lepeep Posted December 29, 2004 Report Share Posted December 29, 2004 a tsunami (biggest oceanic wave possible) can be caused by the mere fluttering of a butterflies wing on the opposite side of the world' date=' it doesnt need to be caused by something as huge as itself. its a phenomenon, and whilst it is such a tragedy all those people died it's also an amazingly natural catastrophe which was never caused by human error. [/quote']the tsunami means "dragon wave" (if I remember correctly), it's not the "biggest" wave you can get, out in the open ecean, it's only about a foot high, but the power of the wave carried through the water, when the sea floor gets "shallower", the power is still carried, so the wave gets bigger as it aproaches the shore (all to do with liquid / wave dynamics). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hog Posted December 29, 2004 Report Share Posted December 29, 2004 Nothing about butterflies....What is a tsunami?A tsunami (pronounced soo-nah-mee) is a series of waves of extremely long wave length and long period generated in a body of water by an impulsive disturbance that vertically displaces the water. The term tsunami was adopted for general use in 1963 by an international scientific conference. Tsunami is a Japanese word represented by two characters: "tsu" and "nami." The character "tsu" means harbor, and the character "nami" means wave. In the past, tsunamis were often referred to as "tidal waves." The term "tidal wave" is a misnomer. Tides are the result of gravitational influences of the moon, sun, and planets. Tsunamis are not caused by the tides and are unrelated to the tides; although a tsunami striking a coastal area is influenced by the tide level at the time of impact. See also: FEMA Backgrounder on Tsunamis Tsunami! at the University of Washington, The Physics of Tsunamis from the West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center, or Tsunami the Great WavesWhat causes a tsunami?There are many causes of tsunamis but the most prevalent is earthquakes. In addition, landslides, volcanic eruptions, explosions, and even the impact of cosmic bodies, such as meteorites, can generate tsunamis. How do earthquakes generate tsunamis?Tsunamis can be generated when the sea floor abruptly shifts and vertically displaces the overlying water from its equilibrium position. Waves are formed as the displaced water mass attempts to regain its equilibrium. The main factor which determines the initial size of a tsunami is the amount of vertical sea floor deformation. Not all earthquakes generate tsunamis. To generate tsunamis, earthquakes must occur underneath or near the ocean, be large and create movements in the sea floor. All oceanic regions of the world can experience tsunamis, but in the Pacific Ocean there is a much more frequent occurrence of large, destructive tsunamis because of the many large earthquakes along the margins of the Pacific Ocean. See also: Tsunami! at the University of Washington How do landslides, volcanic eruptions and cosmic collisions generate tsunamis?Any disturbance that displaces a large water mass from its equilibrium position can generate a tsunami. Generally tsunamis caused by landslides or volcanic eruptions dissipate more quickly than Pacific-wide tsunamis caused by some earthquakes and rarely affect coastlines distant from the source. See also: Tsunami the Great Waves or Tsunami! at the University of Washington How do landslides, volcanic eruptions and cosmic collisions generate tsunamis?Any disturbance that displaces a large water mass from its equilibrium position can generate a tsunami. Generally tsunamis caused by landslides or volcanic eruptions dissipate more quickly than Pacific-wide tsunamis caused by some earthquakes and rarely affect coastlines distant from the source. See also: Tsunami the Great Waves or Tsunami! at the University of Washington How do tsunamis differ from other water waves?Tsunami waves are shallow-water waves with long periods and wave lengths. (A wave is classified a shallow-water wave when the ratio between the water depth and its wavelength gets very small. The speed of a shallow-water wave is equal to the square root of the product of the acceleration of gravity (32ft/sec/sec or 980cm/sec/sec) and the depth of the water.) Shallow water waves are different from wind-generated waves (the waves many of us have observed on the beach). Wind-generated waves usually have period (time between two succesional waves) of five to twenty seconds and a wavelength (distance between two successional waves) of about 50 to 600 feet (15 to 200 meters) A tsunami can have a period in the range of 10 minutes to 1 hour and a wavelength in excess of 700 km (430 miles). See also: Tsunami! at the University of Washington or Tsunami the Great Waves What happens to a tsunami as it approaches the shore?"As the tsunami wave reaches the shallower water above a continental shelf, friction with the shelf slows the front of the wave. As the tsunami approaches shore, the trailing waves pile onto the waves in front of them, like a rug crumpled against a wall creating a wave that may rise up to 30 feet before hitting the shore. Although greatly slowed, a tsunami still bursts onto land at freeway speeds, with enough momentum to flatten buildings and trees and to carry ships miles inland." (From: Waves of Destruction by Tim Folger, Discover Magazine, May 1994, pp. 69-70) See also: Tsunami! at the University of Washington or Tsunami the Great Waves What are the impacts of a tsunami? Tsunamis can savagely attack coastlines, causing devastating property damage and loss of life. For more information, see Tsunami Damage Photos from the National Geophysical Data Center USC Photos from the Papua New Guinea TsunamiAre tsunamis all the same? No. U.S. coastal communities are threatened by tsunamis that are generated by both local earthquakes and distant earthquakes. Local tsunamis give residents only a few minutes to seek safety. Tsunamis of distant origins give residents more time to evacuate threatened coastal areas but increase the need for timely and accurate assessment of the tsunami hazard to avoid costly false alarms. Thus, U.S. residents in Alaska can experience a local earthquake and tsunami while residents of Hawaii and the west coast may experience this disaster as a distant tsunami. