Tsunami: a history of the term and of scientific understanding of the phenomenon in Japanese and Western culture

2008 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julyan H.E Cartwright ◽  
Hisami Nakamura
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Coastal Areas ◽  
Scientific Understanding ◽  
Ocean Wave ◽  
Indian Ocean Tsunami ◽  
The Past ◽  
Historical Tsunami ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Indian Ocean

In the past few years we have unfortunately had several reminders of the ability of a particular type of ocean wave—a tsunami—to devastate coastal areas. The Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, in particular, was one of the largest natural disasters of past decades in terms of the number of people killed. The name of this phenomenon, tsunami , is possibly the only term that has entered the physics lexicon from Japanese. We use Japanese and Western sources to document historical tsunami in Europe and Japan, the birth of the scientific understanding of tsunami, and how the Japanese term came to be adopted in English.

REVIEW OF TIDE GAUGE RECORDS IN THE INDIAN OCEAN

2009 ◽  
Vol 03 (01) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
HIROYUKI MATSUMOTO ◽  
YUICHIRO TANIOKA ◽  
YUICHI NISHIMURA ◽  
YOSHINOBU TSUJI ◽  
YUICHI NAMEGAYA ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Tide Gauge ◽  
Indian Ocean Tsunami ◽  
Tide Gauges ◽  
Tide Gauge Records ◽  
Historical Tsunami ◽  
Tide Level ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Indian Ocean ◽  
Systematic Collection

According to the NOAA earthquake database, at least 31 events have been found in the Indian Ocean in terms of tsunami event since 1900, most of which occurred along the Sunda Trench. In this study, we review the history of tide level measurements and their datasets archives in Thailand, Indonesia, India, and Australia. We collected tide gauge paper charts recording historical tsunamis including the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in those countries. As a result, systematic collection of historical tsunami records by tide gauges in the Indian Ocean has been difficult, because few tsunamigenic earthquakes occurred in the Indian Ocean during the instrumentally observed period.

Responding to Natural Disasters: Managing a Hotel in the Aftermath of the Indian Ocean Tsunami

2005 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan C. Henderson
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Indian Ocean Tsunami ◽  
Physical Damage ◽  
General Manager ◽  
The Indian Ocean ◽  
Resort Hotel ◽  
Dramatic Fall

The case describes the experiences of the General Manager of a luxury resort hotel on the Thai island of Phuket in the days immediately following the Indian Ocean tsunami at the end of 2004. Although the property escaped physical damage and there were no fatalities among residents and staff, the management had to deal with an unprecedented crisis caused by disruption to the tourism industry in the destination as a whole and a dramatic fall in arrivals. Recovery efforts are outlined and reference is made to longer-term impacts on business and the challenges of restoring confidence and returning to normality. Issues arising from the case are suggested in a final list of questions for discussion.

Disaster Education in Indonesia: Learning How It Works from Six Years of Experience After Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004

2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irina Rafliana ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Indian Ocean Tsunami ◽  
The Past ◽  
School Based ◽  
The Indian Ocean ◽  
Education Interventions ◽  
Awareness Raising ◽  
Disaster Education

The most recent disaster events in Indonesia have been a major wakeup call for focusing more attention on disaster education. The task is not easy. The current development conditions, including population growth and environmental degradation increase the level of vulnerabilities of communities at risks (Ronan et al., 2005) against future disasters. As one of the strategies aimed at reducing disaster risks, disaster education interventions were adopted for schools with the hope that it can be an effective catalyst for influencing community preparedness. Many organizations were playing their respective roles in increasing schools’ knowledge and preparedness. Two to four years after the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, preparedness assessment was conducted for schools, local community and authorities in at least eight districts/cities in Indonesia. The results were quite surprising: preparedness of schools were almost always the lowest. This paper shares lessons learnt from disaster education interventions in Indonesia in the past six years after the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004; some of the designed interventions were a part of the aforementioned preparedness assessment. The aim of this paper is to discuss some approaches and reconsider the effectiveness of integrating disaster risk reduction, not only in the context of Indonesia but also for application around the globe. A shift from awareness raising activities to more process-based activities such as the development of school-based preparedness models, is now occurring and is observable in several schools. Yet, mainstreaming disaster risk management in the school system, as a chosen strategy for reducing risks to schools in potential disaster-prone areas, may not be simple.

