In December 2004, a photo of the biggest wave in the world spread around all the publications of the world. On December 26, an earthquake occurred in Asia, which resulted in a tsunami wave that killed more than 235,000 people.

The media published photos of the destruction, assuring readers and viewers that there has never been a big wave in the world. But the journalists were cunning... Indeed, in terms of its destructive power, the tsunami of 2004 is one of the deadliest. But the magnitude (height) of this wave is quite modest: it did not much exceed 15 meters. History knows higher waves, about which one can say: “Yes, this is the biggest wave in the world!”

Waves-record holders

Where are the biggest waves

Scientists are sure that the highest waves are not caused by earthquakes (because of them, tsunamis are more often formed), but by ground collapses. That's why high waves are most often:

… And other killer waves

Not only giant waves are dangerous. There is a more terrible variety: single killer waves. They come from nowhere, their height rarely exceeds 15 meters. But the pressure that they exert on all the objects they meet exceeds 100 tons per centimeter (ordinary waves "press" with a force of only 12 tons). These waves are practically not studied. It is only known that she crumples oil rigs and ships like a sheet of ordinary paper.

Tsunamis are constant companions of earthquakes, volcanoes and landslides. Giant waves destroy entire cities, taking thousands of lives. How do they arise and what are they capable of? The time has come to talk about the largest tsunami in history.

In 80% of cases, earthquakes are the cause of megawaves, caused by the displacement of huge layers of land on the ocean floor. The sharp movement of the platforms causes fluctuations in millions of tons of water, which rushes from the epicenter to the shores.

It is similar to the effect of a stone thrown into the water. Less often, tsunamis give rise to landslides and volcanic eruptions, when huge masses of earth and stones abruptly descend into the water.

Tsunami Facts You Might Not Know

The tsunami comes unnoticed. In the open ocean, the waves usually reach only a few meters in height, and only near the shore the water rises and hits the land with all its might.

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The harbinger of a tsunami is a sharp ebb. Not everyone knows about it. Seeing that the water is rapidly receding, many people stay on the shore, observe the unusual phenomenon and collect shells, while the ocean prepares to deal a death blow.

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It is widely believed that a tsunami is a wall of water as high as a high-rise building. In fact, the waves can only grow up to 6-7 meters high. In a tsunami, it is not the wave itself that is terrible, but what comes after it - huge masses of water that flood the coast with a continuous and swift stream.

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Over the past hundred years, there have been many powerful tsunamis in the world that shook the world.

The most violent tsunami in history

The tsunami, considered the deadliest, was registered in Indian Ocean December 26, 2004. Two huge tectonic layers, resting against each other for a long time, could not withstand the stress. One of the platforms rose sharply above the other and moved forward several meters. This triggered a magnitude 9 earthquake, one of the strongest on record. As a result, huge masses of water rushed at high speed to the shores of Asia and Africa.

The first and most devastating blow came to Indonesia. Waves from 12 to 30 meters high destroyed cities and villages.

photo telegraph
photo telegraph

An hour after the earthquake, the tsunami reached Thailand. No one foresaw trouble, there were many tourists on the beaches who did not immediately understand what was happening. The delay cost thousands of people their lives.

photo telegraph

Three hours after the start of the disaster, megawaves swept the coasts of Sri Lanka and India, and a few hours later the tsunami reached Africa.

photo telegraph

The disaster killed more than 230,000 people and left 1.6 million people in Asia and Africa homeless. The video footage captured by eyewitnesses of the disaster.

The tsunami that caused the nuclear disaster

More than 15 thousand dead, 3.5 thousand missing, 300 thousand left homeless, radiation leakage - such were the consequences of the tsunami that hit the coast of Japan on March 11, 2011.

A deadly wave was caused by a shift in a massive section earth's crust in the Pacific Ocean. The movement of a huge layer of earth generated a magnitude 9 earthquake, which was later called the Great East Japan Earthquake.

