The results of these efforts are remarkable. Within five years, individuals were back in homes they owned, often on their original land, in communities with new schools and in many cases improved infrastructure.

Early warnings systems could have saved many lives. Coastal forests could have saved property, as well as lives, where the tsunami was not extremely large. It is even possible that a large, well-designed coastal forest could substantially mitigate the damage of a tsunami up to 8, or even 10 meters.

Avoid Inundation Areas: Site Buildings or infrastructure away from hazard area or locate on a high point. 2. Slow Water: Forests, ditches, slopes, or berms can slow down waves and filter out debris. The success of this method depends on correctly estimating the force of the tsunami.

Tsunami of December 2004, caused by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake, is the most infamous tsunami of modern times with disastrous consequences in many areas [1](i)humanitarian toll: it affected more than 18 countries from Southeast Asia to Southern Africa, killing more than 250,000 people in a single day and leaving more …

In Aceh, the northern province of Sumatra, the United Nations (UN) Field Office reported approximately 131,000 people confirmed dead and 37,000 missing. With more than 80,000 houses sustaining major damage or collapse, the UN estimated that more than 500,000 people were displaced from their homes in Sumatra alone.

The tsunami from the 2004 M=9.1 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake was primarily caused by vertical displacement of the seafloor, in response to slip on the inter-plate thrust fault (see Tectonics section above). The other, the local tsunami, travelled towards Indonesia, Thailand, and nearby islands in less than an hour.

No, all earthquakes do not cause tsunamis. (1) The earthquake must occur beneath the ocean or cause material to slide in the ocean.

Usually, it takes an earthquake with a Richter magnitude exceeding 7.5 to produce a destructive tsunami. When a great earthquake ruptures, the faulting can cause vertical slip that is large enough to disturb the overlying ocean, thus generating a tsunami that will travel outwards in all directions.

“Earthquakes below 7.5 or 7.0 usually do not trigger tsunamis,” said geophysicist Don Blakeman of the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Earthquake Information Center. “However, sometimes 6.0 earthquakes can trigger local tsunamis, which are smaller and less destructive.”

Natural Warnings GROUND SHAKING, a LOUD OCEAN ROAR, or the WATER RECEDING UNUSUALLY FAR exposing the sea floor are all nature’s warnings that a tsunami may be coming. If you observe any of these warning signs, immediately walk to higher ground or inland.

The scientific community is working to better understand these faults. Earthquakes generally occur on three types of faults: normal, strike-slip, and reverse (or thrust). Tsunamis can be generated by earthquakes on all of these faults, but most tsunamis, and the largest, result from earthquakes on reverse faults.