What
is Tsunami?
A tsunami (pronounced
soo-NAA-mee) is a series of waves (called a "wave
train") generated in a body of water by a pulsating
or abrupt disturbance that vertically displaces the
water column.
Earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, explosions,
and the impact of extraterrestrial bodies such as meteorites,
can generate tsunamis. Tsunamis can savagely attack
coastlines, causing devastating property damage, injuries,
and loss of life due to injuries or drowning.
Tsunami waves travel
underwater, which is how they can pass unnoticed out
at sea, forming only a passing "hump" in the
ocean, sometimes over a 100 kilometers long, until they
reach landmass.
Indian
Ocean tsunami - 26 Dec 2004
The
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake triggered a series of lethal
tsunamis on December 26, 2004, with fatalities last
reported at 120,000, ranging from those in the immediate
vicinity of the quake in Indonesia and Thailand to people
thousands of kilometres away in Bangladesh, India, Sri
Lanka, the Maldives, and even as far as Somalia in eastern
Africa. The death toll from this event makes it the
deadliest tsunami in recorded history.
Unlike the Pacific
Ocean, there is no organised alert service covering
the Indian Ocean. This is in part due to the absence
of major tsunami events since 1883 and an emphasis on
developing a tropical cyclone warning system - the result
"LOSS of over 1,00,000 lives"
Tsunamis caused
by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake under the sea west of
Banda Aceh on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia caused
severe devastation in the form of death and loss of
property on the coasts of the Indian Ocean, particularly
Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India, Thailand (especially Phuket
and Khao Lak, whe, Maldives, Malaysia, Myanmar, and
Bangladesh; and also in Somalia, Kenya and Tanzania
in Africa. Indonesia has faced the brunt of the devastation
with over 80,000 feared dead. The number of deaths caused
by this tsunami is expected to double due to wide spread
illness such as cholera and malaria, caused in part
by contaminated drinking water and lack of sanitary
facilities. (WHO has stated that corpses are not a major
public health concern and do not promote the spread
of disease.) Many foreign tourists, especially Scandinavians,
are among the dead.
Sri Lanka reports
more than 24,000 dead, and at least 10,000 were killed
in India.
Many
who did survive are struggling to stay alive, and the
World Health Organization estimates that five million
people
are
without basic needs. Scenes of destruction were repeated
across
the region, as were the scenes of grief with residents
and holidaymakers searching in vain for loved ones.
In Sri Lanka's worst-hit area Ampara, residents ran
relief efforts themselves, going round with loudhailers,
asking people to donate pots and pans, buckets of fresh
water and sarongs. People worldwide opened their hearts
and wallets to give millions of dollars to help relief
efforts, jamming phone lines and Web sites and outpacing
governments in their generosity.
Displaced:
Massive surge of sea water penetrated more than a kilometre
inland, engulfing everything on the way. At Mullaitivu
on the north-east coast, more than 20 villages have
simply disappeared. Thousands of displaced people have
sought refuge in government schools, marriage halls
and other buildings. The region was already suffering
due to 20 years of civil war and now this disaster has
added to the people's difficulties. People have nothing
to go back to their villages.
"The world
hasn't got a real picture of what has happened here."

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