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Following the vibrations of the earth came powerful tsunami.

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The wall of water in some areas rose to 30-40 meters. Waves wiped out cities and villages.

1. The word "tsunami" comes from Japanese language. It translates as "wave in the bay." Tsunamis used to be called "waves of the tide", but now this term is not used, since tsunamis have nothing to do with tides.

2. A tsunami consists of a series of surface waves following each other, rather than a single wave. During a large tsunami, waves can come ashore for several hours, and the first wave is not necessarily the most destructive.

3. In most cases, tsunamis occur due to underwater tremors and earthquakes. According to the US Geological Survey, a catastrophe similar to the one that happened in Samoa is caused by an underwater shaking of the earth's crust with a magnitude of eight. An earthquake will generate a tsunami if it is powerful enough to move a large enough mass of water.

4. Approximately 80% of tsunamis occur in the Pacific Ocean.

5. The hypothesis that tsunamis are caused by tremors of the seabed was first expressed by the ancient Greek historian Thucydides in 426 BC in the book History of the Peloponnesian War.

6. Volcanic eruptions, massive avalanches, meteorite impacts, and underwater nuclear explosions can also trigger tsunamis. Other causes are tropical cyclones or weather patterns. A tsunami caused by a storm is called a "weather tsunami". Such a tsunami hit Myanmar (Burma) in 2008.

7. Despite the enormous height of the waves rolling on land, the height of a tsunami wave in the open ocean often does not exceed one meter, while the wavelength (the distance between two crests) can be 190 km. The speed of the wave is more than 800 km / h - this is the speed of a jet aircraft.

8. When a tsunami reaches shallow water, the waves are compressed, the wavelength decreases, and the height increases. The wave is losing speed, although it is still traveling at about 80 km/h.

9. Predicting a tsunami is almost impossible. In some cases, a few minutes' warning can be given when the water near the shore suddenly disappears. This happens when the "bottom" of the wave reaches land before the crest.

10. 10-year-old English girl Tilly Smith saved almost a hundred lives during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. In a geography class, she heard that during a tsunami, the water instantly recedes from the coast, and warned her parents, who in turn told the neighbors about it. After that, she spoke at the UN, and the asteroid "20002 Tillismith" was named in her honor.

• The wavelength of a tsunami is tens and hundreds of kilometers;
• In the open ocean, a tsunami is less than a meter high;
• Because of the tsunami, water moves back and forth throughout the entire thickness of the ocean, right down to the bottom;
• During the movement of the wave to the shore, its speed for a depth of 4 km is 200 m/sec;
• In shallow water, the speed drops sharply: at a depth of 10 m, the speed is only 10 m/s;
• When entering shallow water, the wave height increases;
• The shallower the reservoir, the stronger this effect (the depth decreases, and the wave height increases). Therefore, when approaching the shore, the top of the wave not only rises, but also tends to tip forward.

Tsunamis produced by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are considered the most dangerous natural phenomena on Earth. In the past two decades alone, giant waves and tremors have combined to kill 55% of the 1.35 million people who have died from natural disasters. Throughout its history, mankind has experienced many such disasters, but in this article we bring to your attention the ten most destructive and deadly tsunamis ever recorded on our planet.

1. Sumatra (Indonesia), December 24, 2004

At the end of December 2004, off the coast of Sumatra, at a depth of about 30 km, there was a powerful earthquake of magnitude 9.1, caused by a vertical displacement of the seabed. As a result of the seismic event, a large wave with a width of about 1300 km was formed, which, as it approached the coast, reached a height of 15 meters. A giant wall of water hit the shores of Indonesia, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka and several other states, leaving between 225,000 and 300,000 dead. Many people were swept into the ocean, so the exact numbers of deaths are unlikely to ever be known. According to general estimates, the damage from the disaster amounted to about 10 billion US dollars.

