What Is a Tsunami?

By Laron

By Matt Williams via Universe Today, 24 June 2015

The wave from a tsunami crashes over a street in Miyako City, Japan on March 11th, 2011. Credit: REUTERS/Mainichi Shimbun

For people living in oceanfront communities, the prospect of a tsunami is a frightening one. Much like earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes and tornadoes, tsunamis are one of the most destructive natural forces on the planet. And much like these other phenomena, they require the right conditions to happen and are more common in some areas of the world than others.

Knowing how and when a tsunami will strike has therefore a subject of great interest for scientists over the ages. But for anyone who has lived in certain parts of the world where “tsunami zones” are common – namely Japan and the South Pacific – it is a matter of survival.

Definition:
Numerous terms are used in the English language to describe large waves created by the displacement of water, with varying degrees of accuracy. The term tsunami, for example, is literally translated from Japanese to mean “harbor wave”. There are only a few other languages that have an equivalent native word, though similar meanings can be found in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and the Indian Subcontinent.

The term tidal wave has also been used, which is derived from the most common appearance of a tsunami – an extraordinarily high tidal bore. However, in recent years, the term “tidal wave” has fallen out of favor with the scientific community because tsunami actually have nothing to do with tides, which are produced by the gravitational pull of the moon and sun rather than the displacement of water.

Tsunamis initiate when an earthquake causes the seabed to rupture, which leads to a rapid decrease in sea surface height directly above it. Credit: howitworksdaily.com

The term seismic sea wave also is used to refer to the phenomenon, due to the fact that the waves most often are generated by seismic activity such as earthquakes. However, like “tsunami,” “seismic sea wave” is not a completely accurate term, as forces other than earthquakes – including underwater landslides, volcanic eruptions, underwater explosions, land or ice slumping into the ocean, meteorite impacts, or even sudden changes in weather – can generate such waves by displacing water.

Causes:
The principal cause of a tsunami is the displacement of a substantial volume of water or perturbation of the sea. This is usually the result of earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, glacier calvings, or more rarely by meteorites and nuclear tests. The waves formed in this way are then sustained by gravity.

Tectonic earthquakes trigger tsunamis when the sea floor abruptly deforms and vertically displaces the water above. More specifically, a tsunami can be generated when thrust faults associated with convergent or destructive plate boundaries move abruptly and displace water.

Tsunamis have a small amplitude (wave height) offshore, and a very long wavelength (often hundreds of kilometers long), and only grow in height when they reach shallower water. Once there, the wavelength shortens as the wave encounters resistance, thus increasing the amplitude increases and causing the wave to rears up in a massive tidal bore.


In the 1950s, it was discovered that tsunamis larger than what had previously been believed possible could be caused by giant submarine landslides. These rapidly displace large water volumes, as energy transfers to the water at a rate faster than the water can absorb. Their existence was confirmed in 1958, when a giant landslide in Lituya Bay, Alaska, caused the highest wave ever recorded (524 meters/1700 feet).

A village near the coast of Sumatra that was devastated by the Tsunami that struck South-East Asia in 2004. Credit: US Navy/Public Domain

In general, landslides generate displacements mainly in the shallower parts of the coastline, such as in closed bays and lakes. But an open oceanic landslide large enough to cause a tsunami across an ocean has not yet happened since the advent of modern seismology, and only rarely in human history.

Meteorological phenomena, such tropical cyclones, can generate a storm surge that will cause sea levels to rise, often in coastal regions. These are what is known as meteotsunamis, which are tsunamis triggered by sudden changes in weather. When such tsunamis reach shore, they rear up in shallows and surge laterally, just like earthquake-generated tsunamis.

Tsunamis can also be triggered by external factors, such as meteors or human intervention. For instance, when a meteor of significant strikes a region of the ocean, the resulting impact is enough to displace high volumes of water, thus triggering a tsunami. There has also been much speculation since World War II of how a nuclear detonations have trigger a tsunami, but all attempts at research (especially in the Pacific) have yielded poor results.

