Tsunami’s: Past, Present & Future

Presented By:Kaylee Anderson

Kristin Gregory

Kari Poulain

How Tsunamis are Formed

• Formed by a displacement of water caused by one of the following:– Landslide– Volcanic eruption– Slippage between two tectonic plates

How They Cause DamageTravel about 600 mph at the epicenter,

but slow down to about 30-40 mph as it moves towards the shoreline

Actually multiple waves, not just oneAftershock can create more tsunamis if

strong enough

Environmental Impact

“The environment is in trouble, there’s no question”

-Bill EichbaumWorld Wildlife Fund

Ground/Drinking Water

• The tsunami compromised much of the area’s safe drinking water. – Breeding ground for disease– People in this region dependent on wells vs.

running water

The Land

• Rice Fields are brown– Much farmland now ‘useless’

• Changed the contours of the land

• Costal forests lay in ruin

• Beaches washed away or littered with debris

The Water• Much of the natural reef in the region has been

destroyed or will die in the near future.– Suffocating under layers of mud

• Marine life from the shore to a mile out suffered the most damage.– 6th Sense

• Fisheries• Mangroves vital for protection

Human Impact

Their Effects on Humanity

• After a major catastrophe, people are vulnerable to diseases – Water borne and

others• Women were hit

hardest

• The people in the communities are greatly effected

• Bad for their economy

Threat of Disease

• There is a threat for typhoid, malaria, cholera, dysentery, and waterborne disease– Children and elderly most at risk

Contaminated Water• The water may carry more than 50 different

diseases• It’s the leading killer of populations affected by

disaster • Surging seawater, hot and humid weather, sewage,

and decomposing bodies are contaminating many water supplies– Ideal breeding grounds for mosquitoes– Not much dry land for burying corpses

• CNN.com

The Tsunami Hit Women Hardest

• 3 times more women than men were killed on average

• This scarcity of females has led to women being– sexually assaulted– an increase in domestic

violence and;– women being forced into

marriage (mainly for protection)

• The radical changes in the population of these villages will likely alter their communities for good. (CNN.com)

• Men are now in a difficult position.

Destruction

• The waves destroyed many cities, fishing villages, and resorts along the coast– The fishing nets swept out to sea are a

potential threat to fish, birds and mammals

• Killed over 250,000 people – “one of the worst human tragedies in history” (the UN Environment Programme)

Fears of contaminated Seafood

• People fear the fish could pass on disease or bacteria

• Although scientific evidence shows no contamination– People are choosing dried fish over a fresher

product, causing the fish markets to suffer

Seafood cont…• Churning sea made an abundance of food

available for the fish– Micro-organisms– Plankton– Plants– Other dead fish

• Experts say the tsunami will have a positive effect on the food chain

The Future

How to Prevent Future Disasters

The Importance of Tsunami Warning Systems

Why It’s Important:

• “What we would like to see happen is countries managing the risks instead of managing emergencies.” -Max Dilley, research scientist at Columbia

• We should be proactive as opposed to reactive

How to be Proactive

• Strengthening building codes

• Implementing early warning systems

• Warning centers with computer technology

• Education for populace

Difficulties in Asia

• TIMING– warnings need to occur within 10-20 minutes– variable timing (hard to determine) when

waves will hit the shoreline

• COMMUNICATION– Much of Asia’s population lives without

modern communications– warning becomes difficult and useless

A Logical Approach

• Model warning system for the Indian Ocean after the Pacific Ocean’s system

• System could be in place within the next two years

Pacific System Logistics

• Has been in place for decades– implemented in 1965 after years of tsunamis

• Currently links 26 nations

• Network of buoys and seismic stations– hundreds of seismic stations– coastal tide gauges– deep-water buoys

How Buoys Work• Contain two parts: pressure sensor and

surface transmitter• pressure sensor: ability to sense when sea

level rises above normal by only a centimeter, warning of a tsunami

• information then sent to surface transmitter, which sends information to stations by satellite

Cost-Benefit Analysis• Cost of each buoy: $250,000• Extremely expensive maintenance costs• About 6 major tsunamis hit the Pacific

each decade, Asia experiences far less• Benefits

– if system had already been in place in the Indian Ocean, thousands of lives in Asia could have been spared

What Needs to be Done?

• Mangroves need to be rehabilitated and added onto

• Less dependence on well water

• Government Intervention and continued UN presence.

• Use this as a lesson for the future, because tsunamis will happen again!

Why Should We Care?

• Moral obligation

• Business sense/globalization

• Diplomatic ties

• In hopes that other countries will follow suite

Quiz Time!

Question #1

• What are two of the three ways a tsunami can be formed??

– Landslides

– Volcanic Eruptions

– Movement of Plates

Question #2

• How fast do tsunami’s travel? (Either at the epicenter or around land)

– 600 MPH at epicenter

– 30-40 MPH by coastline

Question #3

• What is the major effect of the landscape changing?

– Increases likeliness of flooding, especially in areas that previously weren’t at an especially high risk.

Question #4• Who did the tsunami

hit the hardest?• Women

Question #5

• What is the name of the buoy system currently in place in the Pacific?

– The Pacific System Logistic

How You Can Help…• Red Cross

– www.redcross.org

• UNICEF– www.unicef.org

• AmeriCares– www.americares.org

• Asia Foundation– www.give2asia.org/projects/tsunami

• Habitat For Humanity– www.habitat.org

• Save the Children– www.savethechildren.org/emergencies/tsunami

• Relief International– www.ri.org

Sources Consulted• CNN

• Dr. Wayne Nafziger

• Tsunami Museum

• Boston Globe

• World Environmental News

• The New York Times