Tsunamis
Table of Contents 1
Introduction: 2
Impact to human life: 3
Impact to Non-human life: 4
Impact to the Environment: 7
Impact to the Economy: 8
American Red Cross Assistance: 9
Conclusion: 13
Bibliography: 14
Introduction:
A massive Tsunami (Japanese for “Harbor wave”) had hit southern Asia the day after Christmas 2004. The cause of the Tsunami was an offshore earthquake that results in the tectonic plates being displaced and the creation of a vertical shift in the ocean floor. This vertical shift lead to a large volume of water being uplifted and turned to create a huge wave that traveled up to 300 miles per hour, gradually slowing as it reached the shore. At that time, people in the coastal areas were not aware of the terror that they were about to endure. They received no warnings of the tsunami. Unfortunately, 10 meters of the wave caught many people by surprise, as they looked dumfounded when the ocean engulfed them whole. To date this disaster is believed to have killed over three hundred thousand people, marking itself as one of the most devastating Tsunamis ever. The waves from the Tsunami destroyed everything in their path and drowned most innocent living things with it. It has now been concluded that the earthquake, which caused this Tsunami, was probably twice as strong as originally estimated - a magnitude 9.15 instead of 9.0. Much of the slippage along the fault is believed to have taken place as much as a half an hour after the initial quake and continued up to three hours afterward. Additionally, it is feared that earthquake could continue to affect the region for many years and could trigger more large quakes (Eric P H Yap, 2005).
It is believed that some areas were harder hit, by the Tsunami’s strength, than others due to coastal commercial development. The development of coastal areas damages or totally destroys much of the surrounding coral reefs. Certain areas, such as in the Maldives, still have a network of coral reefs and intact mangroves that may have protected the island from the open sea. "Poorly planned coastal development has compounded the impact of the tsunami," said Mubariq Ahmad, Head of WWF Indonesia. "It is vital that we don't make the mistakes of the past. We need to rebuild in a sustainable and safe way (Le Tourneau Gore, 2005).”
Impact to human life:
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... MESBAHI of Share The World s Resource s (STWR). "The tsunami and Brandt Report :[1 Edition]. " Papua - New Guinea Post - Courier 7 February 2005. ProQuest Newsstand. ProQuest.
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Rinne, Pasi et al. After the Tsunami: Rapid Environmental Assessment. United Nations Environment Programme. 2005.
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Animal Planet News. Slow Recovery for Seal Life. 12 Jan.2005. 30 May 2005.
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Climate change and Global Warming are out of control. This means that, no matter what policies, processes or actions are implemented, the Earth as we know it will never be the same again. There is significant evidence to support this hypothesis. The dilemma becomes whether we can limit the damage and adapt to a new status quo or not. Rising sea levels and the damage caused by this phenomenon has irreversible impacts on coastlines worldwide. Damage to sensitive reef systems cannot be fixed. This also has permanent impacts of the ecology not just of those immediate areas but also the ocean as a whole.
Predicting tsunamis is not a precise art; unlike some natural disasters, tsunamis are not climate based and do not happen during a particular season. In the case of the Sumatra earthquake and tsunami, an ocean-based sensors and a warning system in place could have been an enormous help. At the time of the tsunami, there were no ocean-based sensors in place in the Indian Ocean—which lead to a lack of knowledge of the tsunami, resulting in a lack of a plan to move to higher ground resulting in 230,000 were killed due to the Boxing Day
Out of all the natural disasters that we talk about in class, the most deadly would have to be a Tsunami. Compared to earthquakes, Tsunamis have cause more deaths since 1945. A Tsunami is likely to strike anywhere on the west coast, including Santa Cruz in California – United States – North America – 36:58:24N 122:02:09W. A Tsunami is a giant “wave” of water that is caused by a sudden shift in the sea floor. The wave is a result of the water attempting to regain its equilibrium, which is driven by gravity. The size of the wave is determined by how much the sea floor is moved vertically, and how quickly it shifts. A greater water depth helps as well. They can travel up to five hundred miles an hour and have wave heights of one hundred feet. Earthquakes are the leading cause of Tsunamis. People who live in California are well aware of earthquakes that are frequently caused by the San Andreas Fault. However, not many are aware of the results of earthquakes that occur out in the Pacific Ocean. Tsunamis have also been referred to in the past as seismic sea waves, but Earthquakes aren’t the only cause of this phenomenon. Landslides, nuclear explosions, volcanic eruptions, and extra terrestrial impacts also have great water displacement results.