Characteristics and Effects:

Tsunamis can travel at well over 800 kilometers per hour (500 mph), but as they approach the coast, wave shoaling compresses the wave and its speed decreases to below 80 kilometers per hour (50 mph). A tsunami in the deep ocean has a much larger wavelength of up to 200 kilometers (120 mi), but diminishes to less than 20 kilometers (12 mi) when it reaches shallow water.

When the tsunami’s wave peak reaches the shore, the resulting temporary rise in sea level is termed run up. Run up is measured in metres above a reference sea level. A large tsunami may feature multiple waves arriving over a period of hours, with significant time between the wave crests.

Tsunamis cause damage by two mechanisms. First, there is the smashing force of a wall of water traveling at high speed, while the second is the destructive power of a large volume of water draining off the land and carrying a large amount of debris with it.

It is often difficult for people to recognize a tsunami in the open ocean because the waves are much smaller further out at sea than they are close to shore. As with earthquakes, several attempts have been made to set up scales of tsunami intensity or magnitude to allow comparison between different events.

Ships try to extinguish a blaze at oil refinery tanks in Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture, after the tsunami that struck in March, 2011. Credit: EPA

The first scales used routinely to measure the intensity of tsunami were the Sieberg-Ambraseys scale, used in the Mediterranean Sea and the Imamura-Iida intensity scale, used in the Pacific Ocean. This latter scale was modified by Soloviev to become the Soloviev-Imamura tsunami intensity scale, which is used in the global tsunami catalogs compiled by the NGDC/NOAA and the Novosibirsk Tsunami Laboratory as the main parameter for the size of the tsunami.

In 2013, following the intensively studied tsunamis in 2004 and 2011, a new 12 point scale was proposed, known as the Integrated Tsunami Intensity Scale (ITIS-2012). This scale was intended to match as closely as possible to the modified ESI2007 and EMS earthquake intensity scales.

Tsunamis throughout History:

Japan and the Pacific Ocean may have the longest recorded history of tsunamis, but they are an often underestimated hazard in the Mediterranean Sea region and Europe in general. In his History of the Peloponnesian War (426 BCE), Greek historian Thucydides offered what could be considered the first recorded speculation about the causes of tsunamis – where he argued that earthquakes at sea were the reason for them.

An aerial view of tsunami damage in Tohoku. Credit: US Navy

After the tsunami of 365 CE devastated Alexandria, Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus described the typical sequence of a tsunami. His descriptions included an earthquake and the sudden retreat of the sea, followed by a gigantic wave.

More modern examples include the 1755 Lisbon earthquake and tsunami (which was caused by activity in the Azores–Gibraltar Transform Fault); the 1783 Calabrian earthquakes, which caused several ten thousand deaths; and the 1908 Messina earthquake and tsunami – which caused 123,000 deaths in Sicily and Calabria and is considered one of the most deadly natural disasters in modern European history.

But by far, the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami was the most devastating of its kind in modern times, killing around 230,000 people and laying waste to communities throughout Indonesia, Thailand, and Southern Asia.

In 2010, an earthquake triggered a tsunami which devastated several coastal towns in south-central Chilem, damaged the port at Talcahuano and caused 4334 confirmed fatalities. The earthquake also generated a blackout that affected 93 percent of the Chilean population.

In 2011, an earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku led to a tsunami that struck Japan and led to 5,891 deaths, 6,152 injuries, and 2,584 people to be declared missing across twenty prefectures. The tsunami also caused meltdowns at three reactors in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant complex.

Tsunamis are a force of nature, without a doubt. And knowing when, where, and how severely they will strike is intrinsic to ensuring that we can limit the damage they do cause.

Universe Today has articles on about tsunamis and causes of tsunamis.

For more information, try tsunami and causes of tsunamis.

Astronomy Cast has an episode on Earth.

Source:
Wikipedia

Posted with permission from UT

June's flash-floods in Uttarakand, India leave devastation akin to an inland tsunami

A very interesting subject title when thinking about the Global Coastal Event predicted language. This article is a look back on the recent flooding in India which caused thousands to go missing which are possibly dead and hundreds of villages to be wiped out.

Via globalpost.com, 6 July 2013 -

LACHMOLI, India — Ninety-year-old Sarita’s sunken eyes stared into the damp earth that had flooded into the terrace of her one bedroom house. Her two grandchildren played nearby in the mud.

