At the bottom of this page are links to videos you will need to watch for this assignment. Some of the videos are rough and the English subtitles are not perfect translations, so please ignore the grammar issues and music. That said, they do document the destructive power of a tsunami very well (and one that happened recently). While watching, keep in mind several things: a) the tsunami hit many cities and some of these videos focus on just one, and b) this happened in a very modern country that is actually prepared and accustomed to this type of hazard (more so than most).
So, what I would like you to do is answer the following questions about the videos. Be sure to write a small paragraph for each question and feel free to write more for the complicated questions:
- What indications were visible in the video of an impending tsunami? The earthquake is not the right answer (because not all earthquakes trigger tsunamis). It’s far more visible in the longer video.
- Why are bodies frequently never found when people die in a tsunami? There are several good answers for this.
- Is the water itself the only thing you have to worry about in a tsunami? In other words, people often think that they can survive simply by swimming…why would this “plan” rarely work?
- Should you survive the tsunami itself, list at least three “issues” that could also threaten your life hours to days afterward.
- Based on what you see in this video, how might a large (or larger) seawall have helped the situation? How could it have actually made it worse? Hint = there are other videos out there that show this exact hypothetical for this same tsunami (just in other cities).
Watch this short one first: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8gxHVlP62w
Then watch one or both of these: 15 minute video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86ThCibkHQw
17-minute video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgtFkaLeSnk