Acehtsunami

A severe and locally damaging tsunami generated on Kamchatka by a magnitude 8.2 earthquake struck the Hawaiian Islands at 1:00 P.M. Property damage from these waves was estimated at $800,000 to $1,000,000; however, no lives were lost. The waves beached boats, caused houses to collide, destroyed piers, scoured beaches, moved road pavement, etc. A farmer on Oahu reported 6 cows killed. In Honolulu harbor, waves tore a cement barge from its moorings and hurled it against the freighter Hawaiian Packer. At Pearl Harbor, Oahu, the tsunami was evidenced by the periodic rise and fall of the water, but no damage was done. Loomis (1967) reports wave heights of 9.1 m at Kaena Point, Oahu. Pararas-Carayannis and Calebaugh, (1977) report much damage on Oahu’s north coast including Waialua. A boathouse worth $13,000 was demolished in Hilo when water 2.4 m high swept over the wharf. One span of the bridge to Coconut Island was destroyed. The highest wave on Hawaii of 3.5 m above MLLW (or 3.2 m above the tide stage) was reported here and at Reed’s Bay. The Naniloa Hotel had flood damage. Houses were knocked from their foundations. Coast Guard buoys weighing 11 metric tons were ripped loose from their moorings. Damage in Hilo, Hawaii was estimated at $400,000. Damage on Maui was greatest in the Kahului-Spreckelsville area. The wave caused the tide gaga at Kahului to go off scale and stop recording. Pararas-Carayannis and Calebaugh report 10.4 m at Haena Point, Kauai, but this is identical to the value for the March 3, 1957 tsunami and is probably a misplaced value. They also report much damage to the north coast of Kauai.

A magnitude 8.2 earthquake off the Kamchatka Peninsula produced a tsunami that was observed in Alaska. At Massacre Bay, Attu the wave had an amplitude of 2.7 m and a period of about 17 minutes. This record was observed on the tide staff as the gage was not operating initially and the record was clipped. Low-lying areas were flooded. At Sweeper Cove, Adak the tsunami had an amplitude of about 1.1 m and slightly overflowed the banks of the harbor. At Dutch Harbor, Unalaska the schools were closed, and the people evacuated to higher ground, but the wave was only 0.6 m high. It was widely recorded elsewhere throughout Alaska with amplitudes of 0.3 m or less.

On April 1, 1946, at 12:29 GMT, an earthquake occurred in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. A Pacific-wide tsunami was triggered by the earthquake, which had a surface-wave magnitude of 7.8, an epicenter of 52.8° N, 163.5° W, and a focal depth of 25 km. Before the tsunami dissipated it took the lives of more than 165 people and cause over $26 million (1946 dollars) in damage.

One of the structures affected by the tsunami was the newly built Scotch Cap Lighthouse on Unimak Island, Alaska. At the lighthouse 5 men lost their lives and the run-up reached 35.0 m. The Hawaiian Islands were one of the hardest hit locations by the tsunami. Pololu Valley recorded the highest run-up of 12.0 m on the Island of Hawaii. However, Hilo was the city that received the most damage on the Island of Hawaii. The tsunami arrived at Hilo 4.9 hours after it originated in the Aleutian Islands and the run-up was measured at 8.1 m. Hilo received $26 million in damage and 96 people died.

Scotch Cap Lighthouse on Unimak Island, Alaska as it looked before the earthquake and tsunami. The structure was built in 1940. It was 40 feet above the sea and was five stories high. Photograph Credit: U.S. Coast Guard. Source: National Geophysical Data Center.

All that remained of Scotch Cap Lighthouse on Unimak Island, Alaska after the tsunami. Photograph Credit: U.S. Coast Guard. Source: National Geophysical Data Center.

The large number of deaths from this event brought the realization that a warning system was necessary to ensure the safety of the populace. On August 12, 1948, a plan was approved and the Seismic Sea Wave Warning System was established. Later its name would be changed to the Pacific Tsunami Warning System

Tsunami Related Fatalities

On November 18, 1929, at 017:02 Newfoundland time, an earthquake occurred of the coast of Grand Banks, Newfoundland. A tsunami was triggered by a sub-marine landslide and the earthquake, which had a Richter magnitude of 7.2 with an epicenter of 44.5°N, 56.3°W. The tsunami caused $400,000 in damage and killed 29 people, the highest death toll attributed to an earthquake in Canada.

The most damaging factor in this event was the sub-marine landslide. The landslide added to the size of the tsunami and damaged many kilometers of 12 transatlantic telegraph cables. The majority of the monetary damage was due to repair costs of the damaged transatlantic cables. Unaware of the danger coming from the sea, the communities of Burin Peninsula, Newfoundland, suffered heavy damages and loss of 29 people. The tsunami was registered as far as South Carolina and Portugal.

In 1952 American scientists from Columbia University put together the pieces of the sequentially broken cables that led to discovery of the landslide and the first documentation of a turbidity current.

Published 15 January 2005 As survivors along the coasts devastated by the tsunami on 26 December 2004 start to clear the debris, the world’s attention is turning to how these communities are going to rebuild their towns and villages. When the unthinkable happens again, will they be any better prepared? ‘When you think of the hundreds of millions of dollars that have been lined up, there is a real chance that we simply rebuild the risky circumstances that we had before,’ warns Reid Basher of the UN’s International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) in Bonn, Germany. ‘This is often the case in earthquake situations. The rebuilding reinstates the risk in the big rush to get everything going again.’

