland to all low-lying coastal areas. A tsunami is not just one big wave, but a series of waves. The first wave may not be the largest and the danger can last for several hours after the first wave. The force created is enormous causing large rocks, boats, and other debris to be moved hundreds of feet inland. All of this material and water move with incredible force which kill or injure people and destroy homes and buildings. Tsunamis move faster than a person can run and can occur at any time (5). In the ocean a tsunamis length from wave crest to wave crest may be a hundred miles or more but with a wave height of only a few feet. They cannot be felt aboard ships or seen from the air but may reach speeds of over 500 miles per hour (6). One factor that may have contributed to the many