Tsunami

May 2019/2020

Class: B3

Subject Code: SP034 PHYSICS 3

Date of Submission: 2/3/2020

Lecturer’s Name:

Group Members’ Name:

1
Signatory Page

2
Table of Content
Number Title Page number
1 Project Overview 4
2 Introduction 5
3 Types of waves 6
4 Working of Tsunami 8-9
5 Facts about Tsunami 10-11
6 Tsunami Height 12
7 Characteristics of Tsunami 13-14
8 Differences between Tidal Waves and 15-16
Tsunami
9 Causes of Tsunami 17-18
10 Effects of Tsunami 19-20
11 Warnings and Predictions 21-22
12 Some Lists of Notable Tsunami 22
13 Preparations during Tsunami 23
14 Conclusion 24
15 References 25

Project Overview

3
 For our group, the purpose of doing this assignment is to learn more about tsunamis -

how they work, their natures, causes, characteristics, their impacts to our lives and

many more. By carrying out some researches regarding tsunami with all our group

members, we will definitely learn and discover more about tsunami. And for now, we

only know that a tsunami is a series of waves that can bring a huge destruction to the

land especially to those who lived near the sea shore.

As we know, Malaysia is one of many countries affected by the notable 2004 Indian

Ocean tsunami. Even though we are still very young during that time, we still know

that there was a tsunami happened back in 2004. We hope that by finding out more

about tsunami’s information, we can benefit ourselves and the people around us. We

also wish to know the way the preparations need to be done before the event of

tsunami to save more lives.

TSUNAMI

4
Introduction

The world “tsunami” is origin from a Japanese word, tsu meaning with “harbour” and

“nami” meaning “wave”. At 426 century, the work “History of the Peloponnesian

War”, by Greek historian Thucydides had inquired about the causes of tsunami. He

also was the first person to argue that the ocean earthquakes must be the cause of

tsunami occurred.

Tsunamis are ocean waves which is also giant waves that caused by large

earthquakes, submarine landslides, volcanic eruptions under the sea and by onshore

landslides in which large volumes of debris fall into the water. Tsunami waves do not

dramatically increase in height when out in the depths of the ocean.  But as the waves

travel into the land, they build up to higher and higher heights as the depth of the

ocean decreases. The term "tidal wave" do not use by scientists for explaining

Tsunami waves because these waves are not caused by tides because the typical ocean

waves are generated by wind and storms. Tsunamis are very powerful which can

travel much further into the land than others normal waves. When tsunamis

approaching the shore, they behave like a tide which are moving very fast as a jet

plane and are extending far inland. Tsunami waves will only slow down when they

are reaching shallow waters. If a tsunami occurs close to the coastline, it can reach the

costal communities within minutes. The complex interactions with the coast will

contribute the tsunami waves to persist for many hours.

Types of waves

5
Tsunami is a type of both longitudinal and transverse wave. The tsunami is a

transverse wave from where the earthquake starts under the water until it reaches the

shore. The tsunami is a longitudinal wave when its approached at the shore.

Transverse wave is a moving water wave whose oscillations are perpendicular to the

direction of the wave. In water waves and also including tsunami, the water particles

move in circular or elliptical pattern depending on the depth of the water.

Longitudinal waves are waves which the displacement of the medium is in the same

direction or the opposite direction to the direction of propagation of the wave.

Longitudinal waves are when the waves are getting smaller and thinner and they are

going to get in a smaller place such as tsunami will become longitudinal wave when it

approached the shore.

Transverse wave

Longitudinal wave

Diagram of Tsunami

6
 Indian Ocean earthquake and Tsunami

Earthquake and tsunami in Japan 2011

The Working of Tsunami

7
 As we know, tsunami (also can be known as seismic sea waves) is a kind of disasters

which can be created in any ocean, inland seas, and in any large body of water around

the world. According to International Tsunami Information Center (ITIC), around

80% of tsunamis happen in the Pacific Ocean and also its marginal seas. This is

because the Pacific Ocean covers a huge area of Earth’s surface and it is surrounded

by deep-ocean trenches, a series of mountain chains and also the island arcs, named

the “ring of fire”. The “ring of fire” is a major area in the basin of the Pacific Ocean

and many earthquakes and volcanic eruptions happen there. A tsunami is also not a

tidal wave, as many people thought. It is a series of waves and every single wave last

around 15 minutes. Unfortunately, it is hard to predict a tsunami because not every

big underwater earthquake will generate enormous waves.

