Tsunamis

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Tsunamis Indian Ocean 2004 Causes and
Outcomes Japan 2011 Causes and Outcomes
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• Lecture Outline
• What is a tsunami?
• Tsunami Formation
• Earlier Tsunamis
• Tsunami December 26, 2004
• What is a disaster?
• Political geography of disasters around the world
• Outcomes of 2004 Tsunami

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Tsunami Tsunami a natural phenomenon
consisting of a series of waves generated when
water in a lake or the sea is rapidly displaced
on a massive scale. They are often caused by
underwater earthquakes, landslides or a volcanic
eruption, but can also be caused by large
meteorite impacts. The term tsunami comes from
the Japanese language meaning harbor (tsu) and
wave (nami). -Small amplitude and long
wavelength... It is incorrect to call them tidal
waves, as they are not related to the tides.
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Earthquakes Earthquake A sudden motion or
trembling in the Earth. The motion is caused by
the quick release of slowly accumulated energy in
the form of seismic waves. Most earthquakes are
produced along faults, tectonic plate boundaries,
or along the mid-oceanic ridges. Seismic Wave
Successive wave-type displacement of
rock. Magnitude relative amount of energy
released during an earthquake. Richter Scale A
logarithmic measurement scale of earthquake
magnitude. This scale measures the energy
released by the largest seismic wave associated
with the earthquake. (On logarithmic scale,
energy increase from one magnitude to the next is
about 32 times greater.0
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Tsunami Formation Vertical displacement of
water Caused by earthquakes, landslides,
volcanic eruptions, meteorites Tsunami
Movement This movement creates a wave in the
water body which radiates outward in concentric
shells. Water is seeking equilibrium. Low
amplitude and long wavelength Fast travel across
ocean Pile-up as it reaches a coastline
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Water (and waves) piles-up at the coastline
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Damage A tsunami looks like an endlessly
onrushing tide which forces its way around and
through any obstacle. Most of the damage is done
by the huge mass of water behind the initial wave
front. The sheer weight of the water is enough
to pulverise objects in its path, reducing
buildings to its foundations and scouring exposed
ground to bedrock.
Banda Aceh, Indonesia Photo Choo Youn-Kong
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From 2004 Tsunami
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2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami December 26, 2004 9.2
magnitude earthquake Deadliest on record,
killing 310,000 people. No organized alert
system in Indian Ocean region. Affected
countries of Indonesia, northwest Malaysia,
Thailand, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Maldives,
Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania.
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Subduction of Indo-Australian plate beneath
Eurasian Plate
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Indian-Australian Plate Movement into Eurasian
Plate
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Sri Lanka Coastline, Before (satellite photo)
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Sri Lanka Coastline, waters receding, After
tsunami
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Banda Aceh Before
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Banda Aceh After
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Thailand
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What is a disaster? Where human (and political)
and physical worlds collide. Disaster
situation or event, which overwhelms local
capacity, necessitating a request to national or
international level for external assistance an
unforeseen and often sudden event that causes
great damage, destruction and human suffering.
-from United Nations
Photo Marcelo Hernandez
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• Political Geographical Dimensions of Disaster
• UN categorizes disasters as follows
• Hydro-meteorological disasters including floods
  and wave surges, storms, droughts and related
  disasters (extreme temperatures and forest/scrub
  fires), and landslides avalanches
• Geophysical disasters divided into earthquakes
  tsunamis and volcanic eruptions
• Biological disasters covering epidemics and
  insect infestations.
• Technological disasters
• Industrial accidents such as chemical spills
  collapses of industrial infrastructures
  explosions fires, gas leaks poisoning
  radiation
• Transport accidents by air, rail, road or water
  means of transport
• Miscellaneous accidents collapses of
  domestic/non-industrial structures explosions
  fires.

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Numbers of Disasters is Rising Dramatically (UN
Figures)
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UN Development Categorization OECD Developing EE
C Less Developed
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Different Disasters for Differently Developed
Areas of World
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Outcomes of Tsunami- There are many outcomes
from this disaster ecological, psychological,
demographic, cultural, humanitarian, political
etc. Here are just a few of the expected and
unexpected outcomes of a disaster such as this.
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Aftershocks and Volcanic Activity
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Volcano now erupting on Sumatra, 25,000 evacuated
4/13
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• Unexpected Outcomes of Tsunami
• Release of Nuclear Wastes in Somalia

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• Unexpected Outcomes of Tsunami
• Release of Nuclear Wastes in Somalia
• Less Donations for Other Disasters
• The United Nations flash appeal for victims of
  the Indian Ocean tsunami was "an extraordinarily
  effective emergency relief effort," but all the
  world's other "neglected emergencies" are
  woefully under-funded even though the amount
  sought is only a fifth of what Europe spends on
  ice cream each year, a senior UN official said
  today.

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• Unexpected Outcomes of Tsunami
• Release of Nuclear Wastes in Somalia
• Less Donations for Other Disasters
• Creation of Tsunami Warning System for Indian
  Ocean countries, launched this summer by US AID

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• Unexpected Outcomes of Tsunami
• Release of Nuclear Wastes in Somalia
• Less Donations for Other Disasters
• Creation of Tsunami Warning System for Indian
  Ocean
• More than one million indigenous persons were
  displaced by the earthquake and tsunami in South
  Asia.

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• Unexpected Outcomes of Tsunami
• Release of Nuclear Wastes in Somalia
• Less Donations for Other Disasters
• Creation of Tsunami Warning System for Indian
  Ocean countries (meeting today)
• More than one million indigenous persons were
  displaced by the earthquake and tsunami in South
  Asia.
• Trafficking of Children for Sex Trade
• http//www.usdoj.gov/criminal/ceos/trafficking.htm
  l

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• Unexpected Outcomes of Tsunami
• Release of Nuclear Wastes in Somalia
• Less Donations for Other Disasters
• Creation of Tsunami Warning System for Indian
  Ocean countries (meeting today)
• More than one million indigenous persons were
  displaced by the earthquake and tsunami in South
  Asia.
• Trafficking of Children for Sex Trade
• http//www.usdoj.gov/criminal/ceos/trafficking.htm
  l
• No Relief?

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Japans Earthquake and Tsunami 2011
http//www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/11/japan-tsu
nami-anniversary_n_1337534.html?refjapan-tsunami
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http//www.huffingtonpost.com/news/japan-tsunami
Lingering Impacts Debris and Ghost Ships
Impacts on Nuclear Energy worldwide
Film http//www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/japa
ns-nuclear-meltdown/