The most terrible tsunamis that shook the world. The largest and most destructive tsunamis in the world and how to escape from a tsunami

May 29th, 2016

When I read about the wave height caused by the tsunami in 1958, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I checked it once, twice. It's the same everywhere. No, they probably made a mistake with the comma, and everyone is copying each other. Or maybe in units of measurement?

Well, how could it be otherwise, that’s what you think, there could be a wave from a tsunami 524 meters high! HALF A KILOMETER!

Now we find out what really happened there...

Here's what an eyewitness writes:

After the first shock, I fell from the bed and looked towards the beginning of the bay, where the noise was coming from. The mountains trembled terribly, stones and avalanches rushed down. And the glacier in the north was especially striking; it is called the Lituya glacier. It is usually not visible from where I was anchored. People shake their heads when I tell them that I saw him that night. I can't help it if they don't believe me. I know that the glacier is not visible from where I was anchored in Anchorage Bay, but I also know that I saw it that night. The glacier rose into the air and moved forward until it became visible. He must have risen several hundred feet. I'm not saying it was just hanging in the air. But he was shaking and jumping like crazy. Large pieces of ice fell from its surface into the water. The glacier was six miles away, and I saw large chunks falling off it like a huge dump truck. This continued for some time - it is difficult to say how long - and then suddenly the glacier disappeared from sight and a large wall of water rose above this place. The wave went our way, after which I was too busy to say what else was happening there.

It happened on July 9, 1958. An unusually severe disaster occurred in Lituya Bay in southeastern Alaska. In this bay, which extends more than 11 km into the land, geologist D. Miller discovered a difference in the age of trees on the hillside surrounding the bay. Based on tree rings, he estimated that over the past 100 years, waves with maximum heights of several hundred meters have occurred in the bay at least four times. Miller's conclusions were viewed with great distrust. And then on July 9, 1958, a strong earthquake occurred on the Fairweather fault north of the bay, causing the destruction of buildings, the collapse of the coast, and the formation of numerous cracks. And a huge landslide on the mountainside above the bay caused a wave of record height (524 m), which swept through the narrow, fjord-like bay at a speed of 160 km/h.

Lituya is a fjord located on the Fairweather Fault in the northeastern part of the Gulf of Alaska. It is a T-shaped bay 14 kilometers long and up to three kilometers wide. The maximum depth is 220 m. The narrow entrance to the bay is only 10 m deep. Two glaciers descend into Lituya Bay, each of which is about 19 km long and up to 1.6 km wide. During the century preceding the events described, waves over 50 meters high have already been observed in Lituya several times: in 1854, 1899 and 1936

The 1958 earthquake caused a subaerial rockfall at the mouth of the Gilbert Glacier in Lituya Bay. This landslide caused more than 30 million cubic meters of rock to fall into the bay and create a megatsunami. As a result of this disaster, 5 people died: three died on Hantaak Island and two more were washed away by a wave in the bay. In Yakutat, the only permanent settlement near the epicenter, infrastructure facilities were damaged: bridges, docks and oil pipelines.

After the earthquake, a study was carried out of a subglacial lake located northwest of the bend of the Lituya Glacier at the very beginning of the bay. It turned out that the lake dropped by 30 meters. This fact served as the basis for another hypothesis of the formation of a giant wave more than 500 meters high. Probably, during the glacier's descent, a large volume of water entered the bay through an ice tunnel under the glacier. However, the runoff of water from the lake could not be the main cause of the megatsunami.

A huge mass of ice, stones and earth (volume of about 300 million cubic meters) rushed down from the glacier, exposing the mountain slopes. The earthquake destroyed numerous buildings, cracks appeared in the ground, and the coastline slid. The moving mass fell on the northern part of the bay, filled it up, and then crawled onto the opposite slope of the mountain, tearing off its forest cover to a height of more than three hundred meters. The landslide generated a giant wave that literally swept Lituya Bay towards the ocean. The wave was so great that it swept entirely over the entire sandbank at the mouth of the bay.

Eyewitnesses to the disaster were people on board the ships that dropped anchor in the bay. The terrible shock threw them all out of their beds. Jumping to their feet, they could not believe their eyes: the sea rose. “Giant landslides, raising clouds of dust and snow in their path, began to run along the slopes of the mountains. Soon their attention was attracted by an absolutely fantastic sight: the mass of ice of the Lituya glacier, located far to the north and usually hidden from view by the peak that rises at the entrance to the bay, as if it rose above the mountains and then majestically fell into the waters of the inner bay. All this looked like some kind of nightmare. Before the eyes of the shocked people, a huge wave rose up, which swallowed the foot of the northern mountain. After that, it swept across the bay, tearing off trees from the slopes of the mountains. ; having fallen like a mountain of water onto the island of Cenotaph... it rolled over the highest point of the island, rising 50 m above sea level. This entire mass suddenly plunged into the waters of the narrow bay, causing a huge wave, the height of which apparently reached 17-35 m. the energy was so great that the wave rushed violently across the bay, sweeping the slopes of the mountains. In the inner basin, the impacts of the wave on the shore were probably very strong. The slopes of the northern mountains facing the bay were bare: where there had once been dense forest there were now bare rocks; This pattern was observed at altitudes of up to 600 meters.

