Case Study Of Literature Review On How To Control Tsunamis And Underwater Earthquakes

ZINT9001 Postgraduate Research Preparation Course

Purpose of the Case Study

Discuss about then Case Study of Literature Review on the Topic “How to control Tsunamis, sea underwater Earthquake”.

Tsunamis are a major cause of destruction to human lives. It causes unprecedented damage to life and properties. The coastal areas are the worst affected and large scale Tsunamis completely destroys the low lying coastal areas. The purpose of the following case study is to find out the potential solutions to reduce the impact of Tsunamis.

The following case study has a huge scope as it deals with a sensitive issue like Tsunami. The case study will discuss all the potential solutions of reducing the impact of tsunamis. The case study will act as a proper source for the future studies.

The case study has a significant impact on the target audience. It will help the readers to have a basic idea related to Tsunamis. The case study also throws light on some of the unknown facts about tsunami and underwater quakes. The use of charts and some figures has helped to make the case study a compact one.

Tsunamis occur when a powerful earthquake occurs in the ocean. It is caused by the movement of the oceanic plates and generally leads to the formation of huge sea waves that can cause havoc to the coastal areas. It can completely destroy the areas adjacent to the sea and leaves no sign of population. A number of Tsunamis have happened till day and the numbers are increasing. One of the recent such instances being the large Tsunami of Indian Ocean that claimed more than two lakh lives and destroyed the landmass and the vegetation. However the most active Tsunami range which is called the ring of Fire is within the Pacific Ocean and registers the largest number of Tsunamis occurring globally. The waves created by the earthquake have unimaginable speeds of about 500 miles per hour. Advancement in technology has helped to calculate the Tsunamis accurately and efficiently. The researcher has prepared a case study on the precautionary measures that can be affected to stop Tsunamis. However stooping them is practically impossible but technology and better measures can help to decrease the amount of loss to a substantial level.

As mentioned earlier it is practically impossible to stop the occurrence of Tsunami or under water seaquakes. But it is possible to reduce the negative effects and impacts of the organization by adopting some selected strategies (Abdolali et al. 2015). The construction of artificial structures can help the low lying coastal areas to prevent themselves from tsunamis, but they are believed to be not friendly to the environment. The scientists who have been researching on the following have developed different procedures to counter such a destructive force of the globe. The case study will discuss the recommended solutions to the problems faced while tsunamis occur. It will also mention the different solutions to counter such a deadly force.

Scope of the Case Study

Artificial Methods

The huge economic cost and loss of Human lives due to Tsunamis have been a major cause of worry for the nations as they are being pushed to economic crisis. Every year the vulnerable countries spend more than 500 million dollars to restructure everything destroyed. The advancement of Science and Technology is gradually playing an advanced role to counter the destructive force of nature. Different countries have joined hands and have created programmes to develop and implement information and communication technologies, Geographical Information systems and remote sensing satellite and data.

                                                                               Figure No 1- Occurrence of Tsunami

                                                                              Source- (Sugawara et al. 2014)

The countries that have large coastlines have been improving their coastal protection system for effectively tackling different natural hazards and disasters. Countries such as Australia, USA, Japan, India and many more such countries having large coastlines are improving their national emergency and early warning capabilities (Sugawara et al. 2014). There are a lot of warning systems like sirens, radio broadcasts, installation of tsunami detection machines, constant patrolling, phone messaging and many more as such. Integrated Communication technology is another recent such technology that are being implemented by first world countries to avoid unnecessary destruction of their territories. The use of an integrated communication technology has helped in the constant flow of information from one source to the other and thus it helps the organization to stay updated. The OECD countries are taking the help of weather satellites to determine the occurrence of earthquakes and Tsunamis. The use of satellite based observation has made the calculations more accurate and it gives ample time to prevent damage and loss of lives (Abdolali et al. 2015).

The countries such as USA, Italy, Japan, India and some selected countries which are quite vulnerable to earthquakes and tsunamis have been upgrading their seismic surveillance networks. The occurrence of two major and many minor Tsunamis in the Indian Ocean region between the year 2004 and 2011 have prompted the authorities to set up a number of local warning centers around different countries lying in that belt (Cecioni et al. 2014). Three new regional Tsunami service provider centers were also set up in India, Australia and Indonesia to add further warning capacity before the occurrence of Tsunami.