Sarita’s only son had gone to the Kedar valley to work during the busy pilgrimage season. Two weeks after the disaster, she had no news from him. Lachmoli had been cut off. Only a small dirt footpath enabled residents to trek to safety and seek supplies.

Her daughter-in-law had passed away a few years earlier, potentially making this frail, wrinkled elder the family’s only remaining adult.

“Who will take care of [the children]?” she mumbled as we distributed food to the children. “I don’t know if my son is alive or dead.”

Throngs of villagers remain uncertain of their loved ones’ fate, after the June 16 flashfloods killed nearly 1,000 people and left 3,500 missing here in Uttarakhand state, near the Nepal border. The disaster prompted a major air rescue operation, with the Indian Army evacuating more than 100,000 people from Himalayan valleys.

Resulting from the heaviest rains in 80 years, the floodwaters wrecked more than 150 bridges and close to 1,500 roads in the state, according to official figures, leaving villages like Lachmoli inaccessible to relief efforts. Drinking water, electricity and communications were badly damaged. An estimated 658 villages remained in darkness two weeks after the disaster.

The response to the floods has highlighted the state's lack of preparedness, and underscored the urgent need for better infrastructure, coordination and communication between government bodies.

The Indian home ministry admitted the lapses and told a Parliamentary Committee last Monday that a national flood risk mitigation scheme had been rejected in January because it missed vital components.

A medical relief team of eight doctors and paramedics from New Delhi visited the area in late June. After lengthy negotiations, two soldiers agreed to take us to Rudraprayag, the town where the Alaknanda and Mandakini rivers meet. The roads were under repair and open only for a few hours.

As we traveled, rivers swollen by monsoon rains surged alongside, a reminder of the force that had swept away entire communities. It took four hours to navigate the 90-minute journey through the villages. Further uphill, the roads were completely gone.

In the villages of Devimanda and Mahar Gaon, on the banks of the river Alaknanda, the majority of households had washed away. Lacking electricity, with ruined homes and lost families, the few remaining residents bore an almost ghostly look. Tears swelled in their eyes as they told us how they saw loved ones and houses swept away in the angry river.

“It was like Lord Shiva was doing his Tandav” said one, talking of the Hindu god Shiva, or the Destroyer, who in Hindu mythology performs his divine dance to destroy a weary universe.

In the villages of Silani Gaon, Jagathi and Chamm, we listened to the complaints and needs of the people. Some felt ignored by local authorities and neglected by relief efforts.

Upon returning to Rudraprayag, we informed the authorities about the conditions in those villages. They said that they were doing their best with the limited resources they had, pointing to problems of access and communication. The biggest challenge, they said, was to deliver essentials — rations, clothes, fuel and chlorine tablets — to remote areas where people were stranded.

Some locals were helping stranded victims. Devprayag, a normally bustling town further downhill, was almost completely deserted. We met a few local shopkeepers, who told us how they had stockpiled food, water and other necessities, and kept their shops open past midnight to help people fleeing upper regions. They were aided by pharmacists making daily trips from Rishikesh and bringing much-needed medicines.

For the locals, the floods were more than just a natural disaster. A priest told us that the government had angered the Gods and brought this disaster upon the people. According to legend, he said, the Char Dham pilgrims were protected by Dhari Devi (an avatar of the Hindu goddess Kali Mata). However, the idol had been shifted from its original place in view of the Hydel Power Project.

“This angered the Devi and Lord Shiva, whose one form is Kedarnath, and a few hours later there was cloudburst and floods," he said. He added that a king in 1880’s had made a similar attempt, which with similar results. Many locals and religious leaders had strongly opposed the shifting of the idol.

Further downstream in the state capital of Dehradun, we met more patients rescued from the flood zones. Relatives clutched photographs of loved ones who were still missing without any news.

We were surprised to see that most of the patients had undergone amputations. The senior orthopedic surgeon said the patients had been forced to walk to safety with injuries that had eventually gotten infected, leading to the amputations. The make-shift medical camps in the flood-hit mountainous region lacked the facilities to take care of trauma cases.

