![]() These include asbestos, oil fuel, and other industrial raw materials and chemicals. Small islands hit by a tsunami are left unrecognizable.Ĭombined with the issue of waste is that of hazardous materials and toxic substances that can be inadvertently mixed up with ordinary debris. 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. ![]() Tsunami waves destroy boats, buildings, bridges, cars, trees, telephone lines, power lines - and just about anything else in their way. Large objects such as ships and boulders can be carried several miles inland before the tsunami subsides. Objects and buildings are destroyed by the sheer weight of the water, often reduced to skeletal foundations and exposed bedrock. When the giant breaking waves of a tsunami batter the shoreline, they can destroy everything in their path.ĭestruction 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. It is the power behind the waves, the endless rushing water that causes devastation and loss of life. 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. ![]() The initial wave of a huge tsunami is extremely tall however, most damage is not sustained by this wave. The amount of energy and water contained in a huge tsunami can cause extreme destruction when it strikes land. Large tsunamis have been known to rise to over 100 feet! The effects can be further amplified where a bay, harbour, or lagoon funnels the waves as they move inland. 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. However, when tsunami waves become extremely large in height, they savagely attack coastlines, causing devastating property damage and loss of life. Generally tsunamis arrive, not as giant breaking waves, but as a forceful rapid increase in water levels that results in violent flooding. ![]() 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. Tsunamis have long periods and can overcome obstacles such as gulfs, bays and islands. When a small tsunami comes to the shoreline it is often seen as a strong and fast-moving tide. They are very often too far away from land or they are too small to have any effect when they hit the shore. Small tsunamis, non-destructive and undetectable without specialized equipment, happen almost every day as a result of minor earthquakes and other events. 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. The effects of a tsunami on a coastline can range from unnoticeable to devastating. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |