Tsunamis: Causes, Characteristics, Warnings and Protection

by: Neil Veitch, Gordon Jaffray

(Natural Disaster Research, Prediction and Mitigation)
A tsunami is a series of water waves that is caused when a large volume of a body of water, such as an ocean, is rapidly displaced. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explosions, landslides, bolide impacts, and other disturbances above or below water all have the potential to generate a tsunami. Furthermore, Tsunamis and storm surges have killed more than one million people, and some three billion people live with a high risk of these disasters that are becoming more frequent and devastating world-wide. This book presents field survey results on tsunami arrival times, wave run-up heights, inundation distances and damage to properties on beaches due to tsunamis. The main injuries of survivors (i.e., aspiration and trauma) are also analysed. Effects of coastal forests on tsunami run-up heights are discussed as well. Other chapters in this book highlight topics such as tsunamis and poisonous gases generated by asteroid impact in the Black Sea, tsunami simulation research, coastal protection measures for tsunami disaster reduction, case studies from the Sri Lanka tsunami, tsunami monitoring and detection, and early warning systems.