One patient, 60-year-old Suhani Devi, who had planned the pilgrimage for years, suffered a serious infection after all of her diabetes medicines had been washed away. She had lost touch with her companions, and was concerned about their fate.

Aside from the injured, many residents had lost their livelihoods. The waters washed away the mules that twenty-year-old Kumar, had used to ferry pilgrims to and from the temples.Villagers showed resilience in the face of the calamity. They had risked their own lives to help each other.

The need for a better infrastructure and relief coordination was dire. Efficient communication systems, multi-purpose shelters with medicine and food, and prediction models to help authorities issue early warnings would have gone a long way in ensuring the safety of the survivors, and would have saved many lives, which are now in peril because these facilities are lacking.

Dr. Manpreet Bajwa reported from the flood zone, which she visited from June 26-30 as part of a medical relief team. Dr. Harmandeep Singh Boparai reported from New York. 

Tsunami hit east coast of US on the 13th of June - NOAA reports

NOAA has released an article here, http://oldwcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/previous.events/06-13-13/index.php, which has been picked up by a number of media sites such as NPR, MYFOXNY, NBC and Yahoo. It explains that on the 13th of June, 2013, a six foot tsunami hit the east coast of New Jersey. As a result, three people were washed off a jetty and divers in the water were carried away, over a submerged reef into an inlet.

This may be a minuscule and rare event, but I consider it to be a 'hit' for Dr. Simon Atkins forecast for a tsunami hitting the east coast. See my entry here in relation to his forecast. '88% chance of Atlantic Tsunami Event - Update from Climate Risk Scientist Doctor Simon Atkins'

NOAA reports that continental slumping of the shelf east of New Jersey, may have been the cause of this tsunami. NOAA also confirm that their tide gages did pick this event up at the time and that other ocean observation centers also picked up similar results.

Dr. Simon Atkins has responded to this event and confirms it's a hit on his forecast.

Earthquakes, Maybe. But Is Los Angeles Prepared For A Tsunami?

When a typhoon is expected to land inHong Kong, the Hong Kong Observatory is prepared with a comprehensive alert system that issues hourly summaries of weather warnings through the news and radio. Citizens are accustomed to checking their smartphones often about high typhoon levels to know what time they can leave work and go home.

But if a tsunami hit Los Angeles, the entire county would have little reaction time and be largely unprepared, even though an alerting system already exists. Less than 1% of the county’s population is currently registered to receive an emergency warning via their mobile devices. (As of Oct. 30, the department has seen a meager 26,711 county residents registered for the Alert L.A. County Mass Notification System, which sends emergency warnings via text message, e-mail and voice message in case of natural disasters.)

The rest of the county’s population would rely on public service announcements, phone calls to landlines or police and firefighters going door-to-door to relay the department’s emergency alerts.

“Obviously this is not that quick,” said Chris Ipsen, public information officer for the city of Los Angeles Emergency Department. “A quick system would be a warning system, but we’re not going to just sit there and not do anything. We work with what we have.

The number of citizens registered for L.A. County’s alert system is dangerously low, considering the state coastline’s vulnerability to tsunamis. A recent U.S. Geological Survey study found a 40% chance of a major earthquake occurring in the Pacific Northwest region of the state in the next 50 years.

“People need to step up on preparedness because there aren’t going to be enough responders,” said Ipsen.

An effective warning system for such a natural disaster would quickly alert all residents in at-risk areas to move to higher ground. With a population of nearly 4 million people, Ipsen said, only 25% to 30% would be prepared to make it through a tsunami unscathed.

Japan set a high standard for handling natural disasters when touchingreports surfaced of how orderly and civilized ordinary citizens were despite supply shortages after a devastating 9.03 magnitude earthquake and tsunami in 2011. Following a nuclear crisis, who would think to publish a short cartoon video to explain it to young children? One Japanese artist did.

The effects of the 2011 tsunami in Japan were felt across the Pacific Ocean to earthquake-prone California, which shares the same tectonic plate. Hours after the tsunami struck Japan on March 11 last year, the National Weather Service also reported severe damage to harbors in Santa Cruz and Crescent City, Calif.

Ipsen, who has been working on promoting registration for the alert system, said city officials also recognize the problem, but the lack of funding makes it difficult for any action to be taken.

