Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Physics of Tsunamis Essay - 960 Words

Tsunamis are waves, or series of waves, created by a disturbance in the ocean. Most of the time this disturbance is by an earthquake but can be from meteorites, landslides, or even explosions. They are sometimes known as tidal waves but this is a misnomer because tsunamis have nothing to do with tides. While tsunamis are feared particularly in light of the December 26th tsunami, the physics behind them is fascinating. One the largest tsunamis in recent history was the Cascadia tsunami in 1700. This occured when two continental plates (stretching from Vancouver to California) slipped causing a 9.0 magnitude earthquake. The resulting tsunami stretched across the entire Pacific and is recorded in Japanese history. Researchers have†¦show more content†¦The 1960 earthquake in Chile was ripe for causing a tsunami, and it caused one of the largest tsunamis in recent history. The tsunami stretched across the entire Pacific causing large-scale destruction in Hawaii and Japan and in other places. Some towns in Japan were saved as the result of watchers whose job included checking the ocean for unusual behavior. Several hundred people owe their lives to the men that saved entire towns. The Alaskan Quake of 1964 caused a significant tsunami as well, killing 122 people and causing over $106 million in damage. The most recent major tsunami was in the Indian Ocean. This is unusual because almost all tsunamis take place in the Pacific. On the morning of December 26th, 2004 a magnitude 9.0 earthquake rocked Southeast Asia. This quake triggered a tsunami that is the most deadly to date. Almost 300,000 people have died as a result of the tsunami, and hundreds of thousands more are displaced or homeless. The quake was the largest in 40 years and was so large that it moved the ocean several meters vertically at the epicenter; this is enormous for tsunamis. In some places the tsunami was as high as 15 meters but in many areas it just occured as a rushing wall of water, more similar to a flood than waves. The ocean receded very far before rushing back in, exposing fish and seafloor never seen before. This piqued the curiousity of many people thus causing many more deaths than there would have been.Show MoreRelated Physics of Tsunamis Essay examples1377 Words   |  6 PagesPhysics of Tsunamis This paper will discuss the physics and warning systems of tsunamis, a destructive wave force that researchers have been studying for many years. Tsunamis are different than tides or surface waves because undersea earthquakes, instead of winds or the gravitational pull of the moon or sun, generate them. They can reach speeds of up to 700 kilometers per hour but can be undetected until they reach shallow water, then unexpectedly arise as deadly waves. 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