What is Tsunami???

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Tsunami Attacking the World

Could waves devastate beaches in Indonesia? Could it really happen? There are some things, which can threaten beaches all over the world. One of them is tsunami. We often see strong wind and hurricane, which cause big waves. Sometimes, they can soak people surrounding the beaches. But, those waves are not too dangerous. There is still a more dangerous wave even the most dangerous wave. That is tsunami; a big wave, which is caused by earthquakes under seas shaken. It can swallow up the cities around the beaches. Moreover, it can kill hundred thousands of people. Along the history, tsunami has destroyed beaches almost in every ocean. This dying wave attacks repeatedly. Indonesia as an islands country has a big chance to get tsunami. It is because Indonesia is located on the most active seismic in this planet and is located on the earthquake area and volcanoes. So, people in Indonesia must know tsunami, the effects, the signs, and ways to face up it to minimize the victims of tsunami.

Actually, there are no signs when or where tsunami will occur. This disaster is not as same as typhoon or hurricanes, which can be calculated a long time before. Tsunami is totally different. Before tsunami occurs, the weather does not change. The wind blow normally. In conclusion, there is no warning before, except earthquake (if the tsunami is caused by earthquake). Usually, before tsunami occurs, there is a big earthquake a few minutes before. Earthquake is the first thing or the first sign before tsunami occurs.

The second sign is sudden deriving of the surface of the water. To ascertain that tsunami will occur or not, we have to do the following way. This method is very easy. We only see on the beach whether the surface of sea is still normal or ebbs extremely. If the surface of the sea ebbs extremely until 5 meter for example, tsunami will occur there. This thing is the easiest way to know whether tsunami will occur or not.

Tsunami has many effects not only in the areas near the epicenter of earthquake, which causes the tsunami but also in the areas, which are far from the epicenter. The last tsunami, which already occurred in Aceh and North Sumatra last year, figured out how totally destroyed the cities and areas in Aceh, Nias, Bangladesh, India, and Maldives are. Moreover, the effects of the tsunami can be felt until in Africa. And the destructions in the most serious condition area such as in Aceh, Nias, India, Bangladesh, and Maldives was so scary. Almost all the buildings along the beaches were completely swept tsunami waves, which reached 20 meters high. In addition, the tsunami waves could reach 20 kilometers far. After the tsunami stopped, now, we can see the view in Aceh where the areas, which were full of houses and settlements before, become field area, which are full of ruins.

The ruins of building, woods, and trees in everywhere make the cities dirty. The dirtiness, besides causing disease, it can devastate the environment. Dirtiness gives also some difficulties to recover the location after tsunami.

Besides destroying cities and making dirtiness, tsunami can also kill people on the areas, where tsunami usually occurs. Along the history, tsunami usually cannot kill more than 10.000 people in one attack. But, sometimes it can kill so many people more than 100,000 people in once attack, like in Aceh. There were so many human corpses on the roads, on the trees, on the buildings, on the rivers, on the sea, and on everywhere after tsunami occurred. The strength of tsunami’s power depends on the power, which causes big waves, such as an earthquake. If we take Aceh as an example, the earthquake in the epicenter reached 9 scales Richter so it made a big tsunami there.

For the families, which are left by some other families, tsunami can also bring a mental pressure for them. They can suffer frustration, depression, and even madness or insanity. These possibilities are very great because the condition after tsunami, which is so scary, will make a deep sadness for the people who are still alive. For them who are not enough strong to refrain emotion or sadness, they are very susceptible on getting frustration and some other ones.

Many people killed in tsunami will bring diseases. Human corpses that are everywhere after a long time, will become decomposed. That condition will bring up bacteria in the corpses. Finally, those bacteria will pollute water, air, soil, and the environment so they will make some diseases. If it happens, it will add the number of victims. It also affects the condition of the environment in general in future.

Because of tsunami, there are many animals killed. Their death causes some animals become extinction. So, tsunami can cause the extinction of some animals. Although this possibility is very small but it can become real.

After we know that tsunami has so many bad effects, we have to know ways to minimize those effects. To minimizing the effects of tsunami, we can do these following ways, such as giving information about tsunami, giving training relating with tsunami, and giving hi-tech detector in beaches, which are easy equipments. Those ways are important to be taught for people who live in beaches which are easy to get tsunami.

Almost all people in Aceh, before tsunami occurred, did not know what tsunami is. After an earthquake occurred there, people along the beaches went to the sea because they saw that there were so many fish. They did not realize that the surface of sea had ebbed which meant that tsunami would come. Finally, all of them were swept by tsunami. If they knew what tsunami is and what the signs of tsunami are, they would be saved. So, giving information about tsunami is very important in recognizing it in the first step. The information about tsunami can be what tsunami is, what the signs are, and how they can escape from tsunami.

Giving information about tsunami will not be effective if it is not followed by giving training relating with tsunami. The next step that we should do is practicing as if we will have tsunami. It needs some training. For example, we can imitate Japanese people how they rehearse regularly as if they will have tsunami. The training includes training to look for safety places when there is an earthquake then training to escape from the place, where they stand before, toward high places or hills. The training also records the time duration they escaped from tsunami. This recording is useful in improving their sensitivity to the tsunami.

Giving some hi-tech detector equipments has important meaning to give information whether tsunami will occur or not. In such countries as USA, Britain, or Japan, they have so many hi-tech detector equipments. They want to pay for amount of money to give themselves safety. Those detectors have functions as tsunami early warning system.

The last, because Indonesia is very susceptible getting tsunami, so we have to be able to face up tsunami. Actually tsunami cannot be faced up but the power of it can be reduced. There are many ways to reduce the effects of tsunami. The ways are planting mangrove, planting coconut, and establishing great walls on the beaches.

Mangrove and coconut are useful to refrain the power of tsunami waves. Especially for mangrove, it can reduce the tsunami until 35 %-50 %. The tsunami, which occurred in Aceh, has destroyed because there are no mangroves on the sea. More and more luxuriant the mangroves and the coconut trees will help more successfully to reduce tsunami.

The last thing that we can do to reduce tsunami is establishing great walls along the coasts. In Japan, Japanese government to refrain tsunami waves has done this method. The walls should be established higher than the tsunami’s high. It can be 10 – 20 meters high.

In the summary, tsunami can destroy everything on the beaches. This wave cannot be stopped, but it can be minimized. Knowing the signs of tsunami, the effects of tsunami, and the ways to face up tsunami are the most important things that have to be known by Indonesian people. If we practice those ways well, the effects of tsunami must be minimized although tsunami attacks our area. So, let us start keeping on guard against the tsunami. (fikreatif)

Bibliography

Diggles, Michael. Surviving a Tsunami—Lessons from Chile, Hawaii, and Japan www.pmel.noaa.gov/tsunami

Intisari, February 2005

Mengurangi Resiko Bencana Tsunami Di Indonesia – www.bmg.com

Press Release BMG - www.bmg.com

Republika, January 29, 2005

________, January 13, 2005

________, January 23, 2005

________, January 10, ‏2005

________, January 12, ‏2005‏

________, January 28, 2005

Tsunami Video of Geography Channel