Nowlis, J., Roberts, C., Smith, A., and Siirila, E., 1997, Human Enhanced Impacts of a Tropical Storm on Nearshore Coral Reefs: Ambio, v. 26, no. 8, p. 515-521.
The affected area is not only a very important ecological region, supporting coral reefs and many species of sharks and birds, but it also supports the crucial fishing industry.
These areas are incredibly important to humans because of the wildlife. Many species of fish and other animals that are largely used in commercial fishing use estuaries as grounds to breed. Estuaries also remove toxins from the water, making them all the more important. However, as with the Amazon Rainforest, human activity is putting these important habitats at risk of destruction. Estuaries have been overexploited and polluted by humans, decreasing biodiversity and causing them to degrade. The effects are so bad, that humans have suffered from this as well. Several fisheries have been shut down, damaging the economy. Natural disasters have also impacted estuaries, Hurricane Katrina and the tsunami that from Asia in 2004 caused the loss of many mangrove trees, that are vital to wetland
In addition, Hurricane Sandy affected not just humans, but also various wildlife. Animals, such as non-migratory birds lost their habitat like nests, trees and food sources such as fruits and berries. As for migratory birds, they were blown away by powerful winds; Many of which expired or lost direction to their final destination. Other affected beings were sea life; some sea life such as crabs, minnows, fish hatching, were pushed out of the water by the vigorous winds into the land, which soon cause their demise. In addition, the ocean’s thousand years old undisturbed ecosystem has to rebuild.
Coral reefs are well known for their colorful array of marvelous sights including a parade of exotic flora and fauna. They are said to be the foundation for a quarter of marine species, and are a crucial support for human life as well. The coral reef ecosystem is a diverse collection of species (ranging from microscopic to larger-than-life in size) that interact with each other and their physical environment. If any piece of a coral reef is harmed or removed the entire community can be seriously affected, even to the point of collapse. Unfortunately, human impact has resulted in long-term stresses that, unlike the short-term stress of natural disasters, coral reefs are not as capable to recover from. “Approximately half of the world’s coral reef ecosystem resources are considered by scientists to be in 'poor' or 'fair' condition and have declined over time due to several anthropogenic threats” (“Status of Corals” par. 2). Through poorly administered commercial practices, carelessness and ignorance among the common people, and human aggravated natural processes coral reef destruction has become a serious issue afflicting the world’s biodiversity and it’s intricate biosphere mechanics (“Human Impact on the Great Barrier Reef” 1) (“What Are Coral Reefs?” 1).
While the early warning saved thousands of people, the Japan’s Meteorological Agency underestimated this earthquake as the subduction zone of Japan should not produce the magnitude 9.0 quake (Oskin, 2013a). The Tohoku Earthquake and its tsunami approximately killed 16 thousand people, injured 6 thousand people and around 3 thousand people were missing. Most people died from drowning. Around 300 thousand buildings, 4000 roads, 78 bridges, and many more were affected by the earthquake, tsunami, and fires from leaking oils and gas. Electricity, telecommunication, and railways were severely damaged. The debris of 25 million tons was generated and carried out to the sea by water (BBC News, 2012). The country’s authorities estimated more than 309 billion US dollars of damages. Landslides occurred in Miyagi and liquefaction in Chiba, Tokyo, Odaiba, and Urayasu (USGS, 2013). Furthermore, the tsunami destroyed protective tsunami seawalls. Approximately 217 square miles of Japan covered in water (Oskin,
Environmental hazards are an unavoidable aspect of contemporary life. Whether they peturb a region, nation or continent, their effects are nonetheless devastating to those involved. Environmental hazards lie at “the interface between the natural events system and the human use system.” (Burton et al, 1978:25), interacting with global change and sustainable development. Disrupting social, economic and political organisations, these hazards are phenomena that damage and strain human infrastructures. Differentiating between ‘natural’ (geologic, atmospheric, hydrologic, epidemic and biologic) and ‘technological’ (industrial, infrastructural and engineering) hazards, Smith (2013) provides a framework through which hazards can be categorised, emphasising their multifarious nature. This essay will argue that humanity must learn to live with environmental hazards, developing methods of prediction and mitigation in order to reduce their effects. Focussing on three key case studies, this essay will analyse Myanmar’s Cyclone Nargis, Japan’s Great Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami, and India’s Gujarat Hepatitis Epidemic of 2009. These diverse examples demonstrate the extent to which the impacts of hazards vary across different spatial scales, and manifest themselves at differing levels of economic and political development.
