How many times has there been a tsunami in the Maldives? Consequences of the tsunami in the Maldives

22.02.2022

A giant wave never appears just like that, the main thing is to have an idea of the dangerous regions and take precautions.

Causes of tsunamis

Tsunamis are caused by earthquakes, but not every earthquake will necessarily cause a tsunami.
Experts associate the Great Lisbon earthquake of 1755, which killed more than 50 thousand people off the coast of Spain and Portugal, with the tidal effects of the Moon and Sun on the earth's crust.
The 1998 tsunami, which destroyed everything in its path in the area Papua New Guinea, arose due to a landslide, the collapse of which, in turn, was provoked by an earthquake of average power ().
So-called “meteorological” tsunamis appear against the background of typhoons: after a sharp turn of the typhoon to the side, the resulting wave can continue to move independently (for example, the 2011 tsunami in the area of the English city of Plymouth was caused by a storm in the Bay of Biscay).
“Exclusive” tsunamis arise as a result of underwater volcanic eruptions (for example, the 1883 tsunami formed after the eruption of the Krakatoa volcano), falling meteorites (in documentary film The National Geographic channel mentions traces of a tsunami that remained in the state of Texas after a meteorite fell 65 million years ago) and man-made disasters.

Philippines, Malay Archipelago

The Philippine islands are located in a seismically active zone. And where there are earthquakes, there are tsunamis, and it is impossible to predict which of the seven thousand islands will be hit this year. In 2013, these were the islands of Samar and Leyte, where waves up to 5 meters high claimed the lives of 10 thousand people and left about half a million homeless local residents. And the worst tsunami in the history of the Philippines occurred in 1976, when, as a result of an earthquake in the Cotabato Trench, a wave hit the island of Mindanao, killing 8 thousand people.

Gizo, Solomon Islands

The Solomon Islands are tiny pieces of land scattered across Pacific Ocean, - are defenseless against the destructive power of a tsunami, which was confirmed in 2007, when the cities of Gizo and Noro completely disappeared under water.

Honshu, Japan

In 2012, a 7.9 magnitude earthquake that occurred near the Philippine city of Guan triggered a tsunami just over half a meter high that covered Japan. metropolitan region and Fukushima Prefecture. There is no comparison with the truly horrific destruction of 2011, when a magnitude 9 earthquake, dubbed the Great East Japan Earthquake, was followed by a tsunami up to 40 meters high, flooding an area of 561 square kilometers.

The greatest impact occurred in Miyagi Prefecture (327 km 2), and highest height waves (40.5 meters) were recorded in Iwate Prefecture. Considering that the word “tsunami” itself came to us from the Japanese language (literally translated as “ a big wave in the harbor"), familiar to a tragedy of such magnitude for more than a century natural phenomenon the Japanese were not ready.

Maldives

Despite its seemingly vulnerable position, the Maldives archipelago experienced its only major tsunami in 2004. There is a threat, but Coral reefs serve as a reliable natural system for protecting the island from surprises from the ocean.

More dangerous than a wave

The mechanism of tsunami formation differs from the mechanism of formation of an ordinary wave, and this is where its danger lies.
At strong wind the height of an ordinary wave can significantly exceed the height of an average 5-meter tsunami and even reach 20 meters, but the length of such a wave is no more than a couple of hundred meters.
During underwater earthquakes, the entire thickness of water comes into motion, so the length of the tsunami wave is measured in thousands of kilometers, and the speed can reach 1000 km/h.
An ordinary wave is driven by the wind, but a tsunami carries a huge charge of energy, moving towards land with all its might.
While a storm wave in narrow spaces loses its pressure, the power of a tsunami, on the contrary, is concentrated there, and it destroys everything in its path.

Phuket, Thailand

An underground earthquake with tremors of 9.0 magnitude brought death and destruction to the Thai island of Phuket in 2004. Despite the fact that the epicenter of the earthquake was in Indian Ocean near the island of Sumatra, the subsequent tsunami reached the shores of Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and even South Africa. Three waves hit each other in turn, leaving numerous buildings, local residents and tourists underwater.

Hilo, Hawaii

In the Hawaiian Islands, more precisely, in the city, the International Tsunami Warning Service is located. The location was not chosen by chance: Hawaii is regularly covered by waves about 2 meters high, with the main impact falling on the city of Hilo, which is located on the shore of the bay of the same name. Despite the small wave height, Hawaiian tsunamis are among the most dangerous, since if a person gets caught in a tsunami wave on one of the local sandy bays with a very short beach, he will simply be smashed against the rocks. But if you are careful, there is nothing to worry about: all such areas are marked with warning signs, and sirens are installed along the shores of the islands.