The city would benefit from a siren system, said Larry Meyerhofer, emergency manager at the L.A. Emergency Management Department, but the cost is high.

“The siren system would be another $5 million to put in and from what I’ve told, another 10% for maintenance every year,” Meyerhofer said. “We’ve pursued grant money, but we’ve had no luck with the federal government.”

Still, Ipsen said residents can prepare for a tsunami and he recommends storing food, a phone charger and disaster kit for the home, vehicle and workplace. He also emphasized communication with loved ones.

“In a natural disaster, people just don’t think like normal because they don’t get what’s happening,” Ipsen said. “It’s the fear of the unknown. But know things like the emergency plan of the school your child attends. Don’t just expect to roll down to school and get Johnny. That’s very important.”

But even if the California coastline were to experience a tsunami, skeptics say the damage would not be devastating.

When the 2011 tsunami hit Japan and California felt the effects, Rich Baratta, director of risk management at the Port of Long Beach, said the port noticed obvious changes in the channel, but there was no real impact.

“The tsunami hit at about 8:30 a.m. but everything was back to normal at about 10 a.m.,” Baratta said. “We had ample time to prepare.”

He also said the biggest advantage of the Port of Long Beach’s location is that it faces south, along with a nearby nine-mile long barrier.

More @ http://www.forbes.com/sites/rosatrieu/2013/01/03/earthquakes-maybe-but-is-los-angeles-prepared-for-a-tsunami/

Hong Kong Has Potential Tsunami Threats according to a Taiwan Research

Mar 17, 2011, 6 days after the mega earthquake hitting North-east Japan, Dr.Tso-Ren Wu, Associate Professor at the Graduate Institute of Hydrological and Oceanic Sciences of the National Central University of Taiwan, has published an article titled “Research and Reflection on Japan’s Mega Tsunami 2011”.

It explained that for such a massive tsunami to take place in Fukushima, it is because this tsunami has all the necessary conditions that enable a mega tsunami:

1. It requires an undersea megathrust earthquake. This time the scale was a 9-magnitude megathrust earthquake.

2. It must be a Thrust Fault (or reverse fault). This earthquake was caused by plate subduction, which is a standard Thrust Fault. Out-of-sequence thrust fault causes direct vertical displacement of the seafloor, carrying a column of water and thus forming tsunamis.

3. The epicenter must be shallow. The focal depth of the epicenter was 25km in the South-Asia tsunami while that of Fukushima earthquake was only 10km. Therefore the energy release could be converted to tsunami energy more completely.

4. The underwater depth must be deep to allow sufficient volume of water to store potential energy. The underwater depth of Fukushima Tsunami was about 3km. It is of sufficient water depth to store the seismic energy and be converted into Tsunami waves.

5. There is a uniform slope. Slopes can magnify tsunamis and create Edge Wave Effect. There are some beautiful slopes in the outer ocean of Fukushima.

Although Hong Kong is not located within the subduction zone, therefore seemingly less a chance for earthquakes to happen, does it really mean that mega earthquakes and tsunamis that took place in North-east Japan will not happen here in Hong Kong?

We got to understand that opposite to the shore of Hong Kong, at the eastern side of the South China Sea is the Luzon Island of Philippines. Its west coast sits the notorious Manila Trench. 

The article points out that this trench has been identified as the most active trench in the world by the USGS. Its extremely long thrust length of approx. 1,500km is similar to that causing the South-Asia Tsunami. Also, it is a subduction plate in which the Eurasian Plate is subducting under the Philippine Sea Plate.

The GPS geodesy measurements show that the convergence rate across the Megathrust is at 8.7cm per year, which is considered as an active thrust fault.

Also, there is no record of any mega earthquake since 1560, a time when the Philippines started written records; even the monitoring in recent years has not shown any earthquakes that are of magnitude 8 or above.

This is very similar to the South-Asia and the Fukushima Tsunamis. Energy is being accumulated under the crust which is potentially of serious danger.

The article also points out that according to the analysis of earthquake recurrence interval, the recurrence interval of a 8.5-magnitude earthquake in the Manila Trench is 205 years and that of a 9.0 magnitude is 667 years.

