TSUNAMI: The Wave You Don’t Want to Ride
By: Mickey Weems, posted by Beachmonkey April 1, 2012 12:11 pm in Social Life
TSUNAMI! The Wave You Don’t Want to Ride
Mickey Weems
It is the stuff of nightmares.
A beautiful day by the sea- sun shining, waves gently lapping the shore. Then animals start acting strangely. Birds get louder. Dogs bark for no apparent reason.
The sea appears to shrink, as if a giant plug has been pulled and the water is going down a drain far off in the horizon. The tide recedes and keeps receding: one hundred yards, five hundred yards, a mile. The curiosity of some folks gets the best of them, and they walk out over the wet sand and rocks, picking up fish and other sea creatures that are helplessly stranded.
Those people will soon be dead.
A low rumble announces a further astonishment, one with deadly force. At the edge of the horizon, a blue line slowly thickens. All the water that left the vicinity is coming back with a vengeance, as if a mindless force of nature could desire revenge. Foam appears in front of a growing liquid mass, more akin to a monstrous moving water-dune than a typical wave. Those poor unfortunates that decided to take a stroll over the naked seabed don’t immediately realize that they are doomed. Some of them point at the rolling angel of death headed their way, watching it approach, Then the poor souls disappear from sight.
Some people on the beach recognize the danger early enough to rush inland. Others are not so lucky and are engulfed. Water surges past the beach to beachfront properties. Anything that is not massive enough or pliable enough to resist the flood gets pushed further inland. It reaches the first road, tossing cars about and rising to the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth floors of buildings it hits. Although the force may temporarily appear to slow down, the deadly march resumes with added vigor as megatons of water pile up and surge further and further from the shoreline.
Depending on the size of the tsunami, the surge will eventually slow down. Now it’s time for the heartbreaking finale.
Water pulls back, slowly at first but then like a miles-wide river. If any survivors manage to hold on in its path, they best get out of the water or face concussion, dismemberment, and drowning as they get washed out to the deep. What was once a thriving seashore community gets a second pummeling. Cars, pets, washing machines, furniture, and relatives are dragged out of homes, businesses, and places of worship.
Now comes the hardest part of all: picking up the pieces.
What Caused It?
Tsunamis happen after earthquakes that disturb large bodies of water. When an earthquake hits land, the ground behaves as if it is liquid as waves of energy course through, temporarily destabilizing everything in their path. If the quake is by the sea or underwater, the waves do not remain local. They may even travel hundreds or even thousands of miles away. If nothing blocks them or diverts their energy, they are harmless and may be undetectable to the eye. Once they hit resistance, however, they build up on themselves. A large land mass may cause the undetectable wave to increase dramatically in size and force.
Tsunamis probably caused the Minoan civilization on the isle of Crete to fall around 1450 BCE when the island of Thera blew up and partially disappeared into the Mediterranean Sea, which may have inspired the myth of Atlantis. The Greek historian Thucydides is one of the earliest thinkers to connect them to earthquakes. There are records of tsunamis in records from the Roman Empire, ancient Hawaiian lore and in Japanese history. Stories of tsunamis have been recorded in Portugal, England and California. The most devastating ones in recent years have been the tsunamis in December 2004 that hit all over coastlines on the Indian Ocean and the one that hit Japan in March of 2011.
What to Do
There is no coastal area that is completely immune to tsunamis.
The energy of a tsunami becomes dangerous when it comes ashore. There are 3 places that are safe in this situation: out at sea, in the air, and inland far enough to avoid the rush of seawater. Out at sea is safe because the energy of the wave has not yet doubled and tripled on itself. Since the force of the wave does not transfer much energy to the atmosphere, you are safe on a flying plane or helicopter, or high up in a well-built structure. The most unpredictable option is to go inland since tsunamis don’t announce how strong they are in advance. But often, going inland is the only option.
The one place you do not want to be is on the beach. That is the point where the force of the tsunami is most destructive, both when it hits shore and when the water withdraws afterwards.
Look for tall buildings. If in a car, go inland. If on foot, run and do not look back.
Although there may be signs that a tsunami is about to hit, such as an unusually low tide, animals acting weird or a rumbling sound, it may happen with no warning. If it’s at low tide in places that typically have very low tides, such as some beaches in Cape Cod, the signs may not be visible until it is too late. In places like Miami, the best hope is getting to a high-rise because the land is so flat. The tsunami that hit Japan would have pretty much wiped most of SOBE off the map.