2. Pacific Northwest (Japan), March 11, 2011

On March 11, 2011, a huge 10-meter wave moving at a speed of 800 km/h swept over the east coast of Japan and led to the death or disappearance of over 18,000 people. The reason for its appearance was an earthquake of magnitude 9.0, which occurred at a depth of 32 km east of the island of Honshu. Some 452,000 Japanese survivors were moved to temporary shelters. Many live in them to this day. The earthquake and tsunami caused an accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, after which significant radioactive releases occurred. The total damage amounted to $235 billion.

3. Lisbon (Portugal), November 1, 1755

An earthquake of magnitude 8.5 in the Atlantic caused a series of three huge waves that covered the Portuguese capital and a number of coastal cities in Portugal, Spain and Morocco. In some places, the height of the tsunami reached 30 meters. The waves crossed the Atlantic Ocean and reached Barbados, where their height was 1.5 meters. Overall, the tremor and subsequent tsunami killed about 60,000 people.

4. Krakatau (Indonesia), August 27, 1883

The volcanic eruption in 1883 was one of the largest in modern history humanity. The explosions of the giant were so powerful that they caused high waves that flooded the surrounding islands. After the volcano split and collapsed into the ocean, the largest tsunami 36 meters high was formed, destroying over 160 villages on the islands of Sumatra and Java. Of the more than 36,000 who died during the eruption, over 90% of the people were victims of the tsunami.

5. Nankaido (Japan), September 20, 1498

According to general estimates, the earthquake that shook the islands in the southeast of Japan had a magnitude of at least 8.4. A seismic event led to a tsunami that hit the Japanese provinces of Kii, Awaji and the coast of the island of Shikoku. The waves were strong enough to demolish the isthmus that previously separated Lake Hamana from the ocean. Flooding was observed throughout the historical region of Nankaido, and the death toll reached, presumably, from 26,000 to 31,000 people.

6. Nankaido (Japan), October 28, 1707

Another devastating tsunami, caused by an earthquake of magnitude 8.4, hit Japan's Nankaido in 1707. The wave height was 25 meters. The settlements on the coast of Kyushu, Shikoku and Honshu were damaged, and the large Japanese city of Osaka was also damaged. The disaster resulted in the destruction of over 30,000 homes and the death of about 30,000 people. It is estimated that about a dozen tsunamis hit Japan that day in just 1 hour, some of them traveled several kilometers inland.

7. Sanriku (Japan), June 15, 1896

The tsunami in the northeastern part of the island of Honshu was caused by an earthquake of magnitude 7.2, caused by a shift in the lithospheric plates in the area of ​​the Japan Trench. After the earthquake, the Sanriku region was hit by two waves one after the other, rising to a height of up to 38 meters. Since the arrival of the water coincided with the tide, the damage from the disaster was incredibly high. More than 22,00 people died and over 9,000 buildings were destroyed. The tsunami also reached the Hawaiian Islands, but here their height was much less - about 9 meters.

8. Northern Chile, August 13, 1868

The tsunami in northern Chile (at that time off the coast of Arica in Peru) was caused by a series of two large-scale earthquakes of magnitude 8.5. Waves up to 21 meters high flooded the entire Asia-Pacific region and reached the Australian Sydney. The waters crashed onto the banks for 2 or 3 days, eventually resulting in 25,000 deaths and $300 million worth of damage.

9. Ryukyu (Japan), April 24, 1771

Boulders thrown by the tsunami

An earthquake of magnitude 7.4 caused a tsunami that flooded many Japanese islands. Ishigaki and Miyako suffered the most, where the wave height reached 11 to 15 meters. The disaster resulted in the destruction of 3,137 houses and the death of about 12,000 people.

10. Ise Bay (Japan), January 18, 1586

Ise Bay today

The earthquake that caused the tsunami in Ise Bay on the island of Honshu received a magnitude of 8.2. Waves rose to a height of 6 meters, causing damage settlements on the coast. The city of Nagahama suffered not only from water, but also from fires that broke out after the earthquake and destroyed half of the buildings. The tsunami in the bay killed more than 8,000 people.