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted December 29, 2004 Report Share Posted December 29, 2004 Their is no confirmed death toll, they rekon it could hit 120,000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stripey Posted December 29, 2004 Report Share Posted December 29, 2004 2 friends of my family were in Phuket on the beach just before it all happened, and they had to head up to their hotel room to get something they had forgotten (on the 3rd floor). When they came out of their room, everything was destroyed. 650 people died on that particular beach. Lucky eh?Still haven't heard from another friend who is out there at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaun Posted December 29, 2004 Report Share Posted December 29, 2004 I dont mean to make light of this tragedy in any way because it truly is appaling for something of this ferocity to take away such a vast quantity of lives....however look at these figures CONFIRMED DEATH TOLL Kenya: 1 dead - What was this guy doing exactly' date=' it makes you wonder. Must suck being the only one dead in your country. Sort of like the odd one out. He must be gutted hahahahahah!how embarrassing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraemeC Posted December 29, 2004 Report Share Posted December 29, 2004 oh dear oh dear' date=' go look again.. you will find it somewhere, that with the right atmospheric pressure, the shudder of a butterfly can cause enough energy to be dragged into a frequency with can cause a tsunami to take place.[/quote']Some suckers will believe any old shit.....The next time I need a good fart i'll be worried sick that I blow Barbados away.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hog Posted December 29, 2004 Report Share Posted December 29, 2004 Some suckers will believe any old shit.....The next time I need a good fart i'll be worried sick that I blow Barbados away....That was a quality post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffalo Posted December 29, 2004 Report Share Posted December 29, 2004 oh dear oh dear' date=' go look again.. you will find it somewhere, that with the right atmospheric pressure, the shudder of a butterfly can cause enough energy to be dragged into a frequency with can cause a tsunami to take place.[/quote']Lets hope Al Quieda don't get hold of this information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Jack Posted December 29, 2004 Report Share Posted December 29, 2004 Well, the 3rd world can rest easy that the 1st world is doing all it can to help - The US Government is giving $35 million dollars in aid.Oh, hang on... that's about equivalent to what the US currently spends in Iraq in five hours...here's another good one - the total cost of this disaster is estimated to be around 14 billion dollars.So far in Iraq the US has spent around 140 billion dollars... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calum Posted December 29, 2004 Report Share Posted December 29, 2004 Anyone who would like to do something about it please click on the link and post any suggestions you have........http://www.aberdeen-music.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19922 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest onlynik Posted December 30, 2004 Report Share Posted December 30, 2004 My cousin seems to be missing in Phuket, I don't know where he was staying and really have no way of contacting him. Whole family are really worried sick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest gilly Posted December 30, 2004 Report Share Posted December 30, 2004 GraemeC why don't you just shut up? I think the point of this thread is to point out the shear numbers of people who have been killed, not how stupid you like to make other people feel. Ok Alex got it a bit wrong.. but Jesus Christ, stop trying to act like Mr Cool on Aberdeen fucking music for ONCE and look at the bigger picture. Thousands of people are dead. DEAD. Get a grip! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraemeC Posted December 30, 2004 Report Share Posted December 30, 2004 GraemeC why don't you just shut up? I think the point of this thread is to point out the shear numbers of people who have been killed' date=' not how stupid you like to make other people feel. Ok Alex got it a bit wrong.. but Jesus Christ, stop trying to act like Mr Cool on Aberdeen fucking music for ONCE and look at the bigger picture. Thousands of people are dead. DEAD. Get a grip![/quote']Yes you're right....its a tragedy, a horrible horrible tragedy, tens of thousands are dead and the numbers will increase daily for months.....and what difference does a few stupid comments on a message board make?Everyone knows the extent of the tragedy...the media are having a field day over it so dont tell me that any of the people reading this are doing so to get a picture of how many dead there are....and if they are then reading stupid comments like it was the weather isnt going to help is it?Its you who needs to get a grip....step out into the real world....Mr Cool...yeah right!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hog Posted December 30, 2004 Report Share Posted December 30, 2004 Im sure that Graeme C like all of us are shocked by the terrible tragedy. For him to poke a bit of fun about a butterfly causing a Tsunami is hardly offensive. Chill pill!Onlynik, hope your cousin is ok Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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