MULTIPLE DISASTERStsunami

earthquakeflood

AN AWARENESS

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Marina beach after Tsunami 26 December 2004

Tsunami affected countries

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Coast of Sumatra 2 Jan 2005

TSUNAMI 26 December 2004

• Indian Ocean earthquake caused tsunami of magnitude 9.3 Richter scale as recorded in seismograph.

• Fast rupture of tectonic plates caused fast surface slip to

the extent of 50 meters.

• Due to horizontal movement between the tectonic plates, the sea floor estimated to have risen by several metres, displacing an estimated 30 cubic kilometres of water triggering devastating tsunami waves.

• It was ‘under sea mega thrust’ that occurred at 00:58:53

on Sunday, 26 December 2004, with an epicenter off the

west coast of Sumatra Indonesia.

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• The earthquake was caused by tectonic plate sliding /subduction, Indian plate sliding under overriding Burma plate.

• It triggered a series of devastating tsunamis along the coasts of most landmasses bordering the Indian Ocean, killing over 230,000 people in fourteen countries, and inundating coastal communities .

• Tsunami waves were up to 30 meters (98 feet) high.

• It was one of the deadliest natural disasters as recorded.

• Indonesia was the hardest-hit country, followed by Sri Lanka, India(Andaman, Nicobar) and Thailand.

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• Tsunamis are much more frequent in the Pacific Ocean because of earthquakes in the ‘Ring of fire’ and an effective tsunami warning system is functioning there.

• The extreme western edge of the Ring of Fire extends into the Indian Ocean and no warning system existed at the point where this earthquake struck.

• The Pacific Ring of Fire is an area where a large number of earthquakes volcanic eruptions occur in the basin of the Pacific ocean . In a 40,000 km horseshoe shape is associated with series of oceanic trenches, volcanic arcs ,volcanic belts and tectonic plate movements.

• First phase of tsunami involved a rupture about 400 kilometres in length and 100 kilometres width, located 30 kilometers beneath the sea bed. This was the largest rupture ever known to have been caused by an earthquake.

• The rupture proceeded at a speed of about 10,000 km/hr. • Beginning off the coast of Aceh it proceeded north-west over a

period of about 100 seconds.

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• Second phase of Tsunami occurred after 100 seconds gap before the rupture proceeded northwards towards the Andaman and Nicobar islands .

• However, the northern rupture occurred more slowly than the south, at 7,500 km/h.

• further it Proceeded north for span of another five minutes to a plate boundary where the fault type changed from subduction to strike slip (the two plates slide past one)

• Police officials said that more than 10,000 people have died.

• Over 400,000 people have been moved to evacuation centers in schools and public buildings

• 100,000 national defense members were dispatched to lead the aid efforts

• 120,000 blankets, 120,000 bottles of water and 110,000 liters of gasoline plus food was collected and sent to community centers and shelters

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• The energy released on the Earth's surface only was estimated at 26 megatons of TNT.

• This energy is equivalent to over 1500 times that of the Hiroshima atom bomb attack but less than that of Tsar bomb attacks, the largest nuclear weapon ever detonated.

• Energy released by this quake was over 360,000 times more than its ME, equivalent to 9,600 giga tons of TNT equivalent or 550 million times that of Hiroshima or about 370 years of energy usage at 2005 level in USA.

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• Relief agencies reported that one-third of the dead appeared to be children because children were the least abled to resist being overcome by the surging waters.

• Oxfam reported that as many as four times more women than men were killed in some regions because they were waiting on the beach for the fishermen to return and looking after their children in the houses.

• large number of local residents, about 9,000 foreign tourists ,mostly Europeans, enjoying the peak holiday season were among the dead or missing.

• Presently Real- time Earthquake Map help in identifying latest earthquake information.

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JAPAN TSUNAMI 11 March 2011

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• Over 200000 homes were destroyed.

• Oil Refinery tanks exploded after the earthquake hit japan with 8.9

magnitude.

• Tsunami came in less than an hour after the tsunami warning was

given.

• People were not able to evacuate to higher ground due to tsunami

that hit fast. The survey found that delay in passing on information

meant that awareness of the accident was initially very low amongst

residents.

• Whirlpool developed in sea developed seriousness in tsunami

• Residents said they had often been assured of the safety of nuclear

power, and thought that an accident could never occur.

• It was hard for older people, especially those with medical conditions to escape , some of whom succumbed.

• The earthquake and tsunami have knocked out the main cooling systems and backup generators at three units in Daiichi and the three units at the Fukushima Daini complex.

• First explosion was on Saturday at the plant’s Unit 1, injuring four workers and resulting in mass evacuations.

• Second hydrogen explosion was on Monday at Unit 3, injuring 11 workers and the blast was felt 40 kilometers away.

• Over 180,000 people were evacuated from the area surrounding the nuclear plant.

• 160 people might have exposed to radiation.

• ‘Recriminations and proper compensation aside, the focus now must be on ensuring that this never happens again, which for many people implied to keep aloof from nuclear power’ ; This was the overwhelming feeling in Japan, and it hasn’t reduced since the accident.

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Green peace report

• Some hospitals in Fukushima Prefecture ‘had to suspend services because hundreds of doctors and nurses in the area resigned to avoid radiation.

• Patients from one hospital and a nearby home for the elderly were sent to shelters: 45 of 440 patients died after staff fled.

• In another incident, more than 90 elderly people were left without care- givers.

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Facts about the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami• Magnitude, according to USGS: 9.0 ritcher scale.• Speed at which the Pacific Plate smashed into the Japanese island

arc: 8.9 centimeters per year.• Speed at which the San Andreas Fault in California is slipping: about

4 centimeters per year.• Size of the rupture along the boundary between the Pacific and

North American plates: 290 kilometers in length , and 80 kilometers across the region.

• Approximate length of Honshu island: 1,300 kilometersYears since an earthquake of this magnitude has hit the plate boundary of Japan: 1,200

• Duration of strong shaking reported from Japan: three to five minutes

• Greatest distance from epicenter that visitors to the USGS Web site reported feeling the quake: About 2,000 kilometers

• Distance that the island of Honshu appears to have moved after the quake: 2.4 meters.

• Change in length of a day caused by the earthquake's redistribution of Earth's mass: 1.8 microseconds shorter

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• Normal seasonal variation in a day's length: 1,000 microseconds.

• Depth of the quake: 24.4 kilometers.

• Range of depths at which earthquakes occur in Earth's crust: 0 – 700 kilometers.

• Top speed of a tsunami over the open ocean: About 800 kilometers per hour.

• Normal cruising speed of a jetliner: 800 kilometers per hour.

• Length of warning time Sendai residents received before tsunami hit: eight to 10 minutes.

• Number of confirmed foreshocks to the main shock: four.

• Magnitudes of the confirmed foreshocks: 6.0, 6.1, 6.1 and 7.2.

• Number of confirmed aftershocks: 401.

• Worldwide average annual number of earthquakes over magnitude 6.0: 150 pnrao

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Fire in Nuclear power plant

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Cars in debris

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FIRE IN NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

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WHRILPOOL NOTICED DURING TSUNAMI

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Debris afterrmath disaster

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Achnowledgement

References for further reading:

• http://www.globalgiving.co.uk/projects/help-orphans-in-

japan-

• http://photosoftsunamiinjapan.blogspot.in/

• http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqinthenews/2004/us

2004slav/

• http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fast-

facts-japan

• http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/03/14/japan-

nuclear-031411.html

• http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/world/asia/15japan.

html?hppnrao

Thank you

Potlacharla.N.Rao

rao7sai@yahoo.co.in

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