Tsunami statistics demonstrate the destructive power of this natural phenomenon. Japan in 2016 was covered by a tsunami with a wave height of up to 1.5 m, which reached the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant, which is in emergency condition.

Given a natural phenomenon associated with the movement of the Earth's lithospheric plates. raises one plate above another. The condition for the formation of a wave is a significant movement along the vertical of this section of the seabed. The magnitude of the wave rise at the place of movement is related not only to the distance that the plate has risen, but also to the strength of the seismic shock.

According to the laws of physics, unevenly high columns of liquid along the edges of the fault are an unstable system. Therefore, the pillars are aligned due to the formation of a wave, “overflowing” from a high column to a low one. The atmosphere is also involved in restoring disturbed equilibrium. Directed winds (hurricanes) tend to move the volume of "raised" water in the direction of its "fall".

From the point of view of wave phenomena, the occurrence of a tsunami is associated with the formation of long waves with a high speed of movement. At the same time, the propagation of waves in the open sea contributes to their attenuation, but this does not happen in the case of a long tectonic fault. Conditions for the formation of a tsunami:

• the bottom section should move vertically to a considerable height;
• the tectonic fault should have a large extent (with a small source, the waves will die out before reaching the shore);
• the rate of rise of the ocean floor section must be high (otherwise the rise of the wave is gently compensated).

The occurrence of a tsunami as a result of an earthquake is a frequent variant of this phenomenon.

Where do waves of destructive force come from

Earthquakes are common causes of tsunamis. The tsunami does not depend on the strength of the earthquake, since the shifts are not always noticeable in the deep waters of the ocean. Other reasons (7%) and some (5%). In 1883, due to the volcano Krakatau, which exploded near the island of Java, tsunami waves killed 36,000 people.

The most dangerous earthquakes with seismic activity 12 points. But for 10 years, this has not been observed. In addition to natural tsunamis, huge waves can be caused by human activities, such as nuclear explosion in the ocean or sea. The formation of waves can also be associated with the fall of a large meteorite. Recent times there was an opinion that from an iceberg falling into the water, a wave comparable to a tsunami could rise.

Phenomenon classification

Tsunami statistics classify their types differently, dividing them by intensity, wave height, origin and number of victims.

Unlike surface waves, which can be generated by strong winds or storms, ocean tsunamis form from the bottom to the top. A huge volume of water is displaced. The height of the wave is greater, the greater the depth of the ocean.

A tsunami in the ocean does not pose a serious danger, since most of the wave is underwater. As the shore approaches, the danger increases along with the magnitude of the wave. In shallow water, the back waves catch up with the front ones, and the superposition of one on top of the other causes an increase in height, in some cases up to 50 meters.

The dangerous factor is the speed of the tsunami. It averages 400-500 km per hour, and in the Pacific Ocean it can reach 800 km per hour.

Before the first powerful wave, a low tide may occur, misleading people resting off the coast. A rapidly approaching wave crashes down on the coast and rolls back. However, the maximum tsunami height does not fall on the first wave. After two or three hours, the next flow of water floods the seashore and penetrates several kilometers deep, demolishing buildings, people and animals. Sometimes a wave breaks on land for 10 km or more.

The most destructive waves in history

Catastrophes associated with the flooding of coastal zones, as tsunami statistics show, have occurred in the world more than once. The most destructive waves in the history of mankind are presented by year in the table:

The last tsunami in Thailand in 2004, which originated in South Asia, reached the coast of Africa and flooded the coastal zone of Somalia. Waves covered the western part of Thailand. The devastating tsunami in Phuket destroyed the entire infrastructure of the resort town.