We can also give to charities that help survivors, or at least include them in our prayers.
(before and after images of tsunami damage)
Mickey Weems
It is the stuff of nightmares.
A beautiful day by the sea- sun shining, waves gently lapping the shore. Then animals start acting strangely. Birds get louder. Dogs bark for no apparent reason.
The sea appears to shrink, as if a giant plug has been pulled and the water is going down a drain far off in the horizon. The tide recedes and keeps receding: one hundred yards, five hundred yards, a mile. The curiosity of some folks gets the best of them, and they walk out over the wet sand and rocks, picking up fish and other sea creatures that are helplessly stranded.
Those people will soon be dead.
A low rumble announces a further astonishment, one with deadly force. At the edge of the horizon, a blue line slowly thickens. All the water that left the vicinity is coming back with a vengeance, as if a mindless force of nature could desire revenge. Foam appears in front of a growing liquid mass, more akin to a monstrous moving water-dune than a typical wave. Those poor unfortunates that decided to take a stroll over the naked seabed don’t immediately realize that they are doomed. Some of them point at the rolling angel of death headed their way, watching it approach, Then the poor souls disappear from sight.
Some people on the beach recognize the danger early enough to rush inland. Others are not so lucky and are engulfed. Water surges past the beach to beachfront properties. Anything that is not massive enough or pliable enough to resist the flood gets pushed further inland. It reaches the first road, tossing cars about and rising to the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth floors of buildings it hits. Although the force may temporarily appear to slow down, the deadly march resumes with added vigor as megatons of water pile up and surge further and further from the shoreline.
Depending on the size of the tsunami, the surge will eventually slow down. Now it’s time for the heartbreaking finale.
Water pulls back, slowly at first but then like a miles-wide river. If any survivors manage to hold on in its path, they best get out of the water or face concussion, dismemberment, and drowning as they get washed out to the deep. What was once a thriving seashore community gets a second pummeling. Cars, pets, washing machines, furniture, and relatives are dragged out of homes, businesses, and places of worship.
Now comes the hardest part of all: picking up the pieces.
What Caused It?
Tsunamis happen after earthquakes that disturb large bodies of water. When an earthquake hits land, the ground behaves as if it is liquid as waves of energy course through, temporarily destabilizing everything in their path. If the quake is by the sea or underwater, the waves do not remain local. They may even travel hundreds or even thousands of miles away. If nothing blocks them or diverts their energy, they are harmless and may be undetectable to the eye. Once they hit resistance, however, they build up on themselves. A large land mass may cause the undetectable wave to increase dramatically in size and force.
Tsunamis probably caused the Minoan civilization on the isle of Crete to fall around 1450 BCE when the island of Thera blew up and partially disappeared into the Mediterranean Sea, which may have inspired the myth of Atlantis. The Greek historian Thucydides is one of the earliest thinkers to connect them to earthquakes. There are records of tsunamis in records from the Roman Empire, ancient Hawaiian lore and in Japanese history. Stories of tsunamis have been recorded in Portugal, England and California. The most devastating ones in recent years have been the tsunamis in December 2004 that hit all over coastlines on the Indian Ocean and the one that hit Japan in March of 2011.
What to Do
There is no coastal area that is completely immune to tsunamis.
The energy of a tsunami becomes dangerous when it comes ashore. There are 3 places that are safe in this situation: out at sea, in the air, and inland far enough to avoid the rush of seawater. Out at sea is safe because the energy of the wave has not yet doubled and tripled on itself. Since the force of the wave does not transfer much energy to the atmosphere, you are safe on a flying plane or helicopter, or high up in a well-built structure. The most unpredictable option is to go inland since tsunamis don’t announce how strong they are in advance. But often, going inland is the only option.
The one place you do not want to be is on the beach. That is the point where the force of the tsunami is most destructive, both when it hits shore and when the water withdraws afterwards.
Look for tall buildings. If in a car, go inland. If on foot, run and do not look back.
Although there may be signs that a tsunami is about to hit, such as an unusually low tide, animals acting weird or a rumbling sound, it may happen with no warning. If it’s at low tide in places that typically have very low tides, such as some beaches in Cape Cod, the signs may not be visible until it is too late. In places like Miami, the best hope is getting to a high-rise because the land is so flat. The tsunami that hit Japan would have pretty much wiped most of SOBE off the map.
We can also give to charities that help survivors, or at least include them in our prayers.
(before and after images of tsunami damage)
