Tsunami

Tsunami

The term tsunami, meaning "harbor wave" in literal translation, comes from the Japanese , composed of the
two kanji (tsu) meaning "harbour" and (nami), meaning "wave". (For the plural, one can either follow
ordinary English practice and add an s, or use an invariable plural as in the Japanese.[7])
There are only a few other languages that have an equivalent native word. In Acehnese language, the words are i
beuna[8] or aln buluk[9] (depending on the dialect). In Tamil language, it is aazhi peralai. On Simeulue island, off
the western coast of Sumatra in Indonesia, in Devayan language the word is smong, while in Sigulai language it is
emong.[10]
In Singkil (in Aceh province) and surrounding, the people use the word gloro/galoro for tsunami.[11][12] In Nias
language, it is called oloro/galoro[13] and in Ende it is called ae mesi nuka tana lala[14]
Tidal wave

Tsunami aftermath in Aceh, Indonesia.

Tsunami are sometimes referred to as tidal waves.[15] This once-popular term derives from the most common
appearance of tsunami, which is that of an extraordinarily high tidal bore. Tsunami and tides both produce waves
of water that move inland, but in the case of tsunami the inland movement of water may be much greater, giving
the impression of an incredibly high and forceful tide. In recent years, the term "tidal wave" has fallen out of favor,
especially in the scientific community, because tsunami actually have nothing to do with tides, which are produced
by the gravitational pull of the moon and sun rather than the displacement of water. Although the meanings of
"tidal" include "resembling"[16] or "having the form or character of"[17] the tides, use of the term tidal wave is
discouraged by geologists and oceanographers.
Seismic sea wave

The term seismic sea wave also is used to refer to the phenomenon, because the waves most often are generated by
seismic activity such as earthquakes.[18] Prior to the rise of the use of the term "tsunami" in English-speaking

countries, scientists generally encouraged the use of the term "seismic sea wave" rather than the inaccurate term
"tidal wave." However, like "tsunami," "seismic sea wave" is not a completely accurate term, as forces other than
earthquakes including underwater landslides, volcanic eruptions, underwater explosions, land or ice slumping
into the ocean, meteorite impacts, or even the weather when the atmospheric pressure changes very rapidly can
generate such waves by displacing water.[19][20]

History
See also: List of historic tsunamis

Lisbon earthquake and tsunami in 1755

The Russians of Pavel Lebedev-Lastochkin in Japan, with their ships tossed inland by a tsunami,
meeting some Japanese in 1779

While Japan may have the longest recorded history of tsunamis, the sheer destruction caused by the 2004 Indian
Ocean earthquake and tsunami event mark it as the most devastating of its kind in modern times, killing around
230,000 people. The Sumatran region is not unused to tsunamis either, with earthquakes of varying magnitudes
regularly occurring off the coast of the island.[21]
Tsunamis are an often underestimated hazard in the Mediterranean Sea region and Europe in general. Of historical
and current (with regard to risk assumptions) importance are e.g. the 1755 Lisbon earthquake and tsunami (which
was caused by the AzoresGibraltar Transform Fault), the 1783 Calabrian earthquakes, each causing several ten
thousand deaths and the 1908 Messina earthquake and tsunami. The latter took more than 123,000 lives in Sicily
and Calabria and is among the most deadly natural disasters in modern Europe. The Storegga Slide in the
Norwegian sea and some examples of Tsunamis affecting the British Isles refer to landslide and meteotsunamis
predominatly and less to earth quake induced waves.
As early as 426 BC the Greek historian Thucydides inquired in his book History of the Peloponnesian War about
the causes of tsunami, and was the first to argue that ocean earthquakes must be the cause.[5][6]

"The cause, in my opinion, of this phenomenon must be sought in the earthquake. At the point where its shock has
been the most violent the sea is driven back, and suddenly recoiling with redoubled force, causes the inundation.
Without an earthquake I do not see how such an accident could happen."[22]
The Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus (Res Gestae 26.10.15-19) described the typical sequence of a
tsunami, including an incipient earthquake, the sudden retreat of the sea and a following gigantic wave, after the
365 AD tsunami devastated Alexandria.[23][24]

Generation mechanisms
The principal generation mechanism (or cause) of a tsunami is the displacement of a substantial volume of water
or perturbation of the sea.[25] This displacement of water is usually attributed to either earthquakes, landslides,
volcanic eruptions, glacier calvings or more rarely by meteorites and nuclear tests.[26][27] The waves formed in this
way are then sustained by gravity. Tides do not play any part in the generation of tsunamis.
Seismicity

Tsunami 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, the water above the deformed area is displaced from its equilibrium
position.[28] More specifically, a tsunami can be generated when thrust faults associated with convergent or
destructive plate boundaries move abruptly, resulting in water displacement, owing to the vertical component of
movement involved. Movement on normal faults will also cause displacement of the seabed, but the size of the
largest of such events is normally too small to give rise to a significant tsunami.

