A tsunami is a series of large waves that can flood coastal areas. 2. They can be caused by earthquakes
8 H October 26, 2012 1886 Charleston Earthquake In Charleston August 31, 1886, a devastating earthquake shocked millions throughout the country. Not only was this earthquake reported in South Carolina, but in distant places such as Boston, Massachusetts, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Chicago, Illinois, Cuba, Bermuda, and many more. Why so many places? The earthquake recorded a 7.4 on the Richter scale. This tells us that it’s a powerful earthquake, reaching and being felt by farther away places.
The 1985 Mexico City earthquake was one of the most devastating earthquakes in the history of the Americas. On Thursday, September 19, 1985, at 7:19 am. local time, Mexico City was struck by an earthquake of magnitude 8.1 on the Richter scale. The epicenter of the earthquake was off the Pacific coast of the Mexican state of Michoacán, a distance of 350 km, in the Cocos Plate subduction zone. It was felt as far away as Los Angeles, California.
More than 2,000 killed, 3,000 injured and $550 million damage in Chile; seismic sea wave caused 56 deaths, $75 million damage in Hawaii; 138 deaths and $50 million damage in Japan; $500 thousand damage to west coast of the United States. From ISC Bulletin, The International Seismological Summary. The following table lists particulars reported by the Survey for the larger shocks of the series of destructive earthquakes in central and southern Chile which began on May 21 and which is still continuing as of this writing in mid-August. The
(live science.com) One of the most memorable rogue wave occurrences was on October 30, 1991. It was called the perfect storm. According to CNN.com, an enormous extra tropical low is creating havoc along the entire Eastern Atlantic Seaboard in this infrared image at 1200 UTC (0700 EST) on October 30, 1991. Labeled the "perfect storm" by the National Weather Service, the storm sank the sword fishing boat Andrea Gail, whose story became the basis for the currently best-selling novel "The Perfect Storm" by Sebastian Junger. Ocean waves peaked at 100 feet, the height of 10-story buildings.
Japan is well known for being particularly amenable to subduction zone earthquakes, with huge pressures brought to bear by the sticking tectonic plate zones nearby it, and the slipping results in many earthquakes, some of them very big for instance the Tohoku earthquake. The Tohoku earthquake of March 11, 2011 also referred to as the Great East Japan Earthquake in Japan was one of the most powerful earthquakes that ever hit Japan and worldwide it’s recorded as the fifth most powerful earth quake. The earthquake triggered powerful tsunami waves that resulted into 15,883 deaths, 6,149injured and 2,652 people missing. The earthquake occurred in the north-western Pacific Ocean and lasted for approximately 6minutes. Initially, the earthquake was reported as having a 7.9magnitude (MW) and later it was raised to 8.8 then 8.9MW and finally to 9.0MW.
The deadly earthquake caused a large amount of damage and death in the country and in the pacific coastal areas. Also the tsunami that took place afterwards was the result of this earthquake, which is said to be the largest earthquake that ever happened. According to the Chilean government they estimated around 2,000,000 people were
This left the remaining buildings gutted to the third and fourth story. Gambling barges became effective torpedoes, destroying buildings as they were washed up to 500feet inland by the waves and storm surges. New Orleans On Monday, 29 August, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans knocked out all power and submerged the low lying city in um to 6 feet (2 meters) of rising water. Katrina tore part of the roof of the roof of a stadium, where many sought refuge. At this point in it's journey Katrina was a category 2 hurricane and brought winds of of 105 miles per hour or 170 kilometres hour.
Quakes happen when the frictional stress from the movement exceeds the strength of the Earth’s rock. This results in a failure at a fault line. Then severe displacement of the Earth’s crust causes a release of an elastic strain of energy. This energy then creates shock waves that radiate and initiate an Earthquake. In the case of the Haiti earthquake, the Caribbean and North American plates slid past another in an east-west direction.
Haiti Earthquake, January 2010 Terrah-Leigh Ann Pietersen On the 12th of January, 2010, an earthquake struck Haiti which measured up to 7.0 on the Richter scale. This caused an estimate of 230, 000 to 316, and 000 to have died. The earthquake was produced form the fault line that separates the Caribbean tectonic plate from the North American plate. The fault line ran from east to west. It was miles away from the capital called Port au Prince.