I google often. I was doing a search to see if there was any info on the ground sinking as one of my friends had claimed. I read a post to Free Republic that someone didn't believe that the water receded before the wave. C'mon folks, this has happened time and time again, Hilo in 1946, American Samoa, Japan, Valdez, Seward. I quote 'Proud Texan' "I'm not buying the preceding undertow idea, either, whereas the general rapid rise of water levels as described by the WaPost reporter --without large waves--makes more sense. I can't imagine a tsunami creating a vacuum out in front of its path, which is what it would take to create an undertow, unless a huge wave pulled water from below, stacked it up high, creating room for an undertow." Think about it Mr. Texan, if a huge wall of water emanating from a single point were to occur, where would all the water come from? I comes from the ocean in front of the wave! These guys are talking about Nukes to stop a tidal wave! What, are they crazy or joking? They obviously don't understand energy and wave theory. The best thing we could do is to put a tsunami warning center in the Indian Ocean like we have here in the Pacific. How many americans perished? More than from 911. How much money have we spent on TSA and homeland security and Iraq? Let's take the lead and buy a tsunami warning system for the whole world. Alaskans live in one of the most seismically active regions on the planet. Perched atop a notch on the ring of fire, surrounded by fault zones, we are no strangers to real disasters. My mother in law Ella Craig housed 17 people in her home after the '64 quake. They had the only source of heat- a huge brick fireplace.
Read these lunatics for yourself.
In electrical engineering, we spend a lot of time dealing with energy transfer. We use a technique called "impedance", which is a property of a transmission medium. A high impedance medium requires a large amplitude signal to transmit power, whereas a low impedance medium requires a much smaller amplitude signal. Another term for this is wave impedance. What goes for electrons goes for water molecules as well. In deep water, you have a very low impedance, fast waves with minimal amplitude. To transmit the same amount of energy in shallow water, you need a much larger wave, travelling much slower. In electronics, when a signal travels from a high impedance to a low impedance medium, a transformer is utilize to make sure maximum energy is transferred. In wave theory, the equivalent of a transformer would be a gradual transition from deep water to shallow water. This transition serves to slow the wave down gradually, allowing the waves to build to massive heights. At Diego Garcia, that gradual transition did not exist, it went from a very deep trench to the atoll in an extremely short distance, much like Obyan Beach on the east side of Saipan. This rapid transition did not allow for the wave to build- it merely reflected, similar to a mismatched impedance in a transmission line.... Diego Garcia has a high tsunami VSWR! Think about a waveguide with gradual sloping sides- helps to funnel the energy of the wave to a small area of destruction. If the wave hits a steep wall, it will simply reflect and head back towards the epicenter. This is exactly what happened at Diego Garcia.
At the Surin Island chain, the coral reef was still intact, which all but stopped the Tsunami... A big filter if you will. In the places with the most destruction, the expansive nets of sturdy mangrove swamps and coral reefs have all been destroyed by man. Nature makes things flexible with huge surface area. This absorbs the energy of the waves. Take care of nature and nature will take care of you. Read more at the Coral Alliance.
I haven't seen any reports to that affect. Wait, there are reports coming in (1/14/05) It is mentioned here as being a possibility.Wikipedia's definition of tsunami talks about scouring due to hydraulic forces.
Sitemap Home