The causes and damage of a Tsunami.

This week, our literacy group has been learning about Tsunamis.

Interesting topic? I didn't think so at the start, but surprisingly, it was!

The Wondrous Wekas read 6 texts, all having the common interest in Tsunamis.

After reading all of them, Mrs Parker's literacy group did a follow up activity along with an explanation on the causes and the damage of a tsunami.

So here is my piece of writing, hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed making it.

The causes and damages of a Tsunami.

Some people may or may not have heard on the news, on the web, from their parents, friends, etc about a tsunami, (Soo-Nah-Mee).

But have you ever wondered what it is? Why it happens?

Tsunami is the Japanese name for a harbor waves, they built over a course of time, a powerful natural-force made disaster.Unlike normal waves, they are caused by the other natural disasters.

So first up, the warning signs. So what warning signs are there? Are they efficient?For some, we may think, ‘Heh, I’m fast enough! I can outrun a tsunami!’, but sadly, billions of people have died attempting to outrun them, none have succeeded, unfortunately.So, some before-hand tsunami warnings are newspapers and radios, almost all the time there would always be a Tsunami warning on news if there is going to be one, but if you are at a beach there would be Tsunami buoys floating around and they’d go off. Do not fret, for scientists are always monitoring the seismic activity within our lovely earth.

Okay, so let’s talk about the causes..To put it lightly, Tsunami’s may be what people think are larger waves, though it may seem like that, they are not made by the same thing.Tsunami’s, unlike waves are caused by energy, originating from the water, which rush through the sea which are also caused by the shifting and movement of what we call, Tectonic plates.When they collide they result in releasing a burst of energy, displacing a large amount of the water.Waves are small air-made water currents, which are small and harmless, Tsunami’s, unlike their smaller counterpart have reached over sea level in a large amount of cases.The water would slow down and grow, allowing it to grow at least higher than sea level, but due to gravity it’ll pull it down, allowing the water to ripple out, spreading it across the entire area. Once the tsunami gets to the shallower area, since there is less water to move through the massive amount of energy will be compressed, this is something that occurs that is called, Wave Shoaling.Soon enough, the tsunami will reach the shore. It’ll release all the energy that had been building up in the harbor wave, slamming as hard as it can on to the land. The water will flow through the affected area, killing anything and anyone in it’s path. As if that part wasn’t bad enough,, the water would retreat, dragging anything or anyone who was unfortunate enough to be in the newly collected debris under water to their terribly fated death.But, if this is true.. What is the damage?

There are two questions, the emotional damage or long term environmental damage.For emotional damage some people who were unfortunate enough to meet face to face with this natural disaster sometimes have to go for counseling due to PTSD(Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) and sometimes even depression, due to loss of family members or others.As for Enviromental damage, it can last forever, there have been many cities that have been hit by Tsunami’s, they get destroyed completel and the repair would cost a few millions, maybe billions of dollars.It’d take a few years to replace and rebuild the city or town, depending on the size of it.

So, since we’ve been talking about so much about of all this death and despair, let’s talk about some interesting facts about tsunamis, shall we?

Tsunami’s travel about 500 mph (805 k-mph), pretty impressive, isn’t it?
Some tsunami’s have reached the height of 100 feet(30 metres), that’s pretty cool, but the average height is about 30 feet (9 metres), that’s pretty tall!

About 80% of Tsunamis happen in the Pacific Ring Of Fire and New Zealand is spot on the ring of fire.

In 2004, the Indian Ocean tsunami was caused by an earthquake with the energy of 23,000 atomic bombs. After the earthquake, killer waves radiating from the epicenter slammed into the coastline of 11 countries. The final death toll was 283,000! That’s a lot of people who died..Not really happy is it?

Hawaii is always at great risk for a tsunami – they get about 1 per year and a severe one every 7 years. The biggest tsunami that occurred Hawaii happened in 1946, the coast of Hilo Island was hit with 30 ft waves at 500 mph.

And last of all, one of the most interesting facts, Tsunami is the japanese word for Harbor wave as the tsunami only becomes visible when it’s close to shore, unless you are a bird, of course.

So, what have we learnt? The warning signs, causes and the damage.So tsunami’s are tidal waves, caused by other natural disasters which lead to this one, they can harm things and people, emotionally and enviromentally, tsunami’s destroy.. Well, everything. This was interesting for me to learn, I hope it was for you too, reader.