Alaska, USA

Alaska suffered two powerful tsunamis in a row: in 1957 and 1958, giant waves covered Andreanova Island and Lituya Bay, respectively. In 1958, the wave was so powerful that it actually destroyed an entire strip of land - the La Gaussy spit.

Kamchatka, Russia

Tsunami waves come to Kamchatka from an earthquake-prone zone, which is located in the Kuril-Kamchatka and Aleutian trenches. The three most powerful attacks of ocean waters occurred in the last century: in 1923, the wave height reached 30 meters, in 1952 - 15 meters, in 1960 - 7 meters.

Iquique, Chile

On May 22, 1960, a magnitude 9.5 earthquake occurred near the Chilean city of Valdivia, the strongest earthquake in modern history humanity. And of course, there was a tsunami: in addition to the damage caused directly to the Chilean coast by a 20-meter wave, it reached Alaska, the coast Kuril Islands, Japan and overwhelmed the Hawaiian city of Hilo, carrying about 6 thousand people into the ocean. In 2014, residents of the port town of Iquique were evacuated, where a two-meter tsunami wave arrived after an 8.2 magnitude earthquake.

Acapulco, Mexico

Despite the fact that the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that occurred in April 2014 did not cause a tsunami, the Mexican resorts of Acapulco and Zihuatanejo are under constant threat of the sudden arrival of a rogue wave. So if the ocean suddenly retreats from the shore, it’s time to run.

Tsunami statistics

What to do if “covered”

If you are in the coastal area and feel an earthquake, leave the shore within 15-20 minutes.
If you did not feel the earthquake, you can guess that a tsunami is approaching by the strong ebb of the tide.
While the tsunami is approaching, do not waste time under any circumstances: do not go down to look at the exposed seabed, do not film the wave. Immediately look for a hill of at least 40 meters in height, preferably warning others about the danger, without causing panic.
If you are in a building (such as a hotel) and there is no time to find higher ground, go to the upper floors of the building and barricade the windows and doors. Borrow safe place: There should be no potentially dangerous objects near you (such as cabinets that could fall or mirrors that could break).
If you are unable to find a hill, try to take cover behind any significant obstacle for the water (for example, a strong, tall tree or large stone) and cling to it so that you do not get carried away by the flow of water into the ocean.
If a tsunami finds you on the open sea (for example, you were on a ship and you were thrown into the water by a wave), do not panic, take a breath, group yourself and cover your head with your hands. Having surfaced, get rid of wet clothes as quickly as possible and find any object that you can cling to (in 2004 in Thailand, one of the survivors managed to swim out by clinging to the tail of a crocodile, and another to a python).
After the storm has passed, do not return to the sea for 2-3 hours: a tsunami is a series of waves.

Photo: thinkstockphotos.com, flickr.com

I'll tell you about some security aspects. First, some background information. Most of resorts in the Maldives - this is separate standing island on which there is nothing else except the hotel. Therefore, it is a priori safe there.

Should you be afraid of sharks?

As a marine biologist from one of the hotels told us recent years 30 cases of shark attacks have not been recorded in the Maldives. During diving we only saw small ones (half a meter). According to her, if you yourself do not interfere with them, then there will be no problems.

Should you be wary of the locals?

The locals are very friendly; tourism is still the main source of income for this country. At the exit from the airport, any of those greeting you (even if it’s not your hotel), if they see you in confusion, will definitely come up and tell you which transfer counter to go to.

Is it safe to fly a seaplane to the island?

For those who don’t know, the islands can be reached either by boat or by seaplane. Yes, it is safe to fly seaplanes. In 28 years, TMA (trans maldivian airlines) has had only a few incidents, both involving an aircraft colliding with an object, but not an in-flight crash. There were no fatalities.

Are there tsunamis in the Maldives?

According to the hotel manager, the Maldives are protected from tsunamis by a reef. Those. the wave breaks and weakens. Of course, during the tsunami in Indonesia, the Maldives also experienced increased water levels and some islands were flooded, but there was no such destruction as in Thailand or Indonesia

Is it safe to go on an excursion to Male?

In my opinion it is safe. This is an ordinary Asian city, the local guide also confirmed that there should be no problems. We calmly moved around the city, took photos, no one looked at us askance.

A tsunami is probably one of those that can occur in coastal areas. However, they cause maximum destruction and, therefore, fear of disaster on the islands. There is nothing surprising in this - after all, not only do many islands have a very low altitude above sea level (and, therefore, tsunami waves on the island can almost completely overwhelm it), but their relatively small sizes increase the percentage of the territory being flooded with water.

Tsunamis are especially dangerous in some areas, considered one of the best places For tourist recreation. It would seem that what could be scary in such paradises? But it turns out that there is a disaster that you should beware of when going on vacation to one of these countries.

