A severe earthquake of 7.4 magnitude occurred in Ishikawa, Japan on the first day of the year i.e. January 1. After this earthquake, the danger of tsunami has started looming in Japan. According to the news coming recently, a 45 cm tsunami wave in Japan has reached the eastern coast of Mukho in Gangwon province. At the same time, South Korea’s meteorological agency said that these waves could become higher. Now the question arises that why does a tsunami occur after an earthquake?
How does a tsunami occur?
Whenever an earthquake occurs on the sea floor, When a volcano erupts or there is a landslide, it causes a strong stir in the sea. Due to this movement the water column starts moving and its vibration starts generating waves. Many times these waves are generated at a speed of 500 kilometers per hour and hit the shores. If the earthquake is very strong, then these waves become more powerful and engulf everything that comes to the shore.
How does an earthquake occur under the sea?
Understand it like this that the upper layer of the earth is in two parts and are connected to each other. Whereas, within it the earth is made up of many layers. However, when the tectonic plates present on the outer surface of the Earth collide with each other under the ocean floor, this movement causes an earthquake. Then this earthquake pushes the sea water towards the shores, causing waves which later take the form of tsunami.
India also on alert
After the earthquake in Japan, the danger of tsunami extends to India. The Central Government has prepared a list of tsunami prone areas on the eastern coast of India. Puri, Kakinada, Machilipatnam, Nizampatnam-Vetapalem, Chennai, Cuddalore-Puducherry, Rameshvaram, Alappuzha-Chavara and Kochi have been included in this list. Let us tell you, the fastest tsunami waves recorded till date in India were 17.30 meters high. This tsunami occurred on 26 December 2004, the maximum impact of which was seen in Chennai. At that time the death toll in India was around 18,000.