One longboat was lifted high, easily carried across the sandbar and dropped into the ocean. At that moment, when the longboat was carried over the sandbank, the fishermen on it saw standing trees beneath them. The wave literally threw people across the island into the open sea. During a nightmare ride on a giant wave, the boat pounded against trees and debris. The longboat sank, but the fishermen miraculously survived and were rescued two hours later. Of the other two longboats, one safely withstood the wave, but the other sank, and the people on it went missing.

Miller found that the trees growing at the upper edge of the exposed area, just below 600 m above the bay, were bent and broken, their fallen trunks pointing towards the top of the mountain, but the roots were not torn from the soil. Something pushed these trees up. The enormous force that accomplished this could not be anything other than the top of a gigantic wave that swept over the mountain on that July evening in 1958.”

Mr. Howard J. Ulrich, on his yacht, which is called "Edri", entered the waters of Lituya Bay about eight in the evening and anchored at a depth of nine meters in a small cove on the southern shore. Howard says that suddenly the yacht began to rock violently. He ran out onto the deck and saw how in the northeastern part of the bay the rocks began to move due to the earthquake and a huge block of rock began to fall into the water. About two and a half minutes after the earthquake, he heard a deafening sound from the destruction of rock.

“We definitely saw that the wave came from Gilbert Bay, just before the earthquake ended. But at first it was not a wave. At first it was more like an explosion, as if the glacier was splitting into pieces. The wave grew from the surface of the water, at first it was almost invisible, who would have thought that then the water would rise to a height of half a kilometer.”

Ulrich said that he observed the entire process of the development of the wave, which reached their yacht in a very short time - something like two and a half to three minutes, from the time it could first be noticed. Since we didn't want to lose the anchor, we pulled out the entire anchor chain (about 72 meters) and started the engine. Halfway between the northeastern edge of Lituya Bay and Cenotaf Island, a thirty-meter-high wall of water could be seen that stretched from one shore to the other. When the wave approached the northern part of the island, it split into two parts, but after passing the southern part of the island, the wave became one again. It was smooth, only there was a small ridge on top. When this mountain of water approached our yacht, its front was quite steep, and its height was from 15 to 20 meters. Before the wave arrived at the place where our yacht was located, we did not feel any drop in water or other changes, with the exception of a slight vibration that was transmitted through the water from tectonic processes that began to operate during the earthquake. As soon as the wave approached us and began to lift our yacht, the anchor chain crackled violently. The yacht was carried towards the southern shore and then, on the return stroke of the wave, towards the center of the bay. The top of the wave was not very wide, from 7 to 15 meters, and the trailing front was less steep than the leading one.

As the giant wave swept past us, the surface of the water returned to its normal level, but we could see a lot of turbulence swirling around the yacht, as well as erratic waves six meters high, which moved from one birch bay to another. These waves did not create any noticeable movement of water from the mouth of the bay to its northeastern part and back.

After 25...30 minutes the surface of the bay calmed down. Near the banks one could see many logs, branches and uprooted trees. All this rubbish slowly drifted towards the center of Lituya Bay and towards its mouth. In fact, during the entire incident, Ulrich did not lose control of the yacht. When the Edri approached the entrance to the bay at 11 pm, a normal current could be observed there, which is usually caused by the daily ebb of ocean water.

Other eyewitnesses to the disaster, the Swenson couple on a yacht called Badger, entered Lituya Bay around nine in the evening. First, their ship approached Cenotaf Island, and then returned to Anchorage Bay on the northern shore of the bay, not far from its mouth (see map). The Svensons anchored at a depth of about seven meters and went to bed. William Swenson's sleep was interrupted by strong vibrations from the yacht's hull. He ran to the control room and began to time what was happening. A little over a minute after William first felt the vibration, and probably just before the end of the earthquake, he looked towards the northeastern part of the bay, which was visible against the backdrop of Cenotaph Island. The traveler saw something that he initially mistook for the Lituya glacier, which “rose into the air and began to move towards the observer. “It seemed like this mass was solid, but it jumped and swayed. Large pieces of ice were constantly falling into the water in front of this block.” After a short time, “the glacier disappeared from view, and instead of it a large wave appeared in that place and went in the direction of the La Gaussi spit, just where our yacht was anchored.” In addition, Svenson noticed that the wave flooded the shore at a very noticeable height.

When the wave passed Cenotaf Island, its height was about 15 meters in the center of the bay, and gradually decreased near the shores. She passed the island approximately two and a half minutes after she was first seen, and reached the yacht Badger another eleven and a half minutes (approximately). Before the wave arrived, William, like Howard Ulrich, did not notice any drop in water level or any turbulent phenomena.

The yacht "Badger", which was still at anchor, was lifted by a wave and carried towards the La Gaussie spit. The stern of the yacht was below the crest of the wave, so that the position of the vessel resembled a surfboard. Svenson looked at that moment at the place where the trees growing on the La Gaussy spit should have been visible. At that moment they were hidden by water. William noted that above the tops of the trees there was a layer of water equal to approximately two times the length of his yacht, about 25 meters. Having passed the La Gaussi spit, the wave subsided very quickly.