 

                                                                 Figure No 2- Tsunami Warning Centers across the World

                                                                                    Source- (Barrow 2014)

COUNTRIES	MEASURES
Australia, Canada, Columbia, India, Turkey, USA	Improved Seismic Surveillance Methods
Australia, Colombia, India, Indonesia	Improved Tsunami Early Warning and Monitoring System
Australia, Austria, Netherlands, France	Improved Telephone based Information system

                                                                       Table No 1- Measures Taken By Different Countries

             Source- (As created by the Author)

The Global Observing System of The World Meteorological organization updates the users with the situation of the oceanic surfaces every minute. The observations help in the preparation of weather reports and describe the weather advisories and early warnings. The total system is based on the observations of the different local and regional centers, satellite observations, reporting ships and aircrafts that patrol around the sea. The countries that take the use of such technology include India, China, Japan, South Korea and the United States. The advanced scientific technology helps in the accurate prediction of the natural disasters especially Tsunamis (Cecioni et al. 2014).

Best Practices

                                                                     Figure No 3- Rise in the Number of Tsunamis

Source- (As Created by the Author)

The Tsunami Alarm System is one of the latest but a complex technology that is installed by almost each and every country that have a constant threat from Tsunami (Barrow 2014). The system is interconnected globally with different early warning centers and thus receives a signal immediately once there is an underwater earthquake in the ocean floor. The receiving center in turn is connected with the different telephones and the users receive a warning message immediately and are thus warned against the possible occurrence of the Tsunami. The Center also ensures that the message does not go unnoticed and thus it sends 3 back to back SMS to catch the attention of the users. The Tsunami alarm system works everywhere in the world and enjoys an uninterrupted flow of information (Abdolali et al. 2015). Countries such as USA and other developed countries have pre-installed such warning systems in the mobile handsets of the service users. The advanced technology of the system also allows the tourists to use the system.

A recent research on how to stop Tsunamis has been conducted by a group of professors of Cardiff University. Professor Usama Kadri, one of the team members of the research describes that Tsunamis can be checked at an early stage by firing deep ocean sound waves that hit the earth’s shoreline. The professors’ term these waves as Acoustic- Gravity- Waves that are naturally occurring sound waves that moves below the oceans and can go deep inside the oceanic surface. The researchers have cited that if there is a technology that can engineer these waves, they can be used to fire below the ocean’s surface during the occurrence of Tsunami’s. He terms it challenging to engineer the waves into the water. The technology can help save lots of lives and property of the countries in the coastal areas (Admire et al. 2014).

Figure No 4- AGW Mitigation of Tsunami

Source- (Admire et al. 2014)

A new technology has been developed by a group of scientists of Georgia Technology School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. The school has developed a new technology named RTerg that is claimed to accurately predict the approach of Tsunamis. This technology once implemented will help in the reduction of the loss of human lives and property. The system has been based on a chain of algorithms to generate the type of tsunami and the eventual destruction it can cause. Once the Tsunami occurs a auto generated message is received from the Tsunami center and accurately provides all the information related to the occurrence and magnitude of the Tsunami. It will also help to calculate the exact time by which the Tsunami will strike the land. Therefore it will be easier for the authorities to evacuate the people and take them to safe places.

Problems

These innovative technologies are key to the detection of the tsunami and extensive research must be carried out until and unless the desired results are not met.

Nowadays some countries have been stressing on some natural methods to stop the destructive force of Tsunami. The use of advanced technical methods are limited to the early warning systems which is capable of saving lives but it fails to save properties and lands from the grasp of giant sea waves. Once the water reseeds these lands which were once cultivated loses its fertility and is unable to produce vegetation (Wei et al. 2015). The countries have started planting large trees in the coastal areas to stop the effect of Tsunamis. Forest is believed to be effective for a number of reasons namely;

1. Stops driftwood and floating of materials.
2. Reduces the velocity of water.
3. Helps to save lives as people can catch hold of the trees from getting overflowed.
4. It helps to create sand dunes that act as natural barriers to large waves.
5. Mangroves especially help to block tsunamis.

