Tsunami's eerie warning sign

New York Daily News ^ | 12/28/04 | WILLIAM SHERMAN

[FatherofFive]

"Maybe nuclear bombs set off in the tsunami just as it's approaching shore to disperse it and vaporize the water into the atmosphere?
That might work."

Too funny! People talked about using nuclear devices to stop hurricanes, as well. The lack of basic scientific knowledge is mind-numbing.

[Quix]

YUP.

[Godzilla]

WOULD YOU PLEASE consider coming to this thread and setting them straight on the wildly astronomical impossibilities of drilling holes etc. and preventing such quakes and tsunamis?

Unfortunately there are those who hopes in technology far surpass the reality (I'm still waiting for my flying car). For the record, we are talking about a displacement on the TECTONIC scale over a length of probably several hundred kilometers laterally and miles deep over a fault plane surface of thousands of square miles (at least). We cannot yet predict times and locations for earthquakes, let alone identify where to drill a boring to some how 'relieve the pressure'.

[Critical Bill]

I can't imagine a tsunami creating a vacuum out in front of its path, which is what it would take to create an undertow, unless a huge wave pulled water from below, stacked it up high, creating room for an undertow.

You got it .

[Fabozz]

"I can't imagine a tsunami creating a vacuum out in front of its path, which is what it would take to create an undertow, unless a huge wave pulled water from below, stacked it up high, creating room for an undertow."

Believe it—that's exactly what happens. Water in a wave mostly moves vertically, not horizontally. A wave doesn't consist of water moving across the ocean, but rather of energy moving across the ocean. This energy causes the water to rise up, which creates a low-pressure area underneath the wave that draws water in.

Out in the open ocean, the water drawn up mostly comes from water driven out by the downrush of the adjacent troughs. However, at the shore, the ground slopes up. Water still flows downhill even in the ocean, so more of the water drawn up by the wave comes from "uphill" (i.e., closer to shore). This is what causes the undertow with normal waves; a monster wave like a tsunami has a monster undertow.

[dfwgator]

And even if we could do something like that, what would be the consequences. Messing with nature is never a good idea, it will always have the final word.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

"It would be much more possible to move Los Angeles to Mars." I'd vote for that!

Yep. We truly are guests on this Big Blue Marble. Mother Nature never runs out of ways to flick us off her back like the thoughtful fleas we are. ;)

[citizen]

Drilling holes won't stop tectonic plates from drifting & colliding.

I doubt it would help with volcanos either, the scale of these events is simply way to big for man to deal with.

[WildTurkey]

They showed a tsunami on Miami:CSI a couple of weeks ago.

CSI is absolutely the last place I would trust for scientific facts. Except for maybe the Creationists' web-sites.

[PfromHoGro]

"If you're standing on the beach, the water can recede all the way out to the horizon,"

Reminds me of the Far Side: "Nature's Subtle Sings of Danger" where the diver feeds a school of fish which then suddenly vanish.

[Godzilla]

,i>And even if we could do something like that, what would be the consequences. Messing with nature is never a good idea, it will always have the final word.

We would be dealing with something far beyond man's capabilities that will never be achieved no matter how long man remains on this planet.

[Quix]

LOL!

Though I'm a lot more concerned about pleasing FATHER GOD

than worrying about 'Mother Nature.'

THX.

[WildTurkey]

Man oh man. Nature is mind blowing. Think of the force of a little 3 foot wave you've played in that's tossed you around and magnify it times a a million billion!

That little three foot wave causes the water to rush out (away) from land. The same for the big wave, just a lot more.

[Poohbah]

Maybe nuclear bombs set off in the tsunami just as it's approaching shore to disperse it and vaporize the water into the atmosphere?

And if you blow the timing, you get a radioactive tsunami hitting the shore.

[Poohbah]

Of course, then there's Larry Niven's description of a surfer trying to surf the 1,000 meter mega tsunami from a comet impact in the Pacific Ocean in Lucifer's Hammer. He almost made it. Nose bleed from the G forces and all. If only that high rise condo hadn't been built a half mile in from Malibu Beach....

A classic scene. Niven said that he got thousands of letters asking if the surfer survived. His response:

"OK, I didn't see him hit the building."

[Howlin]

Yes, there are waves associated with this, but they are on top of this large surge of water

Check out the videos on the bottom left Here

I think you are right.

[Quix]

Thanks for yet another voice of the great Poohbah sanity!

[RFEngineer]

"We would be talking about 1 meter wide holes that would gradually release pressure."

Wow, you already have provided engineering specifications for earthquake prevention.......You're good.

Wouldn't it be more effective to inject ice water to solidify the earth's core?

[Critical Bill]

Wouldn't it be more effective to inject ice water to solidify the earth's core?

Something like Koolade?

[Centurion2000]

Of course, then there's Larry Niven's description of a surfer trying to surf the 1,000 meter mega tsunami from a comet impact in the Pacific Ocean in Lucifer's Hammer. He almost made it. Nose bleed from the G forces and all. If only that high rise condo hadn't been built a half mile in from Malibu Beach....

A classic scene. Niven said that he got thousands of letters asking if the surfer survived. His response:

"OK, I didn't see him hit the building."

Loved that scene.