When tsunami happens, (it may be caused by an undersea earthquake- the tectonic

plates of the Earth’s surface slip, submarine landslides and volcanic eruption), a vast

amount of energy is released. The energy originating from underwater travels up to

the sea surface, displacing the water and causing it to rise above the normal sea level.

But, the gravity of the Earth pulls the water down, making the energy to ripple and

spread outwards horizontally. A typical tsunami wave may travel over 500 miles per

hour (800 kilometres per hour). When the tsunami is far away from the seashore, we

can barely detect it. This is due to the tsunami is moving through the entire depth of

the water.

Sometimes, during a tsunami, the crest or trough of the wave may arrive first. If the

trough arrives the shore first, the ocean will recede or rush away from the shore before

the tsunami hits the land. When a tsunami wave comes and approaches the coast

which has shallow water, the leading edge of the tsunami wave starts to slow down.

The rest of the wave will start to “add on” or “pile up” behind the leading wave since

8
massive amount of energy is still compressed. We call this wave shoaling and this

results in the growing of the height of the tsunami wave while its strength is

maintained.

Usually, an ordinary tsunami wave has the height (or amplitude) of 10 metres (33

feet). However, in some rare cases, a huge tsunami wave may grow up to 20 metres!

The first wave of tsunami that reached the shore may not be the most dangerous one.

Tsunami can travel around 16 kilometres (10 miles) inland, depending on the slope

and the shape of the shoreline. Dangerous tsunami currents may last for a few days.

When a tsunami hits a land, it destroys everything on its way.

Megatsunami

A megatsunami is, of course a tsunami. It is a super enormous wave produces by a

large and sudden displacement of material into a huge body of water. Its initial wave

amplitude or height can measure up several tens, hundreds, or even thousands of

metres. Megatsunamis are usually caused by huge landslides undersea or an impact

event. Impact event is a collision between astronomical objects and it may result in

several measurable effects and consequences. There was a megatsunami happened in

the year 1958, at Lituya Bay, Alaska, United States. It was caused by an earthquake.

Surprisingly, only two people are killed in that incident. Another example is the one

that happened in 1963, in Vajont Dam, Italy. It was caused by a landslide above

Vajont Dam and almost 2000 people are killed in this megatsunami.

Some Facts About Tsunami

9
1) There are three types of tsunamis, local tsunamis, regional tsunamis and

ocean-wide tsunami. They are being classified by tsunami researchers

according to the area of effect of each type of tsunami.

2) Tsunamis are good are retaining their energy. This means that they can travel

across entire ocean with minimal energy loss.

3) A tsunami can be caused by a giant meteor “landed” in the sea, but this is

quite rare.

4) Same as earthquake, tsunami also has its intensity scales and magnitude

scales. They can be calculated from certain formulae.

[Formula used to calculate intensity scales of tsunamis.]

Where:
h= maximum tsunami wave amplitude
R= distance between a tide gauge (R) to the epicenter
a, b and D= constants.
[Formula used to determine the magnitude scales of tsunamis.]

5) A tsunami can poison the land with a lot of salt. This lead to starvation and

diseases.

6) A tsunami height can be smaller than 30 centimetres. It can pass by without

being noticed by people.

7) The World Tsunami Awareness Day falls on 5 November every year. It is

designated by The United Nations General Assembly in year 2015 after the

10
 deadly tsunami in the Indian Ocean in 2004. It is dedicated to promote and

increase the people’s awareness regarding tsunami all over the globe,

especially those who are living in small islands and low-lying coastal area.

Tsunami Height

11
 There are many ways to measure the height of tsunami. According to Wikipedia,

some terms that expert used to describe the characteristics of tsunami regarding to its

height are listed as below.

First, it is amplitude. (it can also be known as wave height and tsunami) The

amplitude of the tsunami is measured from the normal sea level. It simply means

height relative to the normal sea level and this is not the same as crest-to-trough

height.

Next, flow depth which refers to the measurement of height of tsunami from the

ground. It does not depend to the height of the place or sea level.

Besides that, run-up height or sometimes we refer it as the inundation height. It

means the height achieved by tsunami on the ground above the sea level. So,

maximum run-up height means the maximum height achieved by the water or tsunami

from the sea level.

Apart from that, it is water level which means the maximum height of the water

mark or trace from the sea level.

A diagram shows the different type of measurement of tsunami height.

Characteristics of a Tsunami

Tsunamis are different with normal waves

12
The movement of water of tsunami waves moves all the way to the sea floor, while

other normal ocean waves can only be seen near the surface of the ocean.

