What are Tsunamis?
A tsunami is an extremely large wave caused by disruptions or disturbances such as earthquakes or under-sea volcano eruptions.
The word 'tsunami' is a Japanese word which, when translated into English, means harbour wave. In the past, tsunamis were sometimes referred to as "tidal waves" by the general public, and as "seismic sea waves" by the scientific community. As I mentioned earlier, this word derives from Japanese and is also made up of two characters: 'tsu' and 'nami.' Tsu means harbour and nami means wave in Japanese.
A tsunami is a series of humongous waves made by abrupt movements on the ocean floor that can be because of an earthquake, an underwater landslide or a volcanic eruption. Seismologists say only earthquakes measuring greater than 7.0 on the Richter scale can produce a major tsunami.
The ring of fire is where most of the Earth's volcanoes are located. This is because the location of most of the Earth's subduction zones. A subduction zone is a place where one plate in the (prepare for big words) Oceanic lithosphere (=the crust +uppermost mantle) is shoved under another plate.
Almost 80% of tsunamis are formed inside the pacific 'ring of fire' and do you think this is a coincidence? Long story short, the ring of fire and tsunamis are connected. The volcanic activity, including undersea eruptions, and earthquakes can be the cause of extremely large tsunamis. A well-known effected zone is Honshu, the main island off Japan, which is connected to the ring of fire and also receives some of the worst earthquakes and tsunamis in the world.
Almost 80% of tsunamis are formed inside the pacific 'ring of fire' and do you think this is a coincidence? Long story short, the ring of fire and tsunamis are connected. The volcanic activity, including undersea eruptions, and earthquakes can be the cause of extremely large tsunamis. A well-known effected zone is Honshu, the main island off Japan, which is connected to the ring of fire and also receives some of the worst earthquakes and tsunamis in the world.
2004 Boxing Day Tsunami news report
"Today, I'll be joined in Sumatra, Indonesia by renowned tsunami expert Alias Fakename to discuss this tragedy. ""The tsunami that occurred here in Sumatra, Indonesia on 26th December 2004 was one of the most devastating tsunamis to have ever been recorded. This horrific natural event claimed the lives of around 225,000 people and left many others homeless and severely injured. This catastrophe cost over 15 billion USD ( 19 billion in today's money.) Around 1.7 million people were made homeless and 1/2 million people were left injured." So that's all from tsunami expert Alias Fakenami, tune in next time at 69 minutes news for more information."
What Can We Do About This?
Many millions of people have lost their lives due to natural disasters, including tsunamis and there are things we can do and measures we can put into place to stop this from happening. For example, many areas don't have enough resources or enough manpower to alert people of an imminent natural disaster. A way to reduce the toll on humanity would be to let everyone access the information behind natural disasters, say with an app that alerts you to everything from earthquakes to floods. Another few simple ways that unnecessary lives aren't lost is that we put basic safety protocol into place; such being that we don't try and do daredevil stunts for social media, risking our lives, or even something like reaching higher ground and seeking shelter instead of running out in the open. An instructional training course for the public would also be a great help, as they need to be able to figure out the easiest way to survive.
My Sources
1. https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-tsunamis
2. https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/various-tsunami-facts.php
3. https://earthweb.ess.washington.edu/tsunami/general/physics/meaning.html
4. http://itic.ioc-unesco.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1162:what-is-a-tsunami&catid=1340&Itemid=2056
5. https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/tsunami.html
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_of_Fire
7. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/ring-fire/
8. https://www.sms-tsunami-warning.com/pages/tsunami-sumatra-2004
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsunami
10. https://www.natgeokids.com/au/discover/geography/physical-geography/tsunamis/
2. https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/various-tsunami-facts.php
3. https://earthweb.ess.washington.edu/tsunami/general/physics/meaning.html
4. http://itic.ioc-unesco.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1162:what-is-a-tsunami&catid=1340&Itemid=2056
5. https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/tsunami.html
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_of_Fire
7. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/ring-fire/
8. https://www.sms-tsunami-warning.com/pages/tsunami-sumatra-2004
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsunami
10. https://www.natgeokids.com/au/discover/geography/physical-geography/tsunamis/