In the place where Svenson's yacht was moored, the water level began to drop and the ship hit the bottom of the bay, remaining afloat not far from the shore. 3-4 minutes after the impact, Swenson saw that water continued to flow over the La Gaussie Spit, carrying logs and other debris from forest vegetation. He was not sure that it was not a second wave that could have carried the yacht across the spit into the Gulf of Alaska. Therefore, the Svenson couple left their yacht, moving onto a small boat, from which they were picked up by a fishing boat a couple of hours later.

There was a third ship in Lituya Bay at the time of the incident. It was anchored at the entrance to the bay, and was sunk by a huge wave. None of the people on board survived, two were believed to have died.

What happened on July 9, 1958? That evening, a huge rock fell into the water from a steep cliff overlooking the northeastern shore of Gilbert Bay. Tsunami record for wave height. The collapse area is marked on the map in red. The impact of an incredible mass of stones from a very high altitude caused an unprecedented tsunami, which wiped out from the face of the earth all life that was located along the entire coast of Lituya Bay right up to the La Gaussi spit. After the wave passed along both shores of the bay, there was not only no vegetation left, but even no soil; there was bare rock on the surface of the shore. The damaged area is shown in yellow on the map.

The numbers along the shore of the bay indicate the height above sea level of the edge of the damaged land area and approximately correspond to the height of the wave that passed here.

sources

Occasionally, tsunami waves occur in the ocean. They are very insidious - in the open ocean they are completely invisible, but as soon as they approach the coastal shelf, where the depth of the ocean rapidly decreases, the wave begins to grow to an incredible height and hits the coast with terrible force, destroying everything around and going deep into the coast, sometimes several kilometers . As a rule, such a wave is not single; it is followed by several weaker ones, but the distance between them reaches tens of kilometers. It is also worth adding the enormous speed of wave movement in the ocean, comparable to the speed of an airplane. Most often, the worst tsunamis are caused by underwater earthquakes in tectonic faults. The most powerful of them claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and caused colossal destruction of coastal infrastructure.

1. Alaska, 1958

Alaskans still remember the date July 9, 1958. For the Lituya Fjord in the northeast of the Gulf of Alaska, this day was fatal. On this day, a powerful earthquake of magnitude 9.1 occurred here, which shook the surrounding mountains and caused the collapse of part of the mountain into the sea, which was the direct cause of the tsunami. The rockfall continued until the evening, a landslide from a height of 910 meters carried down blocks of ice and huge fragments of rocks. It was then calculated that about 300 million cubic meters of rock moved into the bay. As a result, part of the bay was overflowing with water, and a giant landslide moved to the opposite shore, destroying the forests on the Fairweather coast.
This gigantic landslide caused a cyclopean wave over half a kilometer (524 m) high, which became the highest ever recorded by man. This incredibly powerful flow of water washed away Lituya Bay. Vegetation on the mountain slopes was uprooted, crushed and carried away into the boiling abyss. The spit that separated Gilbert Bay and the waters of the bay disappeared. After the end of the “doomsday,” there were rubble everywhere, severe destruction and huge cracks in the ground. As a result of this disaster, approximately 300 thousand Alaskans died.

A tornado (in America this phenomenon is called a tornado) is a fairly stable atmospheric vortex, most often occurring in thunderclouds. He's visual...

2. Japan, 2011

Just a few years ago, the whole world watched numerous footage of the terrible tsunami hitting the Japanese shores. The Japanese will remember the consequences of this blow for many decades to come. Two major lithospheric plates collided at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, causing a powerful earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale, which was about 2 times more powerful than the infamous 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. It has already been given the name “Great East Japan Earthquake.”
20 minutes after the earthquake, a huge wave more than 40 meters high hit the densely populated Japanese coast. This was one of the strongest waves to hit the Japanese islands. As a result, the tsunami killed over 25 thousand people. But this was only the first powerful blow, after which the second was not immediately visible, the consequences of which would inevitably last for decades. The fact is that the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant located on the shore was also hit by the tsunami. Its system could not withstand the impact of the elements and malfunctioned, as a result of which control over some reactors was lost, until their shells melted. Radioactive substances entered the groundwater and spread beyond the station. Now there is an exclusion zone around it for tens of kilometers. As a result of the tsunami, colossal destruction occurred: 400,000 buildings, railways and roads, bridges, seaports, and airports. Japan is still rebuilding the destroyed coastal infrastructure.

3. Indian Ocean, 2004

The Indian Ocean prepared a terrible Christmas gift for the residents of many countries on its coast - the catastrophic tsunami that occurred on December 26, 2004. The cause of the disaster was a powerful underwater earthquake in the Andaman Islands, near the island of Sumatra. As a result of a fracture in the earth's crust, the bottom there shifted sharply and significantly, which generated an unusually strong tsunami wave. True, in the ocean it was only about 60 cm high. At a speed of about 800 km/h, it began to move in all directions: towards Sumatra, Thailand, the east coast of India and Sri Lanka, and even Madagascar.
Within 8 hours after the shocks, the tsunami hit most of the Indian Ocean coast, and throughout the day its echoes were noted in other parts of the world. The main blow fell on Indonesia, where a tidal wave hit the densely populated coast, destroying everything built by man and going kilometers deep into the coast.
Tens of thousands of people died almost instantly. Those who found themselves close to the shore and did not find high shelter had no chance of escape, since the water, overflowing with debris and debris carried away by it, did not subside for more than a quarter of an hour, and then inexorably carried its prey into the open ocean.
As a result of this disaster, over 250 thousand people died, and economic losses cannot be calculated. More than 5 million coastal residents were forced to leave their homes, 2 million simply no longer had homes, and many needed help. Many international charities responded to the disaster, sending humanitarian aid by air.

