Tsunamis: When The Sea Turns Ferocious
Just saying the word “tsunami” makes one quiver with fear. The term itself conjures up images of an uncontrollable force that strikes suddenly and penetrates with a ferocious intensity that is surreal to the people in the middle of one. The experience is inexplicable, envisioning gigantic waves of the tsunami crashing into the unsuspecting coastline overpowering everything in its path without a chance for its prey to fight or take flight.
The meaning of “tsunami” has Japanese origins, loosely translated it is a “harbor wave.” Tsunamis often consist of several peaking waves reaching anywhere from 20 feet to several hundred feet rushing up to the shore and moving over 100 mph as the sea water charges across the terrain with a merciless ardor and a tenacious hold. Its appetite is unyielding as sea water infiltrates the landscape, demolishing entire communities and dragging debris back to the sea as the water exits the land.
Tsunamis are based on the law of physics that states for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction to counterbalance the initial movement, thereby, re-establishing nature’s equilibrium. Tsunamis are seismic waves which are generated by a sudden shift in the planet’s equilibrium. These shifts are due to cataclysmic changes that the planet undergoes which causes its scale of balance to tip such as earthquakes, landslides and volcanic eruptions. These actions all move the planet to settle in a new position, and cause nature to find a new balance.
Many tsunamis strike shorelines around the Pacific Ocean, a region that is held together by two major plates which hold the planet together and run along the coast of North and South America. When one of the earth’s plates undergoes a shift, it causes the sea water to rush into the gaping hole and fill up the new crack. The sea gathers this water by retracting away from the shoreline and piling up where the seafloor shifted, culminating into a massive wall of water in the middle of the ocean, which then races back to the shore in groups of waves after the seafloor has settled into its new position. The water moves at a rate of several hundred miles per hour, forming a series of gigantic crests which are separated by intervals of calming depressions.
At the end of the onslaught, the water then begins to recede and drawback from the charge taking with it anything that is not attached to the land as it heads back to the middle of the ocean. The force of a tsunami is equivalent to being at the base of Niagara Falls in Upstate New York, as water rushes down the rock cliffs at a massive speed.
The most destructive tsunami in modern times has been the one that hit the Indian Ocean island of Sumatra on December 26, 2004. The tsunami was sparked by a 9.0 earthquake off the coast of Northern Sumatra. Within minutes of the initial earthquake, a mountain of water more than 100 feet high was ravaging the island of Sumatra, leveling coastal villages and resort communities, crushing buildings, destroying vegetation, and stripping the shoreline down to the bedrock. The tsunami left rubble and debris in its wake.
Tsunamis are very different from the tidal waves that are indigenous to the Pacific Ocean, which hit the beaches of Hawaii and California and allow surfers to ride. These tidal waves are due to the stationary curves of the oceanfloor of the Pacific Ocean, whereas, tsunamis emerge due to a shift in the oceanfloor. There are three types of earthquakes that spur tsunamis: 1) Divergent Boundaries which are when two plates move apart creating a void or crack; 2) Convergent Boundaries which are when two plates move toward each other resulting in one plate sliding beneath the other producing a collision effect; and 3) Transform Boundaries which are when two plates slide past each other forming slumps and lifts on the earth’s surface like the San Andreas Fault in California.
What causes earthquakes, landslides and volcanic eruptions are a mystery, but these cataclysmic changes will spur the ocean to react by forming deadly tsunamis. Tsunamis are a product of nature as the planet seeks to re-establish its equilibrium and stabilize its system in order to function properly. Tsunamis come up to shore roaring like a lion and leave clutching its spoils in its mouth as the water returns to the middle of the sea. They are unpredictable and ferocious, and a real part of nature no matter how surreal they are to the people who experience them.
The meaning of “tsunami” has Japanese origins, loosely translated it is a “harbor wave.” Tsunamis often consist of several peaking waves reaching anywhere from 20 feet to several hundred feet rushing up to the shore and moving over 100 mph as the sea water charges across the terrain with a merciless ardor and a tenacious hold. Its appetite is unyielding as sea water infiltrates the landscape, demolishing entire communities and dragging debris back to the sea as the water exits the land.
Tsunamis are based on the law of physics that states for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction to counterbalance the initial movement, thereby, re-establishing nature’s equilibrium. Tsunamis are seismic waves which are generated by a sudden shift in the planet’s equilibrium. These shifts are due to cataclysmic changes that the planet undergoes which causes its scale of balance to tip such as earthquakes, landslides and volcanic eruptions. These actions all move the planet to settle in a new position, and cause nature to find a new balance.
Many tsunamis strike shorelines around the Pacific Ocean, a region that is held together by two major plates which hold the planet together and run along the coast of North and South America. When one of the earth’s plates undergoes a shift, it causes the sea water to rush into the gaping hole and fill up the new crack. The sea gathers this water by retracting away from the shoreline and piling up where the seafloor shifted, culminating into a massive wall of water in the middle of the ocean, which then races back to the shore in groups of waves after the seafloor has settled into its new position. The water moves at a rate of several hundred miles per hour, forming a series of gigantic crests which are separated by intervals of calming depressions.
At the end of the onslaught, the water then begins to recede and drawback from the charge taking with it anything that is not attached to the land as it heads back to the middle of the ocean. The force of a tsunami is equivalent to being at the base of Niagara Falls in Upstate New York, as water rushes down the rock cliffs at a massive speed.
The most destructive tsunami in modern times has been the one that hit the Indian Ocean island of Sumatra on December 26, 2004. The tsunami was sparked by a 9.0 earthquake off the coast of Northern Sumatra. Within minutes of the initial earthquake, a mountain of water more than 100 feet high was ravaging the island of Sumatra, leveling coastal villages and resort communities, crushing buildings, destroying vegetation, and stripping the shoreline down to the bedrock. The tsunami left rubble and debris in its wake.
Tsunamis are very different from the tidal waves that are indigenous to the Pacific Ocean, which hit the beaches of Hawaii and California and allow surfers to ride. These tidal waves are due to the stationary curves of the oceanfloor of the Pacific Ocean, whereas, tsunamis emerge due to a shift in the oceanfloor. There are three types of earthquakes that spur tsunamis: 1) Divergent Boundaries which are when two plates move apart creating a void or crack; 2) Convergent Boundaries which are when two plates move toward each other resulting in one plate sliding beneath the other producing a collision effect; and 3) Transform Boundaries which are when two plates slide past each other forming slumps and lifts on the earth’s surface like the San Andreas Fault in California.
What causes earthquakes, landslides and volcanic eruptions are a mystery, but these cataclysmic changes will spur the ocean to react by forming deadly tsunamis. Tsunamis are a product of nature as the planet seeks to re-establish its equilibrium and stabilize its system in order to function properly. Tsunamis come up to shore roaring like a lion and leave clutching its spoils in its mouth as the water returns to the middle of the sea. They are unpredictable and ferocious, and a real part of nature no matter how surreal they are to the people who experience them.
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