Tsunamis have long wavelengths

In the deep ocean tsunami waves have very long wavelengths compared to wind

driven waves. Tsunami waves have wavelengths up to hundreds of kilometres.

Therefore tsunami are much more destructive than normal wavesThis is because the

huge amount of water can continue to rush onto land for a long period of time and

causes flooding. The time taken can take up to a few minutes to an hour, while wind-

driven waves only lasts for a few seconds.

The size of the wavelength increases as it approaches land

The speed and size of a tsunami can be determined by water depth. The tsunami

waves are less noticeable in deep ocean. But as the wave approaches land it the depth

becomes shallow and the wave will start to slow down. This results in shorter

wavelength and higher volume of water. This is known as shoaling.

Tsunamis are fast waves

A tsunami can travel at more than 900 kilometres per hour in deep ocean, this is close

to the speed of a jumbo jet. While in shallow waters, it is roughly the speed of a fast

cyclist.

Tsunamis retains their energy

Tsunami can also travel large distances with minimal energy loss. Hence, tsunami will

have sufficient energy to travel across the whole oceans.

Tsunami waves moves away from their source (outwards)

13
The path that a tsunami travel is never the same. It is determined by a few factors

consisting the bathymetry of the sea floor. (Bathymetry is the measurement of the

depth of the ocean floor from the water surface) Tsunamis move outwards

perpendicular to the subduction trench where the earthquake has occurred. The

strength of the earthquake, earthquake shape are also influencing factors.

A tsunami is a 'series' of waves

A tsunami consists of a series of waves. The time taken between successive waves is

known as period.

Tsunamis vary in sizes and severity

A tsunami impact varies widely. A small tsunami may can cause unusual tides or

currents that may cause damage to boats and pose as dangers to swimmers. A large

tsunami causes widespread flooding and huge destruction.

Differences between Tidal Waves and Tsunami

14
 As mentioned earlier, many people would assume that tidal wave is the same as

tsunami. However, they are two different things.

First and foremost, tidal wave are the ocean waves that are created by the

gravitational forces by the moon and also the sun. This could cause some changes of

the water level in the water bodies. Tidal waves happened periodically and it depends

on the relative position of the Earth and the Moon. For tsunami, it is a series of water

waves and it is caused by the huge displacement of an enormous bodies in the water.

Usually, they have low amplitude but with a long wavelength and sometimes, tsunami

can pass by without being noticed by people at the sea shore but it is prominent in

shallow waters or land.

Not only that, tidal waves are simply caused by the gravitational forces of the moon

and the sun. However, since our earth is closer to the moon, the moon has more effect

on tidal waves whereas tsunamis can be caused by eruption of volcanos undersea,

earthquakes and also giant submarine landslides.

Besides that, the intensity of a changing tide is noticeable only when it is high

enough. Sometimes, a strong tide can actually cause some damages and destructions

to the houses near the beach. For tsunamis, its intensity can be calculated by certain

formula. Usually, a typical tsunami has wavelengths up to 200 kilometres can it can

travel up to 800 kilometres per hour. There is a source states that the scale used to

measure tsunamis is the Sieberg-Ambraseys scale while for the tsunamis happened in

Mediterranean Sea and Pacific Ocean, Imamura-lida scale is used. A tsunami’s

magnitude can be measured by Murty and Loomis. (ML)

15
 Apart from that, tidal waves can be seen at most coastal areas. And for tsunamis,

around 80% of tsunami happen in the Pacific Ocean. However, tsunamis can happen

at anywhere at any time if the underlying causes are present.

Last but not least, tidal waves happen in most coastal area on a daily basis. For

tsunamis, it is usually hard to predict when and where it will happen, but it can occur

when there is seismic disturbance in huge water bodies.

16
Causes of tsunami

The principal of generating mechanism of a tsunami is the displacement of a

considerable volume of water or disruption of the sea. This displacement of water is

usually caused by earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, glacier calvings or

more rarely by meteorites and nuclear tests.

Earthquakes

Tsunami are mostly caused by huge earthquakes that happen on the sea floor. When

slabs of rock suddenly move past each other , It causes the overlying water to move.

The resulting waves then moves away from the source of the earthquake.

Landslides

Sometimes landslides happen on the seafloor, it is similar with landslides that happen

on land. Areas that are steep and loaded with sediment on the sea floor, for example

the edge of the continental slope, are where undersea landslides are more prone to

happen.

When an undersea landslide happens (perhaps after a nearby earthquake) a large

quantity of sand, mud and gravel will move down the slope. This movement draws the

water down and causes a tsunami that will travel across the ocean.