Maldives

The tsunami in the Maldives in 2004 claimed 80 lives. Compared to the scale of the disaster for others island states this damage is not so great. However, we should not forget about other sad results of the disaster:

– economic losses amounted to more than $600 million;

– the island, where almost three thousand people lived, became unsuitable for existence;

– every fifth hotel on the islands was destroyed;

– Some countries banned their citizens from entering the Maldives in 2004. And, although over time the tourist flow resumed, the losses to the island economy were quite significant.

Currently, the risk of flooding of the islands is still high, as their height in some places is only 1 m above sea level. Although the coral reefs surrounding the Maldives will still make the impact of the disaster not as huge as it would be for most other islands.

Tsunami in Phuket

In Phuket, one of the worst tsunamis also happened in December 2014. Up to 4 thousand people died on the island, and in its capital more than 250, including tourists. In addition, significant damage was caused to the beaches and, which was eliminated only in 2005.

Today, the island's security system includes 22 buoys, with the help of which tsunamis are monitored on the island. They are located in the ocean almost a thousand kilometers from the coast in the direction of Sri Lanka.

Philippines

If we consider how seriously tsunamis affect these islands, the Philippines can be considered quite dangerous place. The probability of waves penetrating here is very high. And most terrible disaster we can call it the 1976 tsunami, which led to the death of 8 thousand people. In the coming years, no special disasters of this kind occurred here.

Tsunami in Sri Lanka

Until recently, it was believed that tsunamis in the vicinity of Sri Lanka were very rare and, in any case, did not cause much damage. However, the same events of 2004 led to the greatest destruction in the entire history of the island. For example, near the village of Peraliya, nine-meter waves destroyed passenger train. More than 1,700 people died - a memorial was erected here in memory of this tragedy.

In 2012, according to seismologists, a tsunami was also expected on the island. However, a wave only 1 m high only wet the shores without causing any damage or causing casualties.

An earthquake that occurred on December 26, 2004 off the coast of Indonesia caused a giant wave - a tsunami, recognized as the deadliest natural disaster in modern history.

The epicenter of the disaster was located at a depth of about 20 kilometers under the ocean floor, about 200 kilometers west of the northern tip of the island of Sumatra (Indonesia). The length of the earthquake source in the direction north-northwest (Andaman Sea) - south-southeast (along the coast of the island of Sumatra) was more than a thousand kilometers.

The energy released by an earthquake is approximately equal to the energy of the world's entire stockpile of nuclear weapons or the world's annual energy consumption.

Following this natural disaster, UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) was tasked with developing and implementing an Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System. In 2005, the Intergovernmental Coordination Group was established. Following eight years of international cooperation under the auspices of the IOC, the Tsunami Warning System became operational in March 2013, with regional tsunami watch centers in Australia, India and Indonesia taking responsibility for transmitting tsunami warnings to Indian Ocean countries.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

Like any maritime state, Maldives at risk of tsunami. The territory of the republic consists of almost 96% of water, and therefore two dozen atolls of the archipelago are constantly surrounded by water. By and large, riots water element there was no fear on the islands until the tragic event of 2004. Then the tsunami killed 76 local residents, three tourists from Britain and about three dozen people received various injuries. It is worth noting that out of 822 Russian tourists at that time, not a single one was injured during the incident.

After this incident, the Maldives quickly restored its normal rhythm of life. Thanks to the fact that each island with a hotel is actually an autonomous settlement, the republic managed to avoid many problems. For example, each island has its own communications network, its own water supply and sewerage system, its own power plants and other systems.

Despite the fact that immediately after the tsunami, many hotels closed for reconstruction and began to receive refusals from booked tours, soon the tourist flow became the same again. Of the approximately 90 large hotels, only two dozen suffered significant damage, due to which their reconstruction was relatively delayed.

Compared to neighboring countries, the Maldives suffered the least. Largely due to our own environmental policy, and in some ways due to the sandy soil, through which water quickly seeped and did not create unnecessary problems. The authorities of the Maldives are the only ones in the area who protect and care for their natural protectors from the tsunami. The archipelago and each island in particular is surrounded by a natural circle of coral reefs, which take the brunt of the wave. In this regard, at resorts it is strictly forbidden to disturb and remove corals and shells from the water, and the laws of the republic prohibit the export of uncertified products of this kind.

IN Lately, especially dangerous tsunamis do not worry the Maldives, and vacationers can fully enjoy the bright sun and hot beaches without worrying about their own safety. Moreover, the Maldives is truly paradise Lands in the Indian Ocean. There is no place more amazing and beautiful than this; moreover, unlike other resorts, the service on the islands is really high-quality, and the services are comprehensive, but unobtrusive. The only thing you need to pay special attention to when booking a tour is choosing the right hotel.

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