Throughout the history of mankind, powerful earthquakes have repeatedly caused colossal damage to people and caused a huge number of casualties among the population...

4. Krakatoa, Indonesia, 1883

In this fateful year, a catastrophic eruption of the Indonesian volcano Krakatoa occurred, as a result of which the volcano itself was destroyed, and a powerful wave was formed in the ocean, striking the entire coast of the Indian Ocean. The eruption began on August 27 with powerful lava flows. When sea water rushed into the hot crater of the volcano, a colossal explosion occurred, literally cutting off two-thirds of the island, the debris of which fell into the ocean and caused a series of tsunamis. There is information that 40 thousand people died from this disaster. Those who lived closer than 500 km from the volcano failed to survive. Even in distant South Africa there were victims of this tsunami.

5. Papua New Guinea, 1998

In July 1998, a disaster occurred in Papua New Guinea. It all started with an earthquake of magnitude 7.1, which provoked a powerful landslide towards the sea. As a result, a 15-meter wave was formed, which hit the shores, immediately killing over 200 thousand inhabitants and leaving many thousands more homeless (the Varupu people lived in the small Varupu Bay, sandwiched between two islands). Then, with an interval of half an hour, two powerful tremors occurred, causing huge waves that destroyed all settlements within 30 kilometers. Near the capital of the state, the city of Rabaupe, the water level in the ocean rose by 6 cm. Although residents of New Guinea often encounter earthquakes and tsunamis, they do not remember a tidal wave of such strength. The huge wave covered more than 100 square kilometers of the island, keeping the water level at 4 meters.

6. Philippines, 1976

Less than half a century ago, in the Pacific basin of Cotabato there was a small island of Mindanao. It was at the southern tip of the picturesque Philippine Islands. The inhabitants of the island enjoyed heavenly living conditions and did not suspect what threat loomed over them. But a powerful 8-magnitude earthquake occurred, which generated a powerful tsunami wave. This wave seemed to cut off the coastline of the island. 5 thousand people who did not find a saving height were washed away by the water flow, 2.5 thousand people could not be found (obviously, they were carried into the ocean), almost 10 thousand were injured to varying degrees, over 90 thousand people were left homeless overnight open air. For the Philippines, such a disaster was the largest.
Scientists have discovered that after the catastrophic earthquake, the islands of Borneo and Sulawesi changed their coordinates. For the island of Mindanao, this day was probably the most destructive in its entire history.

Hazardous natural phenomena mean extreme climatic or meteorological phenomena that occur naturally in that area...

7. Chile, 1960

The Chilean earthquake of 1960 was the most powerful since man began to record the strength of tremors. The great Chilean earthquake occurred on May 22 and had a magnitude of 9.5. It was accompanied by a volcanic eruption and a catastrophic tsunami. In some places the waves reached 25 meters in height. After 15 hours, the wave reached the distant Hawaiian Islands, where 61 people died from it, and after another 7 hours it hit the coast of Japan, killing 142 residents. In total, about 6 thousand people died from this tsunami.
It was after this event that people decided that the entire ocean coast should be notified of the danger of a tsunami, no matter how far it was from the epicenter of the disaster.

8. Italy, 1908

The most powerful earthquake in Europe generated three waves of tsunamis; as a result of the cataclysm, the cities of Reggio Calabria, Messino and Palmi were completely destroyed. 15 minutes was enough for the elements to destroy thousands of buildings, and with them cultural values ​​and unique monuments of the history of Sicily. As for the dead, there is only a rough estimate of their number - from 70 thousand to 100 thousand people, although there are suggestions that there were twice as many victims.

9. Kuril Islands, 1952

A magnitude 7 earthquake in the Kuril Islands caused a tsunami that wiped out Severo-Kurilsk and a number of fishermen’s villages. At that time, residents did not yet know what a tsunami was, and after the shocks they returned to their houses, where they were covered by a 20-meter wave. Those who survived the first wave were covered by the second and third. In total, 2,300 people became victims of the ocean attack. As was customary in the USSR back then, they kept silent about the disaster, but learned about it decades later. The city itself was then moved higher. But this tragedy prompted the creation of a tsunami warning system in the USSR, as well as more active development of oceanology and seismology and scientific research in this area.

Environmental disasters have their own specifics - during them not a single person may die, but at the same time a very significant...

10. Japan, 1707

Of course, Japan has had many tsunamis over its long history. It is no coincidence that the term “tsunami” itself was invented by the Japanese. Back in 1707, an earthquake with a magnitude of 8.4 occurred near Osaka, which caused a wave 25 meters high. But the first wave was followed by several more weaker, although no less destructive, natural disasters. As a result, 30 thousand people died.

Which amazes with its power, strength and boundless energy. This element attracts the attention of researchers who are trying to understand the very nature of the occurrence of giant waves in order to prevent terrible consequences from the destructive power of water. This review will present a list of the largest tsunamis in scope that have occurred over the past 60 years.

