In the aftermath of the tsunami that occurred in the South Pacific last week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has raised tsunami awareness for what it says are the most irregular and infrequent natural disasters that can happen.
The tsunami struck the islands of Samoa and America Samoa and an island in Tonga early Tuesday morning, leaving a total of at least 164 people dead, according to the New York Times. (See their map of the South Pacific.)
The tsunami was triggered by an earthquake, the first of which had a magnitude of 8.0. Fifteen more earthquakes occurred throughout the day.
Tsunamis are a series of ocean waves caused by a disturbance in the sea floor, such as a landslide, earthquake or volcano. Waves can range in height from only a few inches to several meters high, with speeds as high as 700 kilometers per hour. While most tsunamis occur in the Pacific Ocean, every ocean has been host to a tsunami at one time.
Tsunamis are often confused with tidal waves, which are the wave movements of the ocean tides. The word tsunami comes from the Japanese for "harbor wave."
NOAA reports that while damaging tsunamis do not pose a frequent hazard to the United States, 53 percent of the population lives along the coastline, making tsunami awareness a worthwhile topic.
The worst tsunami experienced in the United States was triggered by an earthquake near the Alaskan Aleutian Islands in 1946 and killed 156 people. It created further tsunami waves that spread through the Pacific Ocean, hitting Hawaii, Oregon, California and Washington.
NOAA currently has two Tsunami Warning Centers in Alaska and Hawaii that operate around the clock every day.
USA Today has a series of pictures chronicling the damage in the Samoa islands. The Huffington Post also has a slide show of the aftermath of tsunamis that have occurred in the South Pacific in the past week.
One of the worst tsunamis ever to occur was on December 26, 2004, in the Indian Ocean, and was reported to have the energy of 23,000 atomic bombs such as those dropped on Hiroshima. It was triggered by a 9.0 magnitude underwater earthquake and affected 11 countries, leaving 150,000 people dead or missing and destroying the homes of millions.
Signs of a tsunami typically include a strong earthquake, a sudden change in the ocean tide and a roaring sound from the water.
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Brittany Stoner
Fox Weather Correspondent
Penn State University, Print Journalism and Spanish