Drawing of tectonic plate boundary before earthquake

Overriding plate bulges under strain, causing tectonic uplift.

Plate slips, causing subsidence and releasing energy into water.

The energy released produces tsunami waves.

Tsunamis have a small amplitude (wave height) offshore, and a very long wavelength (often hundreds of
kilometres long, whereas normal ocean waves have a wavelength of only 30 or 40 metres),[29] which is why they
generally pass unnoticed at sea, forming only a slight swell usually about 300 millimetres (12 in) above the normal
sea surface. They grow in height when they reach shallower water, in a wave shoaling process described below. A
tsunami can occur in any tidal state and even at low tide can still inundate coastal areas.
On April 1, 1946, a magnitude-7.8 (Richter Scale) earthquake occurred near the Aleutian Islands, Alaska. It
generated a tsunami which inundated Hilo on the island of Hawai'i with a 14-metre high (46 ft) surge. The area
where the earthquake occurred is where the Pacific Ocean floor is subducting (or being pushed downwards) under
Alaska.
Examples of tsunami originating at locations away from convergent boundaries include Storegga about 8,000 years
ago, Grand Banks 1929, Papua New Guinea 1998 (Tappin, 2001). The Grand Banks and Papua New Guinea
tsunamis came from earthquakes which destabilised sediments, causing them to flow into the ocean and generate a
tsunami. They dissipated before traveling transoceanic distances.
The cause of the Storegga sediment failure is unknown. Possibilities include an overloading of the sediments, an
earthquake or a release of gas hydrates (methane etc.).

The 1960 Valdivia earthquake (Mw 9.5), 1964 Alaska earthquake (Mw 9.2), 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake (Mw 9.2),
and 2011 Thoku earthquake (Mw9.0) are recent examples of powerful megathrust earthquakes that generated
tsunamis (known as teletsunamis) that can cross entire oceans. Smaller (Mw 4.2) earthquakes in Japan can trigger
tsunamis (called local and regional tsunamis) that can only devastate nearby coasts, but can do so in only a few
minutes.
Landslides

In the 1950s, it was discovered that larger tsunamis than had previously been believed possible could be caused by
giant submarine landslides. These rapidly displace large water volumes, as energy transfers to the water at a rate
faster than the water can absorb. Their existence was confirmed in 1958, when a giant landslide in Lituya Bay,
Alaska, caused the highest wave ever recorded, which had a height of 524 metres (over 1700 feet).[30] The wave
didn't travel far, as it struck land almost immediately. Two people fishing in the bay were killed, but another boat
amazingly managed to ride the wave.
Another landslide-tsunami event occurred in 1963 when a massive landslide from Monte Toc went into the Vajont
Dam in Italy. The resulting wave overtopped the 262 m (860 ft) high dam by 250 metres (820 ft) and destroyed
several towns. Around 2,000 people died.[31][32] Scientists named these waves megatsunami. Scientists discovered
that extremely large landslides from volcanic island collapses may be able to generate megatsunamis that can cross
oceans.
In general, landslides generate displacements mainly in the shallower parts of the coastline, and there is conjecture
about the nature of truly large landslides that end in water. This is proven to lead to huge effect in closed bays and
lakes, but an open oceanic landslide big enough to cause a tsunami across an ocean has not yet happened since
before seismology has been a major area of scientific study, and only very rarely in human history. Susceptible
areas focus for now on the islands of Hawaii and Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, where large masses of
relatively unconsolidated volcanic shield on slopes occur. Considerable doubt exists about how loosely linked
these slopes actually are.[33]
Meteotsunamis

Devastation wrought by Hurricane Ike's meteotsunamic storm surge over the Bolivar Peninsula in
2008.