Destructive wave in Alaska

The largest tsunamis in the world occur under the influence of various factors, but the most common cause of this phenomenon is earthquakes. It was the tremors that became the basis for the formation of a deadly wave back in 1964 in Alaska. Good Friday (March 27), one of the main Christian holidays, was overshadowed by an earthquake with a magnitude of 9.2 points. The natural phenomenon had a direct impact on the ocean - waves 30 meters long and 8 meters high arose. The tsunami destroyed everything in its path: the West Coast of North America, as well as Haiti and Japan, were affected. On this day, about 120 people died, and the territory of Alaska decreased by 2.4 meters.

Samoa's deadly tsunami

The photo of the largest wave in the world (tsunami) invariably impresses and evokes the most contradictory feelings - this is both horror from realizing the scale of the disaster that followed, and a certain reverence for the forces of nature. In general, a lot of similar pictures have appeared on news resources in recent years. They depict the terrible consequences of a natural disaster that took place in Samoa. According to reliable data, about 198 local residents died during the disaster, most of whom were children.

The magnitude 8.1 earthquake caused the world's largest tsunami. Photos of the consequences can be seen in the review. The maximum wave height reached 13.7 meters. The water destroyed several villages as it moved 1.6 km inland. Subsequently, after this tragic event, the situation in the region began to be monitored, which made it possible to evacuate people in a timely manner.

Hokkaido Island, Japan

The rating “The biggest tsunami in the world” cannot be imagined without the incident that occurred in Japan in 1993. The root cause of the formation of giant waves is an earthquake, which was localized 129 km from the coast. The authorities announced the evacuation of people, but it was not possible to avoid casualties. The height of the largest tsunami in the world, which occurred in Japan, was 30 meters. Special barriers were not enough to stop the powerful flow, so the small island of Okusuri was completely submerged in water. On this day, about 200 people out of 250 inhabitants who inhabited the city died.

City of Tumaco: the horror of a December morning

1979, December 12 - one of the most tragic days in the lives of people inhabiting the Pacific coast. It was on this morning at about 8:00 that an earthquake occurred with a magnitude of 8.9. But this was not the most serious shock that awaited people. After this, a whole series of tsunamis hit small villages and cities, sweeping away everything in its path. Within a few hours of the disaster, 259 people died, more than 750 were seriously injured, and 95 residents were declared missing. Below is a photo of the largest wave in the world. The tsunami in Tumaco cannot leave anyone indifferent.

Indonesian tsunami

5th place in the list of “The largest tsunamis in the world” is occupied by a wave 7 meters high, but stretching for 160 km. The Pangadarian resort area disappeared from the face of the earth along with the people who inhabited the area. In July 2006, 668 residents died and more than 9,000 sought help from medical institutions. About 70 people were declared missing.

Papua New Guinea: tsunami for humanity

The largest tsunami wave in the world, despite the severity of all the consequences, became an opportunity for scientists to advance in studying the underlying causes of this natural phenomenon. In particular, the primary role of strong underwater landslides, which contribute to water fluctuations, was identified.

In July 1998, an earthquake occurred with a magnitude of 7 points. Despite the seismic activity, scientists were unable to predict the tsunami, which caused numerous casualties. More than 2,000 residents died under the pressure of 15- and 10-meter waves, more than 10 thousand people lost their shelter and livelihood, 500 people disappeared.

Philippines: no chance of salvation

If you ask experts what is the largest tsunami in the world, they will unanimously name the wave of 1976. During this period, seismic activity was recorded near the island of Mindanao; at the source, the strength of the tremors reached 7.9 points. The earthquake created a wave of enormous scale that covered 700 km of the Philippine coast. The tsunami reached a height of 4.5 m. Residents did not have time to evacuate, which led to numerous casualties. More than 5 thousand died, 2,200 people were declared missing, and about 9,500 local residents were injured. In total, 90 thousand people suffered from the tsunami and lost their homes.

Pacific Death

The year 1960 is marked red in history. This comes as 6,000 people died due to a magnitude 9.5 earthquake at the end of May this year. It was seismic tremors that contributed to the eruption of the volcano and the formation of a colossal wave that swept away everything in its path. The height of the tsunami reached 25 meters, which in 1960 was a true record.

Tsunami in Tohuku: nuclear disaster

Japan faced this again, but the consequences were even worse than in 1993. A powerful wave, which reached 30 meters, hit Ofunato, a Japanese city. As a result of the disaster, more than 125 thousand buildings were taken out of service, and serious damage was caused to the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant. The nuclear disaster was one of the most serious in recent years throughout the world. There is still no reliable information about the true damage caused to the environment. However, there is an opinion that the radiation spread over 320 km.

Tsunami in India is a threat to all humanity!

The natural disasters listed as the World's Biggest Tsunamis cannot compare to the event that occurred in December 2004. The wave hit several states that have access to the Indian Ocean. This is a real world war that required more than 14 billion dollars to correct the situation. According to reports presented after the tsunami, more than 240 thousand people living in various countries died: India, Indonesia, Thailand, etc.

The reason for the formation of a 30-meter wave is an earthquake. Its strength was 9.3 points. The water flow reached the coasts of some countries 15 minutes after the start of seismic activity, which did not give people a chance to escape death. Other states fell into the power of the elements after 7 hours, but despite such a delay, the population did not evacuate due to the lack of a warning system. Some people, oddly enough, were helped to escape by children who studied the signs of an impending disaster at school.