From the data above, it shows that the Manila Trench has already stored a considerable amount of energy that can potentially lead to a mega earthquake in the future.

And if a mega earthquake takes place in the Manila Trench, the tsunami created can potentially be impacting Hong Kong. 

Tsunami Fears Over Sea Floor Collapse Near Oz

Geologists say a slab of sea floor near the Great Barrier Reef is in the early stages of collapse and could trigger a tsunami.

A huge slab of sea floor near the Great Barrier Reef is in the early stages of collapse and could trigger a tsunami, researchers have warned.

Marine geologists from Australia's James Cook University have been using advanced 3D mapping techniques on the deepest parts of the reef since 2007 and have discovered dozens of sub-marine canyons.

On a recent trip, they found a one cubic kilometre slab of sea floor - the remains of an ancient underwater landslide - which is perched on the continental shelf.

Geologist Robin Beaman said: "Under-sea landslides are a well understood geological process, but we didn't know there were any on the Barrier Reef.

"It is sitting on top of a sub-marine canyon, cutting into the slopes and it is in the preliminary stage of collapse."

He added that it was unclear when the collapse would occur.

Mr Beaman said: "It is slowly giving way although it remains stable under current conditions.

"But it is absolutely going to collapse and when it does it will fall one kilometre into the adjacent basin.

"This will generate a localised tsunami that will affect the Queensland coastline, which is around 40 miles away.

"We're not trying to alarm people, but we need to know it is there and what could happen when it falls."

The discovery, published in the journal Natural Hazards, was made by geologists on board the research vessel Southern Surveyor.

100,000 Fled To Higher Ground In Hawaii From Tsunami From 7.7 Earthquake Off Vancouver

Tsunami warnings prompted by a 7.7  earthquake off the Canadian coast on Friday caused more than 100,000 people to flee from Hawaiian shores to higher ground in the state late on Saturday evening, but the evacuation order was canceled after a series of smaller than expected waves crashed on the islands  The tsunami was unusual in that it came from the east, an ocurrence that had not been observed for hundreds of years.  Geologists say  the 7.7 quake could be a precursor to a larger earthquake but there is no way of knowing.   The Canadian quake was in the Cascadia earthquake zone. 

A tsunami was generated that could have caused damage along  coastlines of all islands in the state of Hawaii. Urgent action was urged yesterday to protect lives and property.

The 1700 Cascadia earthquake was a magnitude 8.7 to 9.2 megathrust earthquake that occurred in the Cascadia subduction zone on January 26, 1700. The earthquake involved the Juan de Fuca Plate underlying the Pacific Ocean, from mid-Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, south along the Pacific Northwest coast as far as northern California, USA. The length of the fault rupture was about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) with an average slip of 20 meters (22 yards).

The earthquake caused a tsunami that struck the coast of Japan and Hawaii and may also be linked to the Bonneville Slide.

A tsunami is a series of long ocean waves. Each individual wave crest can last 5 to 15 minutes or more and extensively flood  coastal areas. The danger can continue for many hours after the initial wave as subsequent waves arrive. Tsunami wave heights cannot be predicted and the first wave may not be the largest.

The geological record reveals that “great earthquakes” (those with moment magnitude 8 or higher) occur in the Cascadia subduction zone about every 500 years on average, often accompanied by tsunamis. There is evidence of at least 13 events at intervals from about 300 to 900 years with an average of 570—590 years. Previous earthquakes are estimated to have occurred in 1310 AD, 810 AD, 400 AD, 170 BC and 600 BC.

Credit: Wikipedia

As seen in the 1700 quake, the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, and the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, subduction zone earthquakes can cause large tsunamis, and many coastal areas in the region have prepared tsunami evacuation plans in anticipation of a possible future Cascadia earthquake. However, the major nearby cities, notably Seattle, Portland, Vancouver, Victoria, and Tacoma, which are located on inland waterways rather than on the coast, would be sheltered from the full brunt of a tsunami. These cities do have many vulnerable structures, especially bridges and unreinforced brick buildings; consequently, most of the damage to the cities would probably be from the earthquake itself. One expert asserts that buildings in Seattle are vastly inadequate even to withstand an earthquake of the size of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, much less the much greater one that may well occur.[7]

Recent findings conclude that the Cascadia Subduction zone is more complex and volatile than previously believed. In 2010 geologists predicted a 37 percent chance of an M8.2+ event within 50 years, and a 10 to 15 percent chance that the entire Cascadia Subduction will rupture with an M9+ event within the same time frame. Geologists have also determined the Pacific Northwest is not prepared for such a colossal quake. The tsunami produced could reach heights of 80 to 100 feet (24 to 30 m).

