Tsunami

The word "tsunami" is Japanese for "harbor wave." A tsunami is a series of large waves on the sea or ocean
that can cause significant damage and loss of life. It happens when a large amount of water is suddenly
displaced, and this can occur in any body of water if the right conditions are met.

Difference between ‘tsunami’ and ‘tidal wave’

● Tsunamis are usually referred to as ‘tidal waves’ but they are not so. There are a lot of differences
between a tsunami and a tidal wave based on various factors:
● Cause
○ A tidal wave is caused due to the gravitational forces of the sun and the moon whereas tsunamis
are caused due to underlying causes like earthquakes, erupting submarine volcanoes or any gas
bubble erupting in the sea or ocean.
● Location
○ Tidal waves are noticed mostly in coastal areas. On the contrary, tsunamis can take place in any
large body of water if the underlying causes are present there.
● Frequency
○ Tidal waves take place at regular intervals whereas a tsunami has no specific time and can occur
at any time if there are favorable conditions (seismic activity) for its occurrence. However, tsunamis
are rare.
● Intensity
○ Tidal waves usually do not cause much damage if they are not very high and even if they are high,
they can affect only coastal areas whereas a tsunami can travel a long distance and cause
extensive damage.

Types
● Local tsunamis
○ These affect areas lying within 100 km (60 miles) of the tsunami-causing event (earthquake etc).
○ These tsunamis can be more devastating because they arrive within 10 to 60 minutes of the
occurrence of the tsunami-causing event.
○ Such tsunamis do not provide sufficient time for evacuation.
● Regional tsunamis
○ These tsunamis cause damage to areas lying between 100 km to 1,000km from the
tsunami-causing event. Sometimes, they may even harm areas lying outside the 1,000km
perimeter.
○ These tsunamis arrive between one to three hours after the occurrence of the tsunami-causing
event.
○ They provide slightly more time than the local tsunamis to take protective measures. However, one
to three hours may not be sufficient enough for safe evacuation given a 1,000km area.
● Distant tsunamis
○ Also called tele-tsunami or ocean-wide tsunami.
○ They originate 1,000 km away from the affected shore.
○ They travel across wide swathes of oceans and may cover the entire ocean basins.
○ As it takes time to reach the shore, it provides more time for safe evacuation.
○ It covers a large mass of land and thus causes widespread destruction.

Main features
● High waves with a height reaching 10-100 feet.
● They can travel up to 20-30 miles per hour.
● They have a high wavelength which can be a few 100 km long.
● Prominent in shallow waters.

Causes
● Earthquakes
○ The Earth’s surface is made up of tectonic plates and when these plates undergo any tectonic
activity (spreading, subduction and transformation), they can lead to tsunamis.
○ However, all earthquakes do not cause a tsunami. Certain conditions are necessary for an
earthquake to cause a tsunami. Some of them are like earthquakes must occur beneath the ocean,
it must be strong, rupturing of the earth’s surface must take place (shallow depth) and the
earthquake must cause vertical movement of seafloor.
● Volcanic eruption
○ Volcanic explosions cause impulsive disturbances and thus can displace a large volume of water
generating extensive tsunamis, However, such tsunamis are rare.
○ A tsunami can also take place if a caldera volcano collapses after an eruption causing overlying
water to drop suddenly.
○ Pyroclastic flows (dense mixtures of hot blocks, pumice, ash and gas) from volcanic slopes
plunging into oceans can push water outwards leading to a tsunami.
○ Underwater volcanoes can also cause a tsunami.
● Landslides
○ Landslides occurring along the coasts can force a large amount of water into the sea thus causing
a disturbance in water resulting in a tsunami.
○ Underwater landslides also cause tsunamis when the material loosened by the landslide moves
violently, pushing the water in front of it.
● Extra-terrestrial occurrences
○ A tsunami caused by extra-terrestrial collisions has not taken place in recent history but it is
believed that if celestial bodies like asteroids or meteors strike the ocean, a large volume of water
would be displaced causing a tsunami.
Effects
● Loss of life and property
○ Tsunamis can have devastating effects on life and property. This large displacement of water
destroys housing and infrastructure in the areas affected by it.
○ Many people lose their lives. Records say that since 1850, tsunamis have been responsible for the
loss of more than 430,000 lives. Tsunamis cause collapsing of buildings, electrocution, gas leakage
and explosions, damaging of tanks and floating of debris that further cause injury and death.
● Disease
○ Tsunami causes floods in the affected areas and destroys the basic infrastructure like the sewage
systems.
○ Flooding and contamination caused due to the destruction of sewage systems cause outbreaks of
diseases, infections and illness thus causing more death.
● Effect on environment and biodiversity
○ Tsunamis not only affect human beings but also cause harm to insects, animals, plants, and natural
resources.
○ Plants are uprooted due to violent waves of a tsunami, nesting sites are destroyed, land animals
get killed by drowning and marine life is harmed by the flow of toxic chemicals into the waterbody.
○ Solid waste and disaster debris are other critical environmental problems faced by a disaster-hit
area.
● Economic cost
○ Tsunami causes contamination of soil and water. It increases the salinity of the soil.
○ The mixing up of disaster debris with the soil and high salinity makes the soil infertile and unfit for
cultivation thus adding to financial loss to the farmers and raising the chances of food insecurity.
○ Post-tsunami reconstruction also requires a huge amount of financial investment. Thus, a tsunami
has a huge economic cost for an economy.

Mitigation
● Mitigation strategies may help lower the effect of damages and destruction caused by a tsunami.
● Some of them are: –
○ Land-use planning in coastal areas should include restricted development and sustainable
development strategies.
○ Evacuation strategies should include the construction of tsunami evacuation structures and
improvement in evacuation routes.
○ Construction of seawalls, breakwaters, tsunami river gates and developing forest barriers may also
help in preventing extensive damage.
○ Proper planning before the construction of building structures and the adoption of building codes
should be done to prevent damage to life and property.
 ○ Protection of coastal ecosystems like mangroves and coral reefs may help in lowering
tsunami-related hazards.
○ Setting up tsunami prediction and warning systems.
○ Movement of population and necessary community assets away from vulnerable regions and
planning for post-tsunami recovery should be done.

Global initiatives
● The Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction adopted in 2015 has put forward the following
efforts to address tsunami-related hazards. These include:-
○ Hazard warning
○ Mapping
○ Risk Assessment
● The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO has started a community
performance-based programme known as “Tsunami Ready” for the promotion of tsunami preparedness
by actively involving the public, community leaders, and national and local emergency management
agencies.

Conclusion
● Globally, more than 700 million people live in low-lying coastal areas and Small Island Developing
States and they are at high risk of extreme sea-level events including tsunamis. To address such a
natural hazard, a comprehensive approach is required.
● Efforts have been taken in this direction yet more efforts are required to protect more people from loss
of life and property. Building resilient infrastructure, setting up early warning systems, and spreading
awareness among people is critical in preventing tsunami-related risks in the future.