17
Volcanic eruptions

Another less common cause of Tsunami are tsunami that are initiated by volcanic

eruptions. They occur in several ways:

 Due to destructive collapse of island, coastal and underwater volcanoes

resulting in massive landslides

 pyroclastic flows (which are dense mixtures of hot blocks, pumice, ash and

gas), it plunges down volcanic slopes deep into the ocean and pushes water

outwards

 Collapse of a caldera volcano after an eruption which causes overlying water

to suddenly drop.

18
Effects of Tsunami

Tsunami has very high powerful current that will bring a huge impact in world.

Firstly, it will cause huge damage and destruction such as boats, buildings, houses,

hotels, cars, trees and telephone lines. Once the wave had knocked the infrastructure

or building on the shore, it will continue to move inland for many miles. Tsunami

offer hit the poorer and less-developed countries around South Asia that are close to

the “ring of fire”. Some of the buildings in those countries are not build strongly to

withstand the tsunami waves so that the buildings will easily wash away by the

powerful waves. Furthermore, the major effect of tsunami wave is causing many

deaths of human. This is because many people lived in the village or town will not

have much time to escape while the tsunami hit. The force of tsunami wave may kill

people instantly or they may drown as water rushed on the land. People may also kill

if a building is knocked down by tsunami wave and also be electrocuted if wires fall

down into water or killed by the fires or explosions. For instant, the tsunami that hit

South Asia and East African on 24 December 2004 had also caused 31,187 people

dead in Sri Lanka. There were 4280 people missing and a further 23,189 were injured

in this tsunami attack. Thirdly, tsunami will also cause many types of disease that will

spread in the stagnant water. For example, malaria, one of the diseases which is

formed when water is stagnant and contaminated. More death and sickness occurred

after tsunami. The most worth things are the diseases can also spread from the dead

bodies that begin to rot on the ground once the water has subsided. This was the case

which occurred in Indonesia 2014 when one security guard burned the corpse of a

baby because it had become infested with maggots and the risk of disease caused risk

of the television crew. Sewage and fresh water supplied for drinking are also damaged

by the tsunami. Thus, it is very hard for people to stay healthy and for the diseases to

19
be treated. Moreover, huge costs will be bear by the governments after tsunami hit the

countries. The initial cost of rescue operations was the cleaning up cost. All the

damage infrastructure and destruction caused by the tsunami need to clean away.

Damage buildings will not longer structural safely for humans. There is also the cost

comes from loss of earnings in the local economy. The total financial cost after the

tsunami could be up to millions or even billions of dollars. It is very hard to exact an

actual figure on the monetary cost but it is a lot for repairing and cleaning after

tsunami waves. Psychological effects among someone is one of the major effects after

tsunami waves. Most of the tsunami victims suffered psychology problems in days

and weeks even years after the destruction in their daily life. In fact, one of the

survival of the tsunami in Sri Lanka found that around three to four weeks after the

tsunami between 40% of the children had posttraumatic stress disorder which is

studied by World Health Organization (WHO). There were also 2000 people died and

450 families became homeless up to two years after the tsunami happen in 2004. They

had very severe psychological problems such as anxious and stressed because they

felt like their life was still in danger from another tsunami. Some will also suffer from

depressed while they knew that somebody had died in that tsunami.

20
Warning and Predictions:

WARNINGS:

Tsunami warning is detected by a system which is named as TSUNAMI WARNING

SYSTEM. What is a tsunami warning system? A tsunami warning system is used to

notice tsunami in advance to prevent loss of life and damages of properties. There are

several natural warnings that lead to occurrence of tsunami. Firstly, severe ground

shaking from local earthquakes. Then, an approaching tsunami will create a loud

“roaring” sound which is like that of a train or jet aircraft. Tsunami is a result of a

sudden rise in the water level of sea. Tsunami can travel up rivers and streams that

lead to the sea. There are some warnings signs and automated systems which can

provide warnings immediately after an earthquake in time to prevent loss of life and

damages of properties. One of the most successful systems uses bottom pressure

sensors, attached to buoys, which constantly monitor the pressure of the overlying

water column. Thus, these are some of the natural warnings to warn the population to

save lives.