Some meteorological conditions, especially deep depressions such as tropical cyclones, can generate a type of
storm surge called a meteotsunami which raises water heights above normal levels, often suddenly at the shoreline.
[34]

In the case of deep tropical cyclones, this is due to very low atmospheric pressure and inward swirling winds
causing an uplifted dome of water to form under and travel in tandem with the storm. When these water domes
reach shore, they rear up in shallows and surge laterally like earthquake-generated tsunamis, typically arriving
shortly after landfall of the storm's eye.[35][36]
Man-made or triggered tsunamis
See also: Tsunami bomb

There have been studies and at least one attempt to create tsunami waves as a tectonic weapon or whether human
behavior may trigger tsunamis, e.g. in the (debunked) Clathrate gun hypothesis.
In World War II, the New Zealand Military Forces initiated Project Seal, which attempted to create small tsunamis
with explosives in the area of today's Shakespear Regional Park; the attempt failed.[37]
There has been considerable speculation on the possibility of using nuclear weapons to cause tsunamis near to an
enemy coastline. Even during World War II consideration of the idea using conventional explosives was explored.
Nuclear testing in the Pacific Proving Ground by the United States seemed to generate poor results. Operation
Crossroads fired two 20 kilotonnes of TNT (84 TJ) bombs, one in the air and one underwater, above and below the
shallow (50 m (160 ft)) waters of the Bikini Atoll lagoon. Fired about 6 km (3.7 mi) from the nearest island, the
waves there were no higher than 34 m (9.813.1 ft) upon reaching the shoreline. Other underwater tests, mainly
Hardtack I/Wahoo (deep water) and Hardtack I/Umbrella (shallow water) confirmed the results. Analysis of the
effects of shallow and deep underwater explosions indicate that the energy of the explosions doesn't easily
generate the kind of deep, all-ocean waveforms which are tsunamis; most of the energy creates steam, causes
vertical fountains above the water, and creates compressional waveforms.[38] Tsunamis are hallmarked by
permanent large vertical displacements of very large volumes of water which don't occur in explosions.

Characteristics

When the wave enters shallow water, it slows down and its amplitude (height) increases.

The wave further slows and amplifies as it hits land. Only the largest waves crest.

Tsunamis cause damage by two mechanisms: the smashing force of a wall of water travelling at high speed, and
the destructive power of a large volume of water draining off the land and carrying a large amount of debris with
it, even with waves that do not appear to be large.
While everyday wind waves have a wavelength (from crest to crest) of about 100 metres (330 ft) and a height of
roughly 2 metres (6.6 ft), a tsunami in the deep ocean has a much larger wavelength of up to 200 kilometres
(120 mi). Such a wave travels at well over 800 kilometres per hour (500 mph), but owing to the enormous
wavelength the wave oscillation at any given point takes 20 or 30 minutes to complete a cycle and has an
amplitude of only about 1 metre (3.3 ft).[39] This makes tsunamis difficult to detect over deep water, where ships
are unable to feel their passage.
The reason for the Japanese name "harbour wave" is that sometimes a village's fishermen would sail out, and
encounter no unusual waves while out at sea fishing, and come back to land to find their village devastated by a
huge wave.
As the tsunami approaches the coast and the waters become shallow, wave shoaling compresses the wave and its
speed decreases below 80 kilometres per hour (50 mph). Its wavelength diminishes to less than 20 kilometres
(12 mi) and its amplitude grows enormously. Since the wave still has the same very long period, the tsunami may
take minutes to reach full height. Except for the very largest tsunamis, the approaching wave does not break, but
rather appears like a fast-moving tidal bore.[40] Open bays and coastlines adjacent to very deep water may shape the
tsunami further into a step-like wave with a steep-breaking front.
When the tsunami's wave peak reaches the shore, the resulting temporary rise in sea level is termed run up. Run up
is measured in metres above a reference sea level.[40] A large tsunami may feature multiple waves arriving over a
period of hours, with significant time between the wave crests. The first wave to reach the shore may not have the
highest run up.[41]
About 80% of tsunamis occur in the Pacific Ocean, but they are possible wherever there are large bodies of water,
including lakes. They are caused by earthquakes, landslides, volcanic explosions, glacier calvings, and bolides.

Drawback

An illustration of the rhythmic "drawback" of surface water associated with a wave. It follows that a
very large drawback may herald the arrival of a very large wave.

All waves have a positive and negative peak, i.e. a ridge and a trough. In the case of a propagating wave like a
tsunami, either may be the first to arrive. If the first part to arrive at shore is the ridge, a massive breaking wave or
sudden flooding will be the first effect noticed on land. However if the first part to arrive is a trough, a drawback
will occur as the shoreline recedes dramatically, exposing normally submerged areas. Drawback can exceed
hundreds of metres, and people unaware of the danger sometimes remain near the shore to satisfy their curiosity or
to collect fish from the exposed seabed.