Pine Forests in Japan have helped to reduce the impact of Tsunamis for a long time. It has been observed that Pine forests with diameters of 10 cm are able to resist tsunamis up to 4.64 meters (Komjathy et al. 2016). The calculation thus applies to the forests and if such an advanced natural method is maintained as has been the case in Japan large disasters can be avoided. The use of such advanced natural methods by the country is tried and tested and has helped to reduce damages in the country. The capacity of the forest to reduce the effect of tsunami is estimated by the use of fluid dynamics. It measures the hydrodynamic relationship of a liquid that moves along the vegetation, requires various parameters that measure the resistance of forests to Tsunamis. Some of the key factors that are learnt from the calculation are volumetric occupancy, drag coefficient, inertia coefficient and many more as such. Such a calculation helps to plant the trees more effectively such that it reduces the amount of loss.

Both the artificial as well as the natural measures can be the ideal forms for future precautions against Tsunamis.

The countries may face problems while implementing the total systems to prevent tsunamis. It is also not possible to totally eradicate the destruction of Tsunami. As of now it is only possible to develop a highly advanced system and reduce the impacts of tsunami. The early borne control system of Tsunami is highly costly which makes it quite tough for smaller nations to implement such technology.

The case study has included most of the key elements that was needed to be covered during the preparation. Any future research which will be conducted in the coming times will surely get help from the following case study.

References

Abdolali, A., Cecioni, C., Bellotti, G. and Kirby, J.T., 2015. Hydro?acoustic and tsunami waves generated by the 2012 Haida Gwaii earthquake: Modeling and in situ measurements. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 120(2), pp.958-971.

Admire, A.R., Dengler, L.A., Crawford, G.B., Uslu, B.U., Borrero, J.C., Greer, S.D. and Wilson, R.I., 2014. Observed and modeled currents from the Tohoku-oki, Japan and other recent tsunamis in northern California. Pure and Applied Geophysics, 171(12), pp.3385-3403.

Barrow, C., 2014. Environmental change and human development: controlling nature?. Routledge.

Cecioni, C., Bellotti, G., Romano, A., Abdolali, A., Sammarco, P. and Franco, L., 2014. Tsunami early warning system based on real-time measurements of hydro-acoustic waves. Procedia Engineering, 70, pp.311-320.

Di Risio, M. and Beltrami, G.M., 2014. Algorithms for automatic, real-time tsunami detection in wind-wave measurements: using strategies and practical aspects. Procedia Engineering, 70, pp.545-554.

Kain, C., Wassmer, P., Goff, J., Chagué?Goff, C., Gomez, C., Hart, D., Fierro, D., Jacobsen, G. and Zawadzki, A., 2017. Determining flow patterns and emplacement dynamics from tsunami deposits with no visible sedimentary structure. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 42(5), pp.763-780.

Komjathy, A., Yang, Y.M., Meng, X., Verkhoglyadova, O., Mannucci, A.J. and Langley, R.B., 2016. Review and perspectives: Understanding natural?hazards?generated ionospheric perturbations using GPS measurements and coupled modeling. Radio Science, 51(7), pp.951-961.

Mungov, G., Eblé, M. and Bouchard, R., 2013. DART® tsunameter retrospective and real-time data: a reflection on 10 years of processing in support of tsunami research and operations. Pure and Applied Geophysics, 170(9-10), pp.1369-1384.

Rabinovich, A.B. and Eblé, M.C., 2015. Deep-ocean measurements of tsunami waves. Pure and Applied Geophysics, 172(12), pp.3281-3312.

Romano, F., Trasatti, E., Lorito, S., Piromallo, C., Piatanesi, A., Ito, Y., Zhao, D., Hirata, K., Lanucara, P. and Cocco, M., 2014. Structural control on the Tohoku earthquake rupture process investigated by 3D FEM, tsunami and geodetic data. Scientific reports, 4.

Shuto, N., 2015. Tsunamis—Their Coastal Effects and Defense Works. In International Compendium of Coastal Engineering (pp. 55-84).

Siqveland, J., Nygaard, E., Hussain, A., Tedeschi, R.G. and Heir, T., 2015. Posttraumatic growth, depression and posttraumatic stress in relation to quality of life in tsunami survivors: a longitudinal study. Health and quality of life outcomes, 13(1), p.18.

Sugawara, D., Goto, K. and Jaffe, B.E., 2014. Numerical models of tsunami sediment transport—Current understanding and future directions. Marine Geology, 352, pp.295-320.

Wei, Y., Fritz, H.M., Titov, V.V., Uslu, B., Chamberlin, C. and Kalligeris, N., 2015. Source models and near-field impact of the 1 April 2007 Solomon Islands tsunami. Pure and Applied Geophysics, 172(3-4), pp.657-682.