Mudasir Hameed

01-261092-042
BS (Geo Phy) IV
 Tsunami
Tsunami is a Japanese word meaning ‘harbor wave’. It is constituted
with two WORDS, Japanese language meaning harbour ("tsu”) and
wave ("nami").

Tsunami is a wave train or series of waves generated, by impulsive

disturbance that vertically displaces the water column, in water body.
Earthquake, landslides, volcanic eruption, explosion and even the
impact of cosmic bodies like meteorites commonly generate tsunami.
Tsunami savagely attacks coastlines causing devastating property
damage and loss of lives..
What causes Tsunami?
1. Tsunami can be generated when the sea floor abruptly deforms
and vertically displaces the overlying water.

2. Tectonic earthquakes are a particular kind of earthquake that are

associated with the earth’s crustal deformation, when these
earthquakes occur beneath the sea, the water above the
deformed area is displayed from its equilibrium position.

3. Waves are formed as the displaced water mass, which acts under
the influence of gravity, attempts to regain its equilibrium
 Japan Earthquake V/S Indian
Ocean Tsunami

The 2004 Tsunami and 2011 Tsunami are two of the most deadly
tsunami that ever occurred in the history of mankind. These
tsunamis have cost thousands of lives of people in their areas
covered and thousands are also injured. Numerous homes and
establishments have also been destroyed.

 The 2004 tsunami

Formally known as “2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami”
occurred on December 26, 2004 with Sumatra, Indonesia as the
center of the earthquake. Based from the survey conducted by
the United States Geological Agency (USGS), there are more
than 200,000 deaths recorded and almost a quarter of it is coming
from Indonesia. Other countries affected are: Maldives, Malaysia,
Sri Lanka, Thailand, Somalia, India, Myanmar and Seychelles.
 The 2011 tsunami

It was caused by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake in Sendai, Japan

on March 11, 2011. The center of the earthquake that causes the
great tsunami is in Tohoku which is Japan’s largest island. The
Police in Japan have confirmed the public that the deaths brought
by the tsunami and the earthquake are more than 10,000.
 Compare and contrast
The 2004 tsunami occurred in Indonesia creating numerous loss
and damage to properties and lives while the 2011 tsunami is
brought by the earthquake in Japan, specifically in Tohoku,
Oshika Peninsula. Death toll in the tsunami in Indonesia last 2004
is around 220,000 and the death counts in Japan last March 11,
2011 is around 10,000 but is expected to rise up as high as
thousands as the search for missing person’s is still on going. On
the magnitude of the earthquake, it’s 9.1 for the 2004 tsunami and
9.0 for the latest 2011 tsunami in Japan.
After the earthquake and tsunami that occurred in Japan, there
are a great number of hoaxes and speculations that it’s already
the end of the world. Especially due to the fact that there is a
nuclear chemical that broke up in Japan due to the earthquake.
But it’s always been this way during major calamities in a given
country.

 Damages
The 2004 caused $15 billion damage, but killed 230000 people.
the Japanese one probably killed around 10000 people(a number
that may be increased later as more reports are tallied) but
probably caused more than $34 billion in damage.

 Conclusion
 Both of these tsunamis caused many problems for the
citizens of the area, and caused many deaths.
 The Japan tsunami is recording a number of around 10,000
being killed, however the final count is still not known.
 The Indian tsunami killed hundreds about 230,000.
 Japan was more prepared for a tsunami as they had warning
systems in place and people were much more knowledgeable
about what could happen.
 The Indian tsunami was somewhat of a surprise to those in
the area, and because of this they were not ready to handle the
effects.
 The Indian tsunami affected about 20 different communities
in proximal coastal areas.
 The Japanese tsunami affected far fewer people. The
present dangers posed by the highly unstablecoastal nuclear
power plants are aggravated by the fact that there is no visibility
regarding what is happening inside. The contracting service
which manages the nuclear plant operations is not willing to
share information openly with the anyone outside - apparently
this includes the Japanese government and highly respected
foreign nuclear physicists.