demerits of tsunami of two pages
Answers
Answer:
Generally tsunamis arrive, not as giant breaking waves, but as a forceful rapid increase in water levels that results in violent flooding. However, when tsunami waves become extremely large in height, they savagely attack coastlines, causing devastating property damage and loss of life.
Explanation:
The effects of a tsunami on a coastline can range from unnoticeable to devastating. The effects of a tsunami depend on the characteristics of the seismic event that generated the tsunami, the distance from its point of origin, its size (magnitude) and, at last, the configuration of the bathymetry (that is the depth of water in oceans) along the coast that the tsunami is approaching.
Small tsunamis, non-destructive and undetectable without specialized equipment, happen almost every day as a result of minor earthquakes and other events. They are very often too far away from land or they are too small to have any effect when they hit the shore. When a small tsunami comes to the shoreline it is often seen as a strong and fast-moving tide.
Tsunamis have long periods and can overcome obstacles such as gulfs, bays and islands. These tsunamis make landfall usually in the form of suddenly decreasing and then rapidly increasing water levels (not unlike a tidal bore) a combination of several large waves or bore-type waves. Generally tsunamis arrive, not as giant breaking waves, but as a forceful rapid increase in water levels that results in violent flooding.
However, when tsunami waves become extremely large in height, they savagely attack coastlines, causing devastating property damage and loss of life. A small wave only 30 centimetres high in the deep ocean may grow into a monster wave 30m high as it sweeps over the shore. The effects can be further amplified where a bay, harbour, or lagoon funnels the waves as they move inland. Large tsunamis have been known to rise to over 100 feet!The amount of energy and water contained in a huge tsunami can cause extreme destruction when it strikes land.
The initial wave of a huge tsunami is extremely tall; however, most damage is not sustained by this wave. Most of the damage is caused by the huge mass of water behind the initial wave front, as the height of the sea keeps rising fast and floods powerfully into the coastal area. It is the power behind the waves, the endless rushing water that causes devastation and loss of life. When the giant breaking waves of a tsunami batter the shoreline, they can destroy everything in their path.
Destruction is caused by two mechanisms: the smashing force of a wall of water traveling at high speed, and the destructive power of a large volume of water draining off the land and carrying all with it, even if the wave did not look large.
Objects and buildings are destroyed by the sheer weight of the water, often reduced to skeletal foundations and exposed bedrock. Large objects such as ships and boulders can be carried several miles inland before the tsunami subsides.
Tsunami waves destroy boats, buildings, bridges, cars, trees, telephone lines, power lines - and just about anything else in their way. Once the tsunami waves have knocked down infrastructure on the shore they may continue to travel for several miles inland, sweeping away more trees, buildings, cars and other man made equipment. Small islands hit by a tsunami are left unrecognizable.
Tsunami Destruction
Image: Homes are destroyed by a tsunami
Especially along a high seismic area, known as the Ring of Fire, tsunamis may have dramatic consequences as they hit less developed countries.
The buildings infrastructure in these poorer nations are not well built and cannot withstand the impact of the tsunami. Whole areas and towns are a picture of destruction as the tsunami leaves at trail devastation and misery behind it.
Death
One of the biggest and worst effects of a tsunami is the cost to human life because unfortunately escaping a tsunami is nearly impossible. Hundreds and thousands of people are killed by tsunamis. Since 1850 alone, tsunamis have been responsible for the loss of more than 430,000 lives. There is very little warning before a tsunamis hits land. As the water rushes toward land, it leaves very little time to map an escape plan.
People living in coastal regions, towns and villages have no time to escape. The violent force of the tsunami results in instant death, most commonly by drowning. Buildings collapsing, electrocution, and explosions from gas, damaged tanks and floating debris are another cause of death. The tsunami of December 2004 that struck South East Asia and East Africa killed over 31,000 people in Sri Lanka only, leaving 23,000 injured.
Tsunami Desperate