Tracing back through history, mankind has tried to caution upcoming generations of horrific overland deluge events. You can discover this message in the epic tales of the Sumerian King Gilgamesh. It is juxtaposed with the Hebrew Bible referencing Noah. The Abrahamic and Babylonian regions have warning stories as well. Other places such as Japan and the Hawaiian Islands have passed down forewarnings and changed their life to face this ominous threat. They tell stories of whole towns and villages swept away overnight. The event is called a tsunami, which means (Killer Wave) in the Japanese language. Unlike your typical overland downslope flow of water, masses amount of displaced water rises over land and then recedes back to the ocean. Plate
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For Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and India, the countries where most lives were lost, it should be remembered that life in all of these areas is essentially sea dependent and the homes are concentrated close to the water and, therefore, in low lying areas. This is why destruction was so total. But beyond the actual numbers of people and the loss of life and homes, there was also the huge destruction of the environment and the long time it would take for recovery …show more content…
Many buildings in Sendai where washed away from the earth as if they never existed. School playgrounds, parks, and my old Iwanuma apartment buildings were obliterated by the 2011 tsunami. Sections of the Route 4 road were missing and scattered comparable to Lego pieces. There were cars on top of houses and boats on top of buildings. This was caused by a form of mass wasting, known as a flow. Sadly, it proceeds inland and then returns back out to sea leaving about 2 miles of inland area resembling a new beach. The water transforms to a monstrous mud flow that can carry large pieces of debris on a collision course with structures. The buildings are subjected to forces that they are not designed and prepared for. The debris force and building foundation are important in a structure’s chance of not getting washed away. While reading the, “Indian Ocean Tsunami” literature, it warns that:
Tsunami waves imposed dynamic pressure on coastal structures as well as buildings and bridges near the coastline, inducing serious damage to the entire surrounding infrastructure located approximately up to 4 km inland. The resulting impulsive pressures of breaking waves and hydrodynamic pressures associated with water velocity inflicted partial and full collapses of non-structural components. The damage observed in Thailand was almost entirely due to pressures that varied from impulsive pressures
For Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and India, the countries where most lives were lost, it should be remembered that life in all of these areas is essentially sea dependent and the homes are concentrated close to the water and, therefore, in low lying areas. This is why destruction was so total. But beyond the actual numbers of people and the loss of life and homes, there was also the huge destruction of the environment and the long time it would take for recovery …show more content…
Many buildings in Sendai where washed away from the earth as if they never existed. School playgrounds, parks, and my old Iwanuma apartment buildings were obliterated by the 2011 tsunami. Sections of the Route 4 road were missing and scattered comparable to Lego pieces. There were cars on top of houses and boats on top of buildings. This was caused by a form of mass wasting, known as a flow. Sadly, it proceeds inland and then returns back out to sea leaving about 2 miles of inland area resembling a new beach. The water transforms to a monstrous mud flow that can carry large pieces of debris on a collision course with structures. The buildings are subjected to forces that they are not designed and prepared for. The debris force and building foundation are important in a structure’s chance of not getting washed away. While reading the, “Indian Ocean Tsunami” literature, it warns that:
Tsunami waves imposed dynamic pressure on coastal structures as well as buildings and bridges near the coastline, inducing serious damage to the entire surrounding infrastructure located approximately up to 4 km inland. The resulting impulsive pressures of breaking waves and hydrodynamic pressures associated with water velocity inflicted partial and full collapses of non-structural components. The damage observed in Thailand was almost entirely due to pressures that varied from impulsive pressures