Tsunami in the fjord-shaped Gulf of Alaska

In the history of meteorological observations, a tsunami has been recorded, the height of which exceeds all conceivable and inconceivable records. In particular, scientists were able to record a wave with a height of 524 meters. A powerful stream of water rushed at a speed of 160 km/h. There was not a single living place left on the way: the trees were uprooted, the rocks were covered with cracks and breaks. La Gaussie Spit was wiped off the face of the Earth. Fortunately, there were few casualties. Only the death of the crew of one of the longboats, which at that moment was in a nearby bay, was recorded.

A tsunami is a formidable natural phenomenon formed as a result of volcanic eruptions or earthquakes in coastal areas. This is a giant wave that covers the coastline for many kilometers inland. The term "tsunami" is of Japanese origin; literally translated it sounds like "a large wave in the bay." It is Japan that most often suffers from natural disasters, because it is located in the zone of the Pacific “Ring of Fire” - the largest

Causes

A tsunami is formed as a result of the “shaking” of billions of tons of water. Like circles from a stone thrown into the water, the waves scatter in different directions at a speed of about 800 km per hour to reach the shore and splash out onto it in a huge shaft, destroying everything in its path. And often people caught in the tsunami zone have only a few minutes to leave the dangerous place. Therefore, it is very important to warn residents about the threat in time, sparing no expense.

The largest tsunamis in the last 10 years

A terrible tragedy occurred in the Indian Ocean in 2004. An underwater earthquake with a magnitude of 9.1 caused the appearance of giant waves up to 98 m high. Within a few minutes they reached the coast of Indonesia. In total, 14 countries were in the disaster zone, including Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, and Bangladesh.

It was the largest tsunami in history in terms of the number of victims, which reached 230 thousand. Densely populated coastal areas were not equipped with danger, which was the reason for such a number
dead. But there could have been much more victims if the oral traditions of individual peoples of these countries had not preserved information about the tsunami in ancient times. And some families said that they managed to leave the dangerous place thanks to children who learned about giant waves in class. And the retreat of the sea, before returning in the form of a deadly tsunami, served as a signal for them to run higher up the slope. This confirmed the need to train people on how to behave in an emergency.

The largest tsunami in Japan

In the spring of 2011, disaster struck. An earthquake of magnitude 9.0 occurred off the coast of the country, which led to waves up to 33 m high. Some reports noted other figures - water crests reached 40-50 m.

Despite the fact that almost all coastal areas have dams to protect against tsunamis, this did not help in the earthquake zone. The death toll, as well as those carried into the ocean and missing, totals more than 25 thousand people. People across the country anxiously read the lists of victims of the earthquake and tsunami, afraid to find their loved ones on them.

125 thousand buildings were destroyed, transport infrastructure was damaged. But the most dangerous consequence was an accident at a nuclear power plant. It almost led to a nuclear disaster on a global scale, especially since radioactive contamination affected the waters of the Pacific Ocean. Not only Japanese power engineers, rescuers and self-defense forces were sent to eliminate the accident. The world's leading nuclear powers also sent their specialists to help save them from an environmental disaster. And although the situation at the nuclear power plant has now stabilized, scientists still cannot fully assess its consequences.

Tsunami warning services alerted the Hawaiian Islands, the Philippines and other areas at risk. But, fortunately, strongly weakened waves no more than three meters high reached their shores.

So, the largest tsunamis over the past 10 years occurred in the Indian Ocean and Japan.

Major disasters of the decade

Indonesia and Japan are among the countries where destructive waves occur quite often. For example, in July 2006, a tsunami was again formed in Java as a result of a destructive underwater shock. Waves, reaching 7-8 m in places, swept along the coast, capturing even those areas that miraculously were not damaged during the deadly 2004 tsunami. Residents and guests of resort areas once again experienced the horror of helplessness before the forces of nature. In total, 668 people died or went missing during the disaster, and more than 9 thousand sought medical help.

In 2009, a major tsunami occurred in the Samoan archipelago, where almost 15-meter waves swept across the islands, destroying everything in their path. The number of victims was 189 people, mostly children, who were on the coast. But the quick work of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center prevented even greater loss of life by allowing people to be evacuated to safety.

The largest tsunamis over the past 10 years occurred in the Pacific and Indian oceans off the coast of Eurasia. But this does not mean that similar disasters cannot happen in other areas of the globe.

Destructive tsunamis in human history

Human memory has retained information about giant waves observed in ancient times. The oldest is a mention of a tsunami that occurred in connection with a volcanic eruption on the island of Greater Santorini. This event dates back to 1410 BC.

It was from antiquity. The explosion lifted most of the island into the sky, leaving in its place a depression instantly filled with sea water. The collision with hot magma caused the water to rapidly boil and evaporate, intensifying the earthquake. The waters of the Mediterranean Sea rose, forming giant waves that hit the entire coast. The ruthless elements took 100 thousand lives, which is a very large number even for modern times, let alone for ancient times. According to many scientists, it was this eruption and the resulting tsunami that led to the disappearance of the Cretan-Minoan culture - one of the most mysterious ancient civilizations on Earth.

