Tsunami essay

Tsunamis are one of the most dangerous natural disaster. They kill up to hundred thousands of people. An example of one big tsunami would be the one that struck Indonesia, Sri Lanka and over nearby countries. This tsunami had a magnitude of 9.1/10. This magnitude is of the earthquake that caused it. It is classified on the Richter scale on which 9 is one of the highest levels ever achieved. This tsunami is one of the biggest ever, and unprepared for. The evacuation and warning systems for this tsunami were bad, not notifying people to evacuate on time. Due to this bad preparation, countries began making ways to detect seismic activity in places it occurs often.

The easiest, and most logical way to protect yourself from a tsunami is to reach higher ground, where the water cant reach you, of course to reach higher ground you need to have time. That means that people must be notified at least an hour before a tsunami to be able to flee. Now the question appears, how can we be warned before the tsunami? how do we know a tsunami is coming? Easy, that is where the seismograph comes in, a seismograph is a tool used for detecting seismic activity. Basically, a seismograph is a pen that is not moving that is writing on a roll of paper that is moving so that it accurately displays seismic activity. When seismographs are posted near shores they detect the incoming activity and the people can be notified.

Evacuation is also a method used for avoiding tsunamis. The way it works is that the media and news inform the people about the incoming threat, and tell them where to go and where they can be evacuated. When using this method there needs to be a good way of transferring the information to the people, radio, tv, telephone and other ways are used but nobody knows for sure if everyone will be informed. Even the people that do hear it may not hear it in time. A method used by the government often is sirens and loudspeakers. They set up speakers on poles so that in case of an emergency they can transfer a message through these sirens. These speakers have to be loud enough so that people could hear them though.

Although tsunami warning systems are not perfect, they do help a lot and without them the numbers of lives lost would be doubling, so they still do their job although when playing with peoples lives you can never do your job too good. Modern technology allows us to have seismograph stations at many coasts that communicate to help determine where the tsunami will strike, how strong it will be and many other important factors.People need to learn to take their warning more seriously, because if the people are prepared they can take a warning well. The people must know where to look for information, and must know where to go. Think about what would happen without the warning systems, tsunamis would obliterate everything and nobody would expect it.

All in all, tsunamis kill thousands and thousands of people every year, and our warning systems save the same amounts of numbers. With time out systems for helping those people are getting better but it is still a big issue. I believe seismographs are the best way of foreseeing tsunamis and if they were put in more places they would be a great help. Tsunamis are no joke and need to be taken seriously. the best way that people can get to safety before a tsunami hits and it is being used all around the world.