PREDICTIONS:

There are some ways to predict the behaviour of tsunami. The behaviour of tsunami

detected by geologists, oceanographers and seismologists. The tsunami waves behave

in predictable way which is the speed of a tsunami is controlled by ocean depth and

sensors in the path of a tsunami can measure its characteristics before it arrives at

other coastlines. The tsunami prediction system which enables to estimates the size of

the resulting tsunami accurately and quickly. Costal GPS system is the tsunami

prediction system. Coastal GPS systems can effectively be used to predict the size of

tsunamis. It was published in 2007, estimates the energy an undersea earthquake

21
transfers to the ocean to generate a tsunami. GPS-based prediction was later

confirmed using sea surface height measurements from the joint NASA/French Space

Agency Jason-1 and Jason-2 altimetry satellites. The DART system also can used to

detect the tsunami which can warn the population to save their lives. Tsunami

prediction system is a very useful system which save innocent people from being

victim of the tsunami.

Some List of Notable Tsunami

1) On December 2004, a magnitude around 9.1 to 9.3 of earthquake triggers a

This is the famous 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami, one of the

deadliest natural disaster ever recorded in the history. Some affected countries

including Indonesia, Thailand, Bangladesh, India and even Kenya and

Tanzania.

2) 2011 Tōhoku Earthquake and Tsunami which happened on 11 March 2011, at

18550 people killed or missing in that incident. It was caused by a 9.0

magnitude earthquake. A terrible and horrible consequence issued after the

earthquake and tsunami is the nuclear meltdown at the Nuclear Power Plant, in

Fukushima.

22
Preparation during tsunami

If you feel a strong earthquake, try to cover and protect under a table to prevent

hit by the object fall down. When the shaking stops, quickly gather your family

members or friends and review your evacuation plan within minutes because tsunami

may come soon. Always stay tuned to a Coast Guard Emergency Station, radio or

television for more updated information. Emergency preparedness kit must be ready

before tsunami. When tsunami is coming, take it quickly because the supplies can

help you to become more comfortable. Family members and your pet must be brought

along together to evacuate because it is not safe with you and them. If tsunami is

coming, evacuate to a higher ground as far as you can such as high hill and stay away

from the high buildings and bridges. They might fall down due to the attack of

tsunami. Stay away until the local authorities informed. This is because tsunami is a

series continuous of wave and it might be continued for few hours and will coming

for next wave within minutes.

23
Conclusion

Tsunami is both longitudinal and transverse waves. It is also a shock wave which

is caused by earthquake, underwater volcanic eruption and landslides. It is also a very

dangerous phenomenon and powerful natural disaster. We cannot control or predict

tsunami and this makes them even more difficult to escape. But we can decrease the

number of casualties and damages of property by using tsunami warning system.

Tsunami warning center senses Tsunami and transits these distinct magnitude values

to the central place and deliver alert signals to receivers placed at different areas of

the world in order to notify the public. It is advisable to everyone to follow the safety

measures during a tsunami to escape from the disaster to decrease the number of

casualties.

Government of different countries and states especially areas near coastal

region must take several useful measures to decrease the loss to this natural disaster.

Besides that, we should not only lean on the government alone instead we should also

aid the government by cooperating with them which is remain calm and follow the

instructions that were given by them. We should also make some prevention action

towards building a safer future by planting more tree near the shore, creating tsunami

walls, building flood gates and channels preserving our coral reefs and mangrove

forests as these can help reduce the effects of tsunami.

Finally, through this assignment we have learned about the working of tsunami

deeply and acknowledged that Physics plays a large role in better order for a better

understanding of tsunami.

24
References

 https://geology.com/articles/tsunami-geology.shtml

 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsunami

 https://www.preventionweb.net/educational/view/60718
 https://www.phivolcs.dost.gov.ph/index.php/tsunami/introduction-to-tsunami
 https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-are-tsunamis?qt-news_science_products=0#qt-
news_science_products
 https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/tsunami.html
 https://www.phivolcs.dost.gov.ph/index.php/tsunami/introduction-to-tsunami
 https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-are-tsunamis?qt-news_science_products=0#qt-
news_science_products
 https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/tsunami.html
 https://tsunamisinaustralia.weebly.com/transverse-and-longitudinal-waves.html
 https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-structures-ideas-methods-to-reduce-the-
impact-of-a-tsunami
 https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000214734

Bibliography
 Disaster Management , N.C.Mahanti, S.K.Samal, P.Datta, N.K.Nag, 2006,
Publishing by N.K.Mehra Narosa Publishing House Pvt.Ltd.
 Environmental Science A Global Concern Eighth Edition, Willaim
P.Cunningham, MaryAnn Cunningham, Barbara Woodworth Saigo, 2005,
Published by Margaret J.Kemp.

 Physics for Scientist & Engineers with Modern Physics Third Edition, Douglas
C.Giancoli,2000,1988,1984,Published by Prentice Hall.

25