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TSUNAMI!

© Linda Bond

TSUNAMI!

The devastation that hit Indonesia and the surrounding area a week ago was unexpected. While tsunamis are common enough in the Pacific Ocean to have resulted in a warning system being put in place, the Indian Ocean has historically only experienced this phenomenon about once in a hundred years. The likelihood of such an event occurring again in the area is, therefore, expected to be rare. Unless, of course, we're seeing a pattern of ecological upheaval forming. Either way, one thing is sure: The impact of this unexpected disaster will be felt for years.

The word Tsunami is formed by two Japanese characters: "Tsu" (harbor) and "Nami" (wave). Tsunamis can be created by various means, including the shifting of the plates underlying an area off the coast of Sumatra. As we've all heard by now, the waves created this week traveled across the Indian Ocean at a speed of 500 mph, or the speed of a jetliner. As they approached land, the shallow beaches slowed the waves to something like 20 mph, but still, walls of water up to 30 feet high slammed into villages, resorts and small towns, ripping away structures, trees, and thousands of people.

This disaster has reminded us that water, under certain conditions, can be one of the most powerful forces on earth. Annually, floods take their toll around the world. Rainwater soaks the ground until sinkholes begin to form and landslides pull buildings and roadways down the sides of cliffs. But tsunamis or tidal waves are perhaps the most devastating since they arise with little warning and can occur in the midst of warm, tropical weather.

Links to Knowledge

There are a number of institutions that study the way tsunamis are formed and how they travel in the hopes of learning how to protect against the kind of severe damage that occurred this week. I checked out a few web sites for myself, but you can easily do a google search, too. In the meantime, here are a few of the best:

The Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory

An excellent map and links at the University of South California.

Good links and info hosted by Tripod.

And Lots of good stuff at Wikipedia.

There are many others, but I particularly enjoyed these sites for their depth of information, clear presentation, and helpful navigation design.

What About the Future?

We have no way of knowing if the ocean floor near Sumatra will move again soon. It looks like some of the area was moved as much as 98 feet sideways, and many islands were shifted in relation to the rest of the land in the region. Why has this happened now and will we see another tsunami in the Indian Ocean in our lifetime? We simply do not know.