But rebuilding also gives communities an opportunity to prepare for future tsunamis, and at little extra cost. The nations that border the Pacific, which are in most danger from earthquake-triggered waves, have pioneered ways to protect themselves. ‘Tsunami defence work consists of political, social, economic, cultural and engineering matters. Not one of them can be neglected,’ says Nobuo Shuto, a tsunami engineer at Iwate Prefectural University in Iwate, Japan.

An estimated 2 million people need food aid - overall food availability in the region adequate
11 January 2005, Rome — Local communities severely hit by the tsunami disaster will face severe food security problems in the short and long term because parents and relatives have been lost, livelihood assets have been destroyed, and sources of income no longer exist, FAO said today. Harvest prospects have deteriorated in agricultural areas worst hit by the tsunami and heavy rains.

FAO Director-General Dr Jacques Diouf met last Friday with ambassadors from affected countries and donors to evaluate the response to the emergency rehabilitation of fisheries and agriculture in affected countries.

Donors such as Belgium, the European Commission, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, amongst others, have already supported or expressed interest in FAO’s initial appeal for $26 million.

It is estimated that two million people in 12 different countries in the disaster region are in need of food assistance, FAO said. However, in spite of local losses, overall food availability in the region affected should be adequate to cover food needs.

“Since relatively large rice supplies are available in the region, it is recommended that local purchases be made whenever possible in order to meet food aid requirements in the different affected countries, so as to avoid domestic food markets disturbances,” said Henri Josserand, Chief of the Global Information and Early Warning Service.

However, given the damage to infrastructure, in particular roads, and the lack of suitable transportation means, logistical difficulties will hamper the distribution of food to the affected population.

Fisheries and agriculture in coastal areas have been severely hit by the tsunami waves. “Relief efforts must ensure that local farmers and fisher folk hit by the tsunamis receive all the assistance needed to cover their food needs and to restart farming and fishing as soon as possible. With international assistance, agriculture and fisheries should have the potential to recover from this catastrophe,” FAO said.

Impact on food security

In Indonesia all infrastructure has been destroyed in the worst-affected areas, leaving people without water, food or shelter. The provinces most affected by the tsunami, Aceh and Northern Sumatra on Sumatra Island, are among the most vulnerable areas in the country, with one-third of the population living below the poverty line.

The 2005 main season paddy and maize crops, to be harvested from March on, were already on the ground when the tsunami struck Sumatra. The island is the second in Indonesia in terms of rice production. Together, the two worst affected provinces account for about 10 percent of the aggregate national rice output in a normal year. There is currently no assessment of the impact of the tsunami on cereal production at local and national levels. Following last year’s bumper crop there are adequate stocks to cover the food needs of the affected population.

In Sri Lanka, the hardest-hit eastern and southern coastal districts are among the largest paddy growing areas. Planting of the 2005 main paddy season, accounting for some 60 percent of the total rice production, had just been completed when the tsunami arrived. In eastern parts, persistent heavy rains from mid-December and floods have also adversely affected the emerging paddy crop. Prospects for the harvest, scheduled to start in March, have deteriorated. The country’s already tight food supply situation could worsen further in 2005/06.

Thailand is the world’s largest rice exporter. With the harvest of the 2005 main rice crop just about to be completed, current rice supplies should be sufficient to cover the immediate food needs in the affected areas of both Thailand and neighboring countries.

In the Southern region, including the affected provinces, harvesting of the 2004 main season paddy crop was underway when the tsunami hit coastal areas. An assessment of the damage to agriculture is not yet available but local crop losses are likely. Since the whole Southern region accounts for only four percent of the country’s annual paddy crop, the damage is not expected to seriously affect production prospects at the national level.

In India, some 90 percent of the country’s annual paddy crop is grown from May to November. The tsunami did not affect the overall 2005 production prospects. Rice surplus is expected to be sufficient to cover the food aid needs in the country’s worst-affected areas.

In the Maldives, agriculture plays a minor role in the overall economy, due to the limited availability of arable land and shortages of domestic labor. The country’s cereal consumption requirements, averaging some 40 000 tonnes per year, are normally covered by commercial imports. However, the damage to housing and infrastructure in the tourism and fishing sectors will have a serious impact on the economy.

Poor in Urban areas are facing number of problems related to basic necessities such as - lack of shelter, clean air, clean water, proper toilets, electricity, proper nutrition and medical facilities etc. Housing for the poor is scarce and consequently slums are mushrooming everywhere, especially in unsafe locations which are relatively cheap and vulnerable to natural disasters.

In the recent past urban microfinance is becoming important and necessary due to various reasons. The 2007 Revision of World Urbanization Prospects provides the official UN estimates and projections of the urban, rural and city populations of all countries in the world up to 2050. According to the report, thirty per cent of India’s population today is living in urban areas – slightly more than 300 million people. By 2050, 55 per cent of India’s population will be living in urban areas, amounting to 900 million people.

The 74th Constitutional Amendment has given a significant role to Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in terms of empowerment and expanding their normal functions to include urban poverty alleviation. The poor are generally illiterate and do not have authenticated addresses as well as any collaterals to give as security. Urban poor primarily need microfinance services such as savings, credit (for consumption, housing and livelihood activities), insurance (for social security) and other remittance services.