A typical wave period for a damaging tsunami is about 12 minutes. This means that if the drawback phase is the
first part of the wave to arrive, the sea will recede, with areas well below sea level exposed after 3 minutes. During
the next 6 minutes the tsunami wave trough builds into a ridge, and during this time the sea is filled in and
destruction occurs on land. During the next 6 minutes, the tsunami wave changes from a ridge to a trough, causing
flood waters to drain and drawback to occur again. This may sweep victims and debris some distance from land.
The process repeats as the next wave arrives.

Scales of intensity and magnitude

As with earthquakes, several attempts have been made to set up scales of tsunami intensity or magnitude to allow
comparison between different events.[42]
Intensity scales

The first scales used routinely to measure the intensity of tsunami were the Sieberg-Ambraseys scale, used in the
Mediterranean Sea and the Imamura-Iida intensity scale, used in the Pacific Ocean. The latter scale was modified
by Soloviev, who calculated the Tsunami intensity I according to the formula

where
is the average wave height along the nearest coast. This scale, known as the Soloviev-Imamura tsunami
intensity scale, is used in the global tsunami catalogues compiled by the NGDC/NOAA[43] and the Novosibirsk
Tsunami Laboratory as the main parameter for the size of the tsunami.
In 2013, following the intensively studied tsunamis in 2004 and 2011, a new 12 point scale was proposed, the
Integrated Tsunami Intensity Scale (ITIS-2012), intended to match as closely as possible to the modified ESI2007
and EMS earthquake intensity scales.[44]
Magnitude scales

The first scale that genuinely calculated a magnitude for a tsunami, rather than an intensity at a particular location
was the ML scale proposed by Murty & Loomis based on the potential energy.[42] Difficulties in calculating the
potential energy of the tsunami mean that this scale is rarely used. Abe introduced the tsunami magnitude scale
, calculated from,

where h is the maximum tsunami-wave amplitude (in m) measured by a tide gauge at a distance R from the
epicentre, a, b and D are constants used to make the Mt scale match as closely as possible with the moment
magnitude scale.[45]

Warnings and predictions

See also: Tsunami warning system

Tsunami warning sign

Drawbacks can serve as a brief warning. People who observe drawback (many survivors report an accompanying
sucking sound), can survive only if they immediately run for high ground or seek the upper floors of nearby
buildings. In 2004, ten-year old Tilly Smith of Surrey, England, was on Maikhao beach in Phuket, Thailand with
her parents and sister, and having learned about tsunamis recently in school, told her family that a tsunami might
be imminent. Her parents warned others minutes before the wave arrived, saving dozens of lives. She credited her
geography teacher, Andrew Kearney.
In the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami drawback was not reported on the African coast or any other east-facing coasts
that it reached. This was because the wave moved downwards on the eastern side of the fault line and upwards on
the western side. The western pulse hit coastal Africa and other western areas.
A tsunami cannot be precisely predicted, even if the magnitude and location of an earthquake is known.
Geologists, oceanographers, and seismologists analyse each earthquake and based on many factors may or may not
issue a tsunami warning. However, there are some warning signs of an impending tsunami, and automated systems
can provide warnings immediately after an earthquake in time to save lives. One of the most successful systems
uses bottom pressure sensors, attached to buoys, which constantly monitor the pressure of the overlying water
column.
Regions with a high tsunami risk typically use tsunami warning systems to warn the population before the wave
reaches land. On the west coast of the United States, which is prone to Pacific Ocean tsunami, warning signs
indicate evacuation routes. In Japan, the community is well-educated about earthquakes and tsunamis, and along
the Japanese shorelines the tsunami warning signs are reminders of the natural hazards together with a network of
warning sirens, typically at the top of the cliff of surroundings hills.[46]
The Pacific Tsunami Warning System is based in Honolulu, Hawaii. It monitors Pacific Ocean seismic activity. A
sufficiently large earthquake magnitude and other information triggers a tsunami warning. While the subduction
zones around the Pacific are seismically active, not all earthquakes generate tsunami. Computers assist in
analysing the tsunami risk of every earthquake that occurs in the Pacific Ocean and the adjoining land masses.

Tsunami hazard sign at Bamfield, British Columbia

A tsunami warning sign on a seawall in Kamakura, Japan, 2004

The monument to the victims of tsunami at Laupahoehoe, Hawaii