VIII.—Note On Some Post - Tertiary Mollusca From Ceylon

1905 ◽  
Vol 2 (11) ◽  
pp. 509-510
Author(s):  
R. Bullen Newton
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Hard Water ◽  
Coastal Areas ◽  
Clayey Material ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Indian Ocean

Some marine shells, associated with crab-remains,1 Balani, and small thread-like annelid tubes, from the Post-Pliocene deposits of north-eastern Ceylon, have been entrusted to me for determination by Dr. H. Woodward, F.K.S. They were collected by Mr. A. K. Coomaraswamy, B.Sc, Director of the Mineralogical Survey of Ceylon, and his description of the deposits containing the fossils forms the preface of this communication. Lithologically it is observable that there are two sets of specimens-those that occur in hard, water-worn nodules of clay, and others that were obtained from soft, dark, clayey beds found in situ. The fossils found in the clayey material may perhaps be rather older than those found in the nodules, but as two of the shells are common to each, viz. Placuna placenta and Potamides fluvialilis, it is certain that no great distinction in age is to be recognised.An examination of the species represented in the collection goes to prove that they belong to the existing fauna of the Indian Ocean, being similar to the life which is found in the creeks and back-watersof that sea, and consequently bearing a littoral or an estuarine facies.It is interesting to know of the presence of corresponding Post-Tertiary deposits crowded with shells forming the coastal areas of the Madras Presidency of India, particularly at Pondicherry, Cuddalore, Tangore, etc., for the history of which we are mainly indebted to the late Mr. H. F. Blanford (Mem. Geol. Surv. India, 1862, vol. iv, pt. 1, pp. 192,193). So numerous are the mollusca of these beds that they are utilised by the natives for the manufacture of lime.

scholarly journals Reflections on the History of the Indian Ocean: the sources and their relation to local practices and global connectivities

2009 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne K. Bang
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Western Indian Ocean ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Past ◽  
Local Practices ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Indian Ocean

This paper discusses the interpretation of sources for Indian Ocean history, from the point of view of translocal interpretations beyond the locality of the source. The article presents three cases, all deriving from the Muslim South-Western Indian Ocean. The argument is made that the ambiguity of the sources, and the interrelationship between the various locations related to the source, affect not only the historians interpretation but also the sense of the past held by people in these locations.

Tsunami Runup Survey along the Southeast Indian Coast

2006 ◽  
Vol 22 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 173-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry Yeh ◽  
R. K. Chadha ◽  
Mathew Francis ◽  
Toshitaka Katada ◽  
G. Latha ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Ground Level ◽  
Indian Ocean Tsunami ◽  
Indian Coast ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Survey Team ◽  
Tsunami Runup ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Indian Ocean ◽  
Basic And Applied Research

The 26 December Indian Ocean tsunami was an extraordinary event in the history of natural hazards. It severely affected many countries surrounding the Indian Ocean: Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and African countries. Unlike the previous tsunami events in the last 40 years, the seriously affected areas are so vast that a traditional ground-level tsunami survey covering all the necessary areas by a single survey team was impractical. This destructive event will undoubtedly provide many opportunities to explore both basic and applied research in tsunami science and engineering fields and will lead to better preparedness for future disasters. A tsunami runup survey was conducted that spans Vedaranniyam (10° 23.5′ N) to Vodarevu (15° 47.6′ N)—more than 600 km of the southeast Indian coast—which suffered from the distant tsunami, whose source was more than 1,500 km away.

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