We all remember important tsunamis that have happened in these last decades, such as the one that devastated the coast of Sumatra and Sri Lanka, back in December 2004 or Japan that occurred in March 2011 that triggered Fukushima’s nuclear disaster. The devastating effects caused by these phenomena and we would like to be as far as possible of them, but what are they due? If you are curious to meet him, in Ecology Verde we explain to you How tsunamis are formed. Keep reading!
What are tsunamis
A tsunami or tsamot is a wave or a group of giant waves With great energy, created by sudden movements that occur in seabed. The term tsunami It is of Japanese origin and means “great wave in the port or bay.”
There are many who have formed throughout history, but there is no doubt that the most recent have been really terrible natural disasters. We refer to those mentioned at the beginning, which was given in Sumatra and Sri Lanka, in December 2004, and the one that occurred in Japan in March 2011.
How tsunamis originate – Simple explanation
First, to explain How the Tusnamis are formedwe must take into account that the surface of the Earth is made of immense plates, called tectonic plates. Some of them form the continents and others the background of the oceans. These plates move and slowly slide over the soft rocks of the mantle, located under the earth’s crust. There are times when these plates due to their movement are separated, and occasions in which they come together until they collide. These movements are the cause of phenomena such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions or detachments.
Now, what does all this have to do with tsunamis? It is simple, when these movements that we tell you above are movements that occur in oceanic plaquesthat is, at the bottom of the sea, marine earthquakes can be formed and, therefore, trigger a tsunami.
If you want to know the process in more detail we describe it below, take note.
The phases of a tsunami
Tsunamis evolve in three phases General:
Generation of tsunami
This phase refers to the previous section in which the disturbance of the seabed is produced. The height that the waves may reach depends on various factors, such as the magnitude and duration of the disturbance, speed or depth of the sea.
In the case of the Tsunami of Sumatra, the plates yielded causing the seabed to be abruptly deforming producing a lifting that pushed the water up forming a column of 3 meters high at the time of forming.
Spread
At this stage, the energy that has been generated in the seabed has propagates because of the disturbance to the coast. On the surface the waves of the tsunami advance at high speed, which depends on the depth of the ocean; At greater depth, faster speed. Again, taking the Tsunami of Sumatra as an example, as it originated at 4,000 meters deep, its waves reached a speed of 700 km/hour.
Something characteristic of the tsunamis is that as they approach the sea the sea becomes less deep and Water is removed leaving a hole in front of the water column. The waves grow in height and thickness, turning giant waves.
Flood
The waves have reached their maximum size, 20 meters in the Tsunami of Sumatra. These reach the coast by bowing to it to later break and penetrate up to several hundred meters inland devastating everything in his path. Tsunami waves can arrive with several minutes of gap between one and the other.
How to prevent tsunamis and protect themselves from them
For our “tranquility”, and we highlight it in quotes because before phenomena of the nature of this caliber our tranquility lies in power detect them on time and put ourselves safesince cannot be avoided; In the Pacific Ocean there are facilities dedicated to the detection of these tsunamis to limit the effects that may occur. Are facilities to detect tsunamis They have:
- A detector placed at the bottom of the ocean that can detect an ascent of the ocean surface of a few centimeters.
- Emisorable buoys anchored at the bottom of the ocean to collect the detector signals and send them to the satellite.
- The satellite, which captures the information provided by the buoy and transmits them to the tsunamis alert in Hawaii.
- A tideographer who detects ocean level changes so that when the water is removed before the arrival of the tsunami, the sirens sound.
- The seismological station: it is a laboratory equipped with seismographs that detect earthquakes. All stations are connected to the alert center.
- The Tsunamis Alert Center, located on the island of Hawaii. This center comes all the information collected by the seismographs, submarine detectors or the Mareographers. The slightest indication of a tsunami are sent to all countries that are exposed to the tsunami.
- Deches: In some islands of Japan these structures have been built to attenuate the energy of the waves of the tsunamis.
Two other important points when protecting against tsunamis are:
- Mangroves, planted mangrove areas (shrubs or woody trees) that form a very dense vegetation next to the coast and that play an important role when they break the waves, braking their strength a little.
- Prepare the population. As soon as the sirens sound or the radio alert is notified, the inhabitants flee inwards, that is, far from the coast or are heading to high places.
After the Tsunami of Sumatra, the countries decided to create an alert center in the Indian Ocean. The first detection buoys were placed in July 2005.
If you want to read more articles similar to How tsunamis are formedwe recommend that you enter our category of meteorological phenomena.
