Tsunami - The Killer Waves

Tsunami as we all know, is a dangerous and large wave which can destroy everything with the great force of water and take lives too. Water, we know is the most essential part in our life. But, this water can sometimes take big disguises to destruct us. In scientific terms, tsunami is a large seismic wave brought about by the underwater earthquakes and the disturbances in the tectonic plates. The collision of tectonic plates inside the earth's crust creates an upward force which causes the high waves of tsunamis. These waves magnitude is measured using seismometers. And the magnitude number is based on the Richter Scale. the higher the point shows in the richter scale, the higher the intensity of earthquake is, and therefore, higher and destructive the tsunami waves are.

Richter Scale

It is a scale used to measure the number (integer) of the  energy  released during an earthquake. This scale is based on 10 magnitude numbers ranging from 1 to 10.The magnitude is defined as the logarithm of the ratio of the amplitude of waves measured by a seismometer to an arbitrary small amplitude.  According to the richter scale, the earthquake of magnitude 5.0 is equal to about ten times larger shaking of the earthquake of magnitude 4.0. That's a huge difference and can cause a wide damage in only increase one point of magnitude.

Tsunami Prone Areas

As Tsunami is a water disaster, then the areas prone to tsunami are the areas near the water bodies i.e., mainly oceans. But we also know that there are certain areas in our world where tsunamis occur frequently. An example is the technology hub country Japan. In Japan, tsunamis occur frequently and cause wide damages to that place. Let us see why?

Why Japan is prone to earthquakes and tsunamis?

Japan is situated above the Eurasian tectonic plate and the Pacific tectonic plate. As both of these plates are very big and are close to each other. They slide over each other easily and constantly. Many times these plates try to overlap each other, so it causes many waves to create simultaneously. Due to the sliding up of tectonic plates, they create fault areas, which become smooth over time. The Pacific plate is more denser than the Eurasian plate. They they create large seismic waves constantly. indonesia also is prone area foer earthquakes and tsunamis.

How to save yourself before a tsunami?

Tsunami doesn't come by telling. Therefore, many scientists worked together and made a device which can take pressure readings inside the water. Whenever, there is any disturbance in the water, it warns with an immediate alarm. Now, the question starts to arrive, will the tsunami really come and it comes how big it will be? These questions are not answerable at that time. So we must take some preventive measures for it. We must immediately evacuate   top buildings and come to ground. And if we have enough time, we must go as far as we could from the nearby water body. We always must have an lifeguard of water and also we must know how to swim. These things will certainly keep you alive during tsunamis.

Tsunami warning sign

What are tsunami walls? 

Japan has made tsunami walls along its shores to keep itself safe from the high waves of water. These walls are water repelent and therefore don't allow water to pass through them. Japan as it is the developed nation and first in technology, has found many ways to save itself from tsunamis. They also develop their nation by investing in human resources and therefore when disaster occurs , then Japan heals itself quickly.

Now at last, let us pray for those lay down their lives in this gruesome disaster.

This was Arun kumar blogging for you.