| Author |
Message |
J. J. Lodder
Guest
|
| Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2005 4:22 am
Post subject: Re: tsunami |
|
|
William R Ward <bill@wards.net> wrote:
| Quote: | Jordan Abel <jmabel@purdue.edu> writes:
How about "it's not an english word, so we get to make up any meaning we
like" [and i'm still unconvinced that there's anything in "tsunami" that
means "harbor"]
The "tsu" part does. Japanese is a complicated language, but my wife
showed me the entry in her kanji book. There are other kanji that can
mean "harbor" as well, and the "tsu" kanji in "tsunami" is not the
usual one, but it does mean that. It also can mean "port" or "ferry."
|
Etymology in the original language isn't that important for loan words.
Do you want to know the arabic root of 'algoritm'
to talk about programming a computer?
| Quote: | anyway, "earthquake" isn't any less incorrect than "tidal wave", so it
doesn't matter.
People have this vision of a hundred foot high wall of water, but
really as I understand it, it's more like the tide going out and
coming back in, all in a few minutes' time.
|
Higest tsunami ever reported was 210 feet high,
according to encarta.
| Quote: | So in a way, "tidal wave"
is actually pretty accurate.
|
For a real tsunami
'which is sometimes incorrectly referred to as a tidal wave' see
<http://www.csc.noaa.gov/products/tsunamis/htm/cascadia/t_intro.htm>
Now would noaa.gov lie to us?
Jan |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Steve Hayes
Guest
|
| Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2005 6:55 am
Post subject: Re: tsunami |
|
|
On Sun, 02 Jan 2005 16:50:51 GMT, "Richard Chambers"
<richard.chambers7@NOSPAMntlworld.com> wrote:
| Quote: | The hydrodynamics of a tsunami is similar to that of the Severn Bore, and to
the bores that occur at other similar locations around the world.
|
And that is the heart of the matter, because those are true tidal waves, and
th point of those who have said thatthe term "tidal wave" would mean more to
English speaking people than "tsunami" is that these theings *behave"* like
tidal waves, and that those who insist that the term "tidal wave" should not
be used are just being pedantic.
--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
peter curtiss
Guest
|
| Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2005 6:58 am
Post subject: Re: tsunami |
|
|
No one seems to have mentioned the Marrobbio that occurs in the central
Mediterranean and appears as a quick rising of the water in an almost
tideless sea. I have seen it occur several times in Malta and Libya and it
is mentioned in Ernle Bradford's "Mediterranean".
Peter P. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Maria Conlon
Guest
|
| Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2005 7:36 am
Post subject: Re: tsunami |
|
|
Richard Chambers wrote:
| Quote: | "Donna Richoux" <trio@euronet.nl> wrote
[ ... ]
I have seen only one photo that clearly showed a tall vertical wave
approaching a beach. It was published on the front page of the New
York Times and the LA Times, and it had a French agency credit. I'm
sure it's still at those sites. For all I personally know, someone
might have faked it on Photoshop. However, I have now heard and read
testimony of numerous survivors in the worst-hit areas who speak of
a cliff, wall, or 30-meter (100 ft) wave, and given the massive
devastation, who am I to say they are wrong?
In some places there was a tower of water, in other places a swiftly
rising tide. This is what scientists say they would expect.
That, and the preceding post by Carmen Abruzzi, is the correct
description of what a tsunami actually does.
|
A series of photos from Phuket ...
http://www.pbase.com/issels/phuket_tsunami
(I apologize if someone else already posted this or similar.)
Maria Conlon |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
iwasaki
Guest
|
| Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2005 12:40 am
Post subject: Re: tsunami |
|
|
"Donna Richoux" <trio@euronet.nl> wrote in message...
| Quote: |
In some places there was a tower of water, in other places a swiftly
rising tide. This is what scientists say they would expect.
|
True. I grew up in a region where earthquakes and tsunami often
hit. (Fortunately, all the tsunamis I experienced were sort of
like "it was observed 20cm-tsunami at the foot of the bridge".)
Usually TV news inform in several minutes after the earthquake
happens whether there's a possibility of tsunami. It's usually
given fast enough for people to evacuate (when they need to do),
but there had been a tsunami that hit before the warning was given
(the tsunami of 30 meter high that hit Okushiri island in
1993 came in two or three minutes just after the earthquake).
