Tsunamis is a Japanese word and pronounced as Soo-NAH-mee. It is a series of traveling ocean waves caused by an underwater earthquake, landslide, or volcanic eruption. More rarely, a tsunami can be generated by a giant meteor impact with the ocean. Around 3.5 billion years ago, an asteroid- meteor collision resulted in a giant tsunami that drastically changed the entire landscape, inundated everything and ended all life on earth.
The tsunamis of recent times have been generated by great undersea earthquakes. An earthquake triggers a tsunami if its focus is near the ocean and has plenty of force that causes substantial and sudden displacement of a massive amount of water. In deeper oceans, tsunamis can travel unnoticed on the surface at speeds up to 500 miles an hour. Once they reach shallow waters near the coast, they are slowed down. The top of the wave moves faster than the bottom, causing the sea to rise dramatically. Tsunami waves can be very long as much as 100 kilometers and be as far as one hour apart. They cross entire oceans without much loss of energy.
All oceanic regions of the world can experience tsunamis, but in the Pacific Ocean there is a much more frequent occurrence of large, destructive tsunamis because of the many large earthquakes along the margins of the Pacific Ocean. The most devastating of all tsunamis has been the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed over lakhs of people, disrupted life to such an extent that even till today people are recuperating. It traveled as much as 3000 miles to Africa.
However, geological features such as mangroves, reefs, bays, river entrances, and undersea formations may dissipate the energy of a tsunami. At such places, the damage caused by such devastating waves can be very less as compared to barren coasts. Even the tsunami warning centers can be of some help. They can warn a few minutes before tsunami waves occur. This can certainly be helpful for all the sea-goers. Especially those near the coasts can move back, before the waves swell and inundate coasts and landscapes. An approaching tsunami is sometimes preceded by a noticeable fall or rise in the water level. It is a dangerous sign of a devastation approaching. And always before a Tsunami, earthquake will occur.
The enormous energy of a tsunami can lift giant boulders, flip vehicles, and demolish houses. It can turn trees, houses, ferries or anything upside down. Tsunami is like a holocaust that can destroy and demolish life and property. Though tsunami warning systems have been brought in a few places, yet the cost of constructing is so huge that poorer nations avoid participating. But is anything costlier than a human life? Richer and developed nations along with established world organizations should come forward in providing a helping hand to all and one.
via: NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC