CONTENTS WAVE OF TERROR 4 WHAT ARE TSUNAMIS 6 WHAT TRIGGERS A TSUNAMI 8 DISRUPTIONS ON THE SEAFLOOR 10 DEADLY WAVES FORM 12 RACING ACROSS THE OCEAN 14 THE WORST TSUNAMI ON RECORD 16 OTHER DEADLY INDIAN OCEAN TSUNAMIS 18 TSUNAMIS IN THE PACIFIC 20 TSUNAMIS IN OTHER REGIONS 22 THE FIRST TSUNAMI WARNING EFFORTS 24 MODERN WARNING SYSTEMS 26 FLEE THE DANGER 28 GLOSSARY 30 FOR MORE INFORMATION 31 INDEX 32
WAVE OF TERROR A Pacific island harbor on a sunny day is a water playground playground Families swim and frolic in the shallow depths Surfers paddle out beyond the inlet to find a swelling wave to ride On March 11 2011 a severe earthquake and tsunami destroyed Otsuchi and other areas in northern Japan Suddenly an alarm shrieks from a pier over looking the happy scene Someone with a higher view of the ocean’s expanse expanse has noticed an odd formation on the horizon A solid wall of water appears to have risen above the 4
VOCABULARY In Japanese the word tsunami means harbor wave Tsunamis can cause great destruction when they reach land ocean surface It is as wide as the eye can see It is racing toward the harbor Tsunami Everyone scrambles from the water They run through the streets and up the hillside farther farther inland They must find high ground higher than the massive massive wave can reach Already the ocean surge is crashing through the seaport seaport It takes down buildings swirling rubble before it Can people get to a safe height before before it overtakes them too 5 As a tsunami alert sounds people in Lima Peru rush to safety on higher ground by following a marked route