In 1755, the city of Lisbon was almost completely wiped off the face of the earth by a terrible earthquake, the fires that arose as a result, and the terrible wave that subsequently washed over the city. 60,000 people died and many were injured. The sailors from the ships that arrived in the port of Lisbon after the disaster did not recognize the surrounding area. This misfortune was one of the reasons for Portugal's loss of the title of a great maritime power.

30 thousand people became victims of the 1707 tsunami in Japan. In 1782, a disaster in the South China Sea claimed the lives of 40 thousand people. Krakatoa (1883) also caused a tsunami, which was associated with the death of 36.5 thousand people. In 1868, the number of victims of huge waves in Chile was more than 25 thousand. The year 1896 was marked by a new tsunami in Japan, which claimed more than 26 thousand lives.

Alaskan tsunami

An incredible wave formed in 1958 in Lituya Bay, Alaska. The root cause of its occurrence was also an earthquake. But other circumstances were also imposed on him. As a result of the earthquake, a gigantic landslide amounting to about 300 million cubic meters came down from the mountain slopes on the Gulf coast. m of stones and ice. All this collapsed into the waters of the bay, causing the formation of a colossal wave that reached a height of 524 m! Scientist Miller believes that the largest tsunamis in the world occurred there before.

A blow of such force hit the opposite bank that all vegetation and a mass of loose rocks on the slopes were completely demolished, and the rocky base was exposed. The three ships that found themselves in the bay at that unfortunate moment had different fates. One of them sank, the second crashed, but the team managed to escape. And the third ship, finding itself on the crest of a wave, was carried across the spit that separated the bay and thrown into the ocean. It was only by miracle that the sailors did not die. Then they remembered how, during the forced “flight,” they saw the tops of the trees growing on the spit below the ship.

Fortunately, the shores of Lituya Bay are almost deserted, so such an unprecedented wave did not cause any significant harm. The largest tsunami did not cause large casualties. Only 2 people are believed to have died.

Tsunami in the Russian Far East

In our country, the tsunami-hazardous zone includes the Pacific coast of Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands. They also lie in a seismically unstable area, where destructive earthquakes and volcanic eruptions often occur.

The largest tsunami in Russia was recorded in 1952. Waves reaching a height of 8-10 meters hit the Kuril Islands and Kamchatka. The population was not prepared for such a turn of events after the earthquake. Those who, after the cessation of the tremors, returned to the surviving houses, for the most part never got out of them. The city of Severo-Kurilsk was almost completely destroyed. The number of victims is estimated at 2,336 people, but there may be many more. The tragedy, which occurred a few days before the 35th anniversary of the October Revolution, was hushed up for years, only rumors circulated about it. The city was moved to a higher and safer place.

The Kuril tragedy became the basis for the organization of a tsunami warning service in the USSR.

Lessons from the past

A tsunami is a giant wave generated by seismic activity and rapidly moving across the surface of the water. These waves have caused a lot of harm to people throughout history, especially for residents of island countries.

More about tsunamis

The greatest geological activity, contributing to the emergence of the strongest waves, is observed in the waters of the Pacific Ocean. Over the last thousand years there have been at least a thousand of them, that is, on average one tsunami per year. In other oceans the statistics are much more modest. The vast majority of tsunamis are caused by a sudden drop or rise of the ocean floor. However, not every such event is fraught with a giant wave; there are other factors, for example, the depth of the source.

In addition to destruction and loss of life, waves can cause other harm. In particular, this is erosion and severe salinization of coastal land areas. Usually, the approaching catastrophe is first felt by birds and animals, which may behave unusually during this period. Within a few hours or even days, they try to escape away from the shore, and pets try in every possible way to make their owners understand this. This is due to the electromagnetic field. Animals are much more sensitive to it than humans, although some people experience severe headaches.

The moored ships have no chance of salvation

Having noticed the approaching tsunami, you need to take documents with you, gather children and other helpless relatives and go away from the dangerous place, trying to avoid bodies of water - rivers, canals, reservoirs, as well as fragile buildings like bridges or towers. What was the largest tsunami in the world? Let us list the most famous cases.

July 1958, Alaska

On a summer day, a terrible natural disaster occurred in Lituya Bay. The bay protrudes into the land for about 11 kilometers, and, according to geologists, giant waves several hundred meters high have appeared here at least four times over the last hundred years. And in 1958, a powerful earthquake occurred in the northern part of the bay, from which houses collapsed, the coast collapsed, and many cracks formed. At the same time, a landslide that came down from the mountain swept across the bay and caused a wave of unprecedented height - 524 meters, which moved at a speed of 160 km/h.

The first to be affected were the people in the ships anchored in the bay. According to the stories, at first they were thrown out of their beds by a strong push. Having run out onto the deck, they could not immediately believe their eyes: the sea reared up, and even a powerful glacier, previously located far to the north, was carried along the sea and collapsed the bays into the water. It was like a nightmare. The water completely engulfed Cenotaph Island, spread over its highest point and, with its entire mass, crashed into the bay, causing another impressive wave. On the mountain slopes to the north, the largest tsunami in history tore away forests up to 600 meters in height.

The tsunami easily swept over the entire sandbank and tore off the forest cover from the nearby mountain slope

One of the longboats was picked up by the wave and thrown over the shallows into the ocean waters. The fishermen could see the trees below them. The ship crashed against rocks and trees, but the fishermen managed to survive and were later rescued. Another ship, by luck, remained in place, withstanding the tsunami, but the third sank; people from it are considered missing. Half an hour later, the surface of the water was completely calm, only strewn with uprooted trees, slowly floating towards the exit from the bay.