The waves swept away Karon Beach and other world-famous holiday destinations (Patong, Kamala and Kata). The approaching wave in Phuket was not immediately visible, so especially many tourists died in the coastal zone. The number of victims in Thailand has reached 8.5 thousand people. Coastal areas in Sri Lanka were flooded for tens of kilometers. This tsunami in India and Indonesia flooded densely populated shores, destroying people and buildings.

There was much less destruction in the Maldives, scientists believe that the coral reefs surrounding the islands are a natural defense against high waves.

Characteristics of a tsunami

As tsunami statistics show, the danger of this phenomenon is largely related to the speed of events. There is a relationship between characteristics and consequences. The main characteristics of the tsunami:

• tsunami wave speed and height;
• wavelength (segment between two waves);
• wave period (time interval between the passage of two waves).

The degree of destruction and the number of victims depend on all these parameters.

Why are water shafts dangerous?

A rapidly advancing tsunami carries an air stream in front of it, comparable in strength to a blast wave. Possible consequences tsunami:

• powerful waves destroy everything in their path and flood the territory. The resulting flood from the tsunami contributes to the further destruction of buildings. pollute the soil and drinking water foreign substances, contributing to the development of infectious diseases;
• destruction of buildings and communications;
• death of people and animals;
• the destruction of sea vessels standing near the shore;
• destruction of soil cover and .

Natural disaster protection

Tsunami statistics show that it is impossible to prevent. Only a few mitigation measures are available:

• the prediction of the onset of a wave is associated with the observation of seismic activity;
• constant monitoring of the movement of the shafts;
• informing the population by all available means;
• timely evacuation of people and animals;
• construction of hydraulic structures, in the risk zone of high waves.

Natural disasters bring losses to the state. And for people, the economy and nature, sometimes irreparable consequences. Thousands of tsunami victims over the past 10 years are a disappointing statistic.

Many people die because of ignorance and wrong actions. Evidence of this are the videos of eyewitnesses, of which not all of them survived the onset of the elements, busy shooting a bright phenomenon. Such a frivolous attitude to danger is distinguished by a belated sense of self-preservation.

How to escape from a tsunami? The emerging tsunami threat requires rapid mobilization. Collection of documents and personal belongings should be done as soon as possible. It is optimal to move inland to an elevation, at least 2–3 km from the coast.

The coastal zone receives the strongest blow from the elements. If you are on the beach, then you need to find shelter in a building on a hill, be sure to be strong. While indoors, you need to close all windows and doors and move to a high floor.

If the wave caught in the sea, you need to get together and cover your head with your hands, taking a deep breath, then emerge and throw off excess clothes. After waiting for the return wave, you need to find shelter and hide. As a protection against a tsunami on the shore, a powerful tree or a solid building can act, behind which you can hide.

Going on vacation to neighboring countries Pacific Ocean, it is useful to obtain information on tsunami response and the existing warning system. Usually people become victims of a tsunami, and curious tourists are caught off guard, collecting shells during low tide, preceding a powerful wave. The number of destructive waves over the past 10 years has increased worldwide.

The last tsunami in Cyprus occurred in 1908. Scientists believe that destructive waves form in the Mediterranean Sea once every 100 years. The same is true in Greece, Turkey and other countries washed by this sea. It is generally accepted that Australia is vulnerable to a tsunami from the east coast of the Pacific Ocean.

In 2016 there was powerful earthquake in New Zealand, which caused a wave of 2.5 meters that hit the shores. An infrequent guest of the tsunami in the Dominican Republic. To understand in what years there were tsunamis in this country, let's turn to history:

• a powerful earthquake in 1751 caused the most tragic destruction, including from high water masses;
• 1842 waves reached 2 meters;
• 1946 the northern coast of the country was destroyed, five-meter waves flooded the coast, 1950 people died.

The latest tsunami statistics do not include this area among the most dangerous. Natural disasters on Far East- a fairly common thing due to its location. Waves covered coastal areas in 1923, 1952 and 1960. Excavations by scientists found that 8,000 years ago, volcanic eruptions caused more than 50 megatsunamis in the region.