Indonesia is one of the countries that have highest marine biodiversity in the world. With more than 2 million km2 of the sea coverage, the country have a large benefit from the marine natural resources. For a very long time, the utilization of natural resources in the sea, especially in the coastal area, has provide the needs of many local communities as well as people in a major cities throughout this country (MacAndrews, 1998). On the other hand, Indonesia is also suffer from several environmental threats such as marine habitat loss, coral reef degradation, and fish stock collapse as a consequences of several human activities such as over-exploitation, illegal fishing, and pollution (Sukardjo, 2002). For these reasons, marine protected areas in Indonesia has become an important role for protecting, preserving, and reducing the pressure to the natural biodiversity and cultural heritage. Nowadays, there are 296 marine protected areas covered in about 62,600 km2 which include Marine National Park, Marine Nature Tourism Park, Marine Sanctuary, Regional Marine Conservation Area, Strict Marine Reserve...
Located in tropical ocean waters, coral reefs provide priceless resources to both human and marine life. The leading natural cause of destruction among the coral reefs is global warming. Other natural causes are earthquakes, hurricanes, cyclones, and typhoons. The destruction to the coral reefs from these natural disasters is minimal compared to the dangers caused by man. Man-made destruction has a much wider impact on the health of the coral reefs. This destruction includes over-fishing, damage from anchors, aquarium industry, overgrowth of seaweed, and being smothered by sediments.
11th March 2011, 2: 45 PM, local time Japan, a day, a time, a moment which saw what can be termed as the worst natural disasters for Japan – A magnitude-9 earthquake ruptured the fault line that spreads across 500 km along the northeastern coast of Japan. This earthquake was the fifth largest in the world as per some reports by eminent scientists. The earthquake was followed with a giant tsunami whose size was so overwhelming that the 18-feet tsunami walls near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was literally “drowned” by waves which were, according to some horrified eyewitnesses, around 25-feet high. The death toll still remains unconfirmed as of this day and so do the number of missing persons. The capital city of Tokyo was witness to swaying skyscrapers which were reputedly built with “earthquake-safety” mechanisms.
It was a beautiful day like any other with the clear blue sky and the
There was a multitude of causes of the disaster in Japan. The first cause was a 9.0 magnitude earthquake that occurred off the coast of Japan. Japan is located in “The Ring of Fire,” an area in the Pacific Ocean that has multiple faults and earthquakes (Pedersen 13). Tectonic plates shifted off the North Pacific coast of Japan and created a massive earthquake. The next cause was a thirty-three foot wall of water that swept over cities and farmland in Japan (Branigan 2). Martin Fackler, a journalist, stated, “The quake churned up a devastating tsunami” (Fackler 3). The tsunami reached speeds of 497 miles per hour while approaching Japan (Fackler 3). The third and final reason of the disaster was that the cooling systems at multiple nuclear power plants failed. At Fukushima, a nuclear power plant in Sendai, Japan, the radioactive rods began to overheat due to the absence of water, which cools it. Explosions occurred at three of the reactors, which spewed radiation into the air (“Comparing nuclear power plant crises”). In conclusion, the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear power plant issues were the causes of the disaster in Japan, but they also had a myriad of effects.