December 2004, Indian Ocean

On December 26, in the early morning, a powerful earthquake occurred near the island of Sumatra, part of Indonesia. Its power reached nine points. At the same time, a strong displacement of two tectonic plates occurred. In just an hour, 1,200 kilometers of rock moved fifteen meters, and with them the small islands located in the area. It was in connection with this displacement that the tsunami arose. Devastating consequences awaited the popular Thai resort of Phuket, although its residents and vacationers hardly felt the initial tremors or did not pay attention to them.

What happened next was a complete surprise for the defenseless city. Warnings about the danger had not yet come from Indonesia, so people found themselves face to face with a huge tsunami completely unprepared. Everyone was minding their own business, when suddenly there was a sharp and strong low tide, leaving behind a lot of shells and other seafood. Residents were delighted with this catch, and tourists were delighted with the free souvenirs.

But very soon waves 30 meters high rolled towards the shore, sweeping away everything in their path. People desperately tried to escape, but the tsunami instantly swallowed many of them. Light bungalows are definitely lighter than houses of cards. Having retreated, the water left behind hundreds of human bodies and debris of buildings.

Almost 230,000 people became victims of the terrible disaster

On March 11, northeastern Japan was hit by a powerful earthquake measuring 9.0. According to scientists, an earthquake of this magnitude occurs once every six hundred years. It all started from a point 373 km from Tokyo and at a depth of 24,000 meters. The result of the shake-up was a devastating tsunami that almost completely covered 23 Japanese regions (in total, more than 62 settlements).

Due to a large tsunami, an accident occurred at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant, which had no protection from the waves. Water flooded the diesel generators responsible for the cooling system.

Thus, the power units overheated to a critical state, and a reaction began with a powerful release of hydrogen. This resulted in several explosions that destroyed buildings. A lot of radioactive substances were released into the environment.

The number of people killed in the disaster exceeded 20,000, and monetary damages exceeded $215 million. Six months after the incident, radiation continued to be found in food products, not only in the Fukushima area, but also far from it, although the volume of emissions was approximately 5 times less than Chernobyl.

The maximum wave height was 40 meters, which greatly exceeded the preliminary calculations of scientists

The largest earthquake in the history of mankind occurred in Chile on May 22 and resulted in three huge tsunamis. 5,000 people died and several fishing villages were completely wiped off the face of the Earth. The waves also reached the coasts of the USA and Japan, from which these countries also suffered high losses. The earthquake occurred the day before, on May 21, and its continuation the next day had a huge force of 9.5 points and lasted at least ten minutes.

The resulting high wave caused irreparable damage - destruction, casualties, trees uprooted. It is not possible to provide exact numbers; all data is very approximate, since it was not possible to collect reliable statistics, except for eyewitness accounts. Some, for example, believe that there were not 5 thousand dead, but 10 thousand. One way or another, the disaster is simply stunning.

From the air, you can see the outlines of farms and villages underwater, stretching 100 kilometers from the former coastline

About ten thousand hectares of coastal lands were flooded, they are under water to this day. It was assumed that this was due to the fact that as a result of the shift of tectonic plates, sea levels rose. But it turned out that, on the contrary, the surface of the earth became lower.

A 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit the Philippines on August 16. A huge tsunami covered 700 kilometers of coastal territory, killing 5 thousand people and taking away another 2200. 9.5 thousand were injured, and almost one hundred thousand lost their homes.

The worst natural disaster in the history of the state completely destroyed several cities to the ground

On July 17, the northwestern part of the state was shaken by earthquakes with a magnitude of 7. For this reason, in the most remote part of the coast, a deadly wave rose high, the height of which reached 15 meters. More than 2 thousand people fell under it, and several thousand more were left homeless. Before the terrible tragedy, there was a small and very beautiful lagoon there, but due to the earthquake it was blocked by an underwater landslide. There have never been earthquakes of this magnitude in this area before, although smaller ones occur regularly.

As a result of the 1998 tragedy, a completely new large lagoon was formed

Another major tsunami also occurred in Alaska, just six years after the devastating 1958 wave. It all started with an earthquake measuring more than nine points. Already 120-150 people have died because of it. The resulting wave, almost 70 meters high, demolished three villages, taking 107 people with it. The wave then swept along the west coast of the United States, destroying several business offices in downtown Anchorage, as well as fish and crab processing plants on Kodiak Island. The ruins looked as if they had been bombed.

Then the tsunami moved to the city of Crescent City. Residents were warned and managed to evacuate, but later, deciding that there was no more danger, they returned to their homes. This was a big mistake. Strong waves flooded the streets of the city, overturning cars and filling all passages with debris from buildings. The events were truly terrible: the pier was practically twisted into a spiral, some houses moved from place to place.

Total damage was estimated at $400 million, and the President issued an executive order to reconstruct Alaska after the tragedy.

Powerful waves, as you can see, can be extremely dangerous. Like other natural disasters, terrible tsunamis often lead to devastating consequences and take lives. The only reassuring thing is that the residents of Russia do not have to worry in this regard; our regions are not too susceptible to such a disaster, except for certain regions, for example, the island of Sakhalin.