Transcript How to Prevent Future Disasters

Tsunami’s:
Past, Present & Future
Presented By:
Kaylee Anderson
Kristin Gregory
Kari Poulain
How Tsunamis are
Formed
• Formed by a displacement of water
caused by one of the following:
– Landslide
– Volcanic eruption
– Slippage between two tectonic plates
How They Cause Damage
Travel about 600 mph at the epicenter,
but slow down to about 30-40 mph as it
moves towards the shoreline
Actually multiple waves, not just one
Aftershock can create more tsunamis if
strong enough
Environmental Impact
“The environment is in trouble,
there’s no question”
-Bill Eichbaum
World Wildlife Fund
Ground/Drinking Water
• The tsunami compromised much of the
area’s safe drinking water.
– Breeding ground for disease
– People in this region dependent on wells vs.
running water
The Land
• Rice Fields are brown
– Much farmland now ‘useless’
• Changed the contours of the land
• Costal forests lay in ruin
• Beaches washed away or littered
with debris
The Water
• Much of the natural reef in the region has been
destroyed or will die in the near future.
– Suffocating under layers of mud
• Marine life from the shore to a mile out
suffered the most damage.
– 6th Sense
• Fisheries
• Mangroves vital for protection
Human Impact
Their Effects on
Humanity
• After a major
catastrophe, people
are vulnerable to
diseases
– Water borne and
others
• Women were hit
hardest
• The people in the
communities are
greatly effected
• Bad for their
economy
Threat of Disease
• There is a threat for typhoid, malaria,
cholera, dysentery, and waterborne
disease
– Children and elderly most at risk
Contaminated Water
• The water may carry more than 50 different
diseases
• It’s the leading killer of populations affected by
disaster
• Surging seawater, hot and humid weather, sewage,
and decomposing bodies are contaminating many
water supplies
– Ideal breeding grounds for mosquitoes
– Not much dry land for burying corpses
• CNN.com
The Tsunami Hit Women Hardest
• 3 times more women than
• The radical changes in
men were killed on average
the population of these
villages will likely alter
• This scarcity of females has
their communities for
led to women being
good. (CNN.com)
– sexually assaulted
• Men are now in a
– an increase in domestic
difficult
position.
violence and;
– women being forced into
marriage (mainly for
protection)
Destruction
• The waves destroyed many cities, fishing
villages, and resorts along the coast
– The fishing nets swept out to sea are a
potential threat to fish, birds and mammals
• Killed over 250,000 people – “one of the
worst human tragedies in history” (the
UN Environment Programme)
Fears of contaminated Seafood
• People fear the fish could pass on disease or
bacteria
• Although scientific evidence shows no
contamination
– People are choosing dried fish over a fresher
product, causing the fish markets to suffer
Seafood cont…
• Churning sea made an abundance of food
available for the fish
–
–
–
–
Micro-organisms
Plankton
Plants
Other dead fish
• Experts say the tsunami will have a
positive effect on the food chain
The Future
How to Prevent Future
Disasters
The Importance of Tsunami Warning
Systems
Why It’s Important:
• “What we would like to see happen is
countries managing the risks instead of
managing emergencies.” -Max Dilley,
research scientist at Columbia
• We should be proactive as opposed to
reactive
How to be Proactive
• Strengthening building codes
• Implementing early warning systems
• Warning centers with computer
technology
• Education for populace
Difficulties in Asia
• TIMING
– warnings need to occur within 10-20 minutes
– variable timing (hard to determine) when
waves will hit the shoreline
• COMMUNICATION
– Much of Asia’s population lives without
modern communications
– warning becomes difficult and useless
A Logical Approach
• Model warning system for the Indian
Ocean after the Pacific Ocean’s system
• System could be in place within the next
two years
Pacific System Logistics
• Has been in place for decades
– implemented in 1965 after years of tsunamis
• Currently links 26 nations
• Network of buoys and seismic stations
– hundreds of seismic stations
– coastal tide gauges
– deep-water buoys
How Buoys Work
• Contain two parts: pressure sensor and
surface transmitter
• pressure sensor: ability to sense when sea
level rises above normal by only a
centimeter, warning of a tsunami
• information then sent to surface
transmitter, which sends information to
stations by satellite
Cost-Benefit Analysis
• Cost of each buoy: $250,000
• Extremely expensive maintenance costs
• About 6 major tsunamis hit the Pacific
each decade, Asia experiences far less
• Benefits
– if system had already been in place in the
Indian Ocean, thousands of lives in Asia
could have been spared
What Needs to be Done?
• Mangroves need to be rehabilitated and
added onto
• Less dependence on well water
• Government Intervention and continued
UN presence.
• Use this as a lesson for the future,
because tsunamis will happen again!
Why Should We Care?
•
•
•
•
Moral obligation
Business sense/globalization
Diplomatic ties
In hopes that other countries will follow
suite
Quiz Time!
Question #1
• What are two of
the three ways a
tsunami can be
formed??
– Landslides
– Volcanic
Eruptions
– Movement of
Plates
Question #2
• How fast do
tsunami’s
travel? (Either
at the epicenter
or around land)
– 600 MPH at
epicenter
– 30-40 MPH by
coastline
Question #3
• What is the
major effect of
the landscape
changing?
– Increases
likeliness of
flooding,
especially in
areas that
previously
weren’t at an
especially high
risk.
Question #4
• Who did the tsunami
hit the hardest?
• Women
Question #5
• What is the
name of the
buoy system
currently in
place in the
Pacific?
– The Pacific
System
Logistic
How You Can Help…
• Red Cross
– www.redcross.org
• UNICEF
– www.unicef.org
• AmeriCares
– www.americares.org
• Asia Foundation
– www.give2asia.org/projects/tsunami
• Habitat For Humanity
– www.habitat.org
• Save the Children
– www.savethechildren.org/emergencies/tsunami
• Relief International
– www.ri.org
Sources Consulted
•
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CNN
Dr. Wayne Nafziger
Tsunami Museum
Boston Globe
World Environmental News
The New York Times