The meteorological Agency gives a tsunami warning if the tsunami is
higher than 1 meter, and it would be a tsunami advisory if it's
lower than that. They define tsunami that is higher than 3 meters
as a "big tsunami".
--
Nobuko Iwasaki |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
John Holmes
Guest
|
| Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2005 6:10 pm
Post subject: Re: tsunami |
|
|
"Richard Chambers" <richard.chambers7@NOSPAMntlworld.com> wrote in
message news:LDVBd.295$JM.281@newsfe1-gui.ntli.net...
| Quote: |
That, and the preceding post by Carmen Abruzzi, is the correct
description
of what a tsunami actually does.
It travels across the deep ocean as a very fast (300 mph or 500 mph,
I'm not
sure which, I have seen both figures in print) wave of low height,
perhaps
only a few inches high. Although it is of low height, it may be
several
miles from its front edge to its rear edge. As it approaches land, the
sea
bed slopes upwards under it, so that the wave is travelling over
progressively shallower water. The front edge of the tsunami reaches
the
shallower water first, and is considerably slowed down by the shallow
draught. Meanwhile, the rear of the tsunami is still travelling in
deep
water, and has not been slowed up. Hence, water from the rear of the
tsunami
tends to catch up with the front of the wave, and a wall of water is
formed
as tsunami reaches land.
The height of this wall of water depends on the details of the slope
of the
sea bed leading to the shore. A very gently sloping sea bed will allow
plenty of time for the rear of the tsunami to catch up with the front,
resulting in a very high wall of water striking the beach at a
relatively
low speed (although much faster than you can run). A beach with a
steeper
slope will receive a smaller wall of water. If you watch a tsunami
strike a
vertical cliff whose base is in deep water, you will probably be
unaware of
the arrival of the tsunami.
|
That is an excellent explanation, Richard. Thanks.
--
Regards
John |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Paul Wolff
Guest
|
| Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2005 5:20 am
Post subject: Re: tsunami |
|
|
In message <41dbd18c$1@dnews.tpgi.com.au>, John Holmes
<see@sig.?.invalid> writes
| Quote: |
"Richard Chambers" <richard.chambers7@NOSPAMntlworld.com> wrote in
message news:LDVBd.295$JM.281@newsfe1-gui.ntli.net...
That, and the preceding post by Carmen Abruzzi, is the correct
description of what a tsunami actually does. It travels across the
deep ocean as a very fast (300 mph or 500 mph, I'm not sure which, I
have seen both figures in print) wave of low height, perhaps only a
few inches high. Although it is of low height, it may be several
miles from its front edge to its rear edge. As it approaches land, the
sea bed slopes upwards under it, so that the wave is travelling over
progressively shallower water. The front edge of the tsunami reaches
the shallower water first, and is considerably slowed down by the
shallow draught. Meanwhile, the rear of the tsunami is still
travelling in deep water, and has not been slowed up. Hence, water
from the rear of the tsunami tends to catch up with the front of the
wave, and a wall of water is formed as tsunami reaches land. The
height of this wall of water depends on the details of the slope of
the sea bed leading to the shore. A very gently sloping sea bed will
allow plenty of time for the rear of the tsunami to catch up with the
front, resulting in a very high wall of water striking the beach at a
relatively low speed (although much faster than you can run). A beach
with a steeper slope will receive a smaller wall of water. If you watch a tsunami
strike a
vertical cliff whose base is in deep water, you will probably be
unaware of
the arrival of the tsunami.
That is an excellent explanation, Richard. Thanks.
I found the diagrams at the foot of this page especially scary - note |
the horizontal axis scale on the last two.
http://www.bigelow.org/virtual/handson/tsunami.html
--
Paul
In bocca al Lupo! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
John Holmes
Guest
|
| Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2005 9:29 pm
Post subject: Re: tsunami |
|
|
"Paul Wolff" <bounceme@two.wolff.co.uk> wrote in message
news:G55Wyy5RgG3BFwks@fpwolff.demon.co.uk...
Yes, especially if you think of it as however many tonnes of water that
are going to hit each metre of coastline.
There's a very good article about the tsunami at Wikipedia which is
being kept up to date:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake
--
Regards
John |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| |
FAQ
Memberlist
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in