Some other subduction zones have such earthquakes every 100 to 200 years; the longer interval results from slower plate motions. The rate of convergence between the Juan de Fuca Plate and the North American Plate is 60 millimetres (2.4 in) per year.

 Tsunami waves efficiently wrap around islands. All shores are at risk no matter which direction they face. The trough of a tsunami wave may temporarily expose the seafloor but the area will quickly flood again. Extremely strong and unusual nearshore currents can accompany a tsunami. Debris picked up and carried by a tsunami amplifies its destructive power. Simultaneous high tides or high surf can significantly increase the tsunami hazard.  The estimated arrival time in Hawaii of the first tsunami wave is 1028 pm hst sat 27 oct 2012

Magnitude	7.7
Date-Time	Sunday, October 28, 2012 at 03:04:10 UTC Saturday, October 27, 2012 at 08:04:10 PM at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location	52.769°N, 131.927°W
Depth	17.5 km (10.9 miles)
Region	QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS REGION
Distances	139 km (86 miles) S of Masset, Canada 202 km (125 miles) SSW of Prince Rupert, Canada 293 km (182 miles) SW of Terrace, Canada 556 km (345 miles) NW of Campbell River, Canada
Location Uncertainty	horizontal +/- 14 km (8.7 miles); depth +/- 4 km (2.5 miles)
Parameters	NST=716, Nph=716, Dmin=267.2 km, Rmss=0.95 sec, Gp= 58°, M-type=regional moment magnitude (Mw), Version=A
Source	Magnitude: USGS NEIC (WDCS-D) Location: USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
Event ID	usb000df7n

Have magnetic pole shifts ever happened in the past?

In “2012 Glorious Hope” message, Pastor Wind said that the Great Flood at Noah’s time and the Ten Plagues at Moses’ time when Moses led Israelites to leave Egypt were both caused by the visit of Planet X.

Most probably, Planet X will appear in front of our eyes before the end of 2012 triggering the end time worldwide tribulations as prophesized in the Book of Revelation.

In the past, the main impact of Planet X on the Earth was the pole shift which shifted the axis of the Earth speedily, triggering global tsunami, mega earthquakes and heavy storms.

In fact, comparing the permafrosts in the last ice age and the current ones, we know that pole shift had occurred as the locations of current North and South Poles are over few thousands kilometers apart from their locations 3600 years ago.

From the picture, we can see that during last ice age, the permafrost of the Earth was not located in the current Arctic Circle but was spread in North America and Europe. Thus, we can assume that the North Pole was located in the Atlantic Ocean between North America and Europe, not in the middle of the Arctic Ocean today.

The eastern part of Siberia where five million mammals and some tropical or temperate organisms were found was originally located in the tropical and temperate regions in the last ice age.

Impacts of the last visit of Planet X included the pole shift which caused the relocation of the North Pole: it went from the middle between North America and Europe to somewhere near the Arctic Ocean.

And Siberia was shifted to the edge of the Arctic Circle from a tropical and temperate region within a very short period of time.

Pastor Wind had said that the Ten Plagues of Egypt were already the least disastrous signs showing the visit of Planet X. 

If Planet X comes again, the catastrophes caused by the pole shift will be inevitably more serious...

Disasters caused by the sin of man

Deuteronomy 28

15 However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.

17 Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed.

18 The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.

19 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.

20 The LORD will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him.

21 The LORD will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess.

22 The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish.

23 The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron.

24 The LORD will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.

According to God’s Law, the land will be judged if it is full of sins. Nature won't work for humans anymore. Rather, natural disasters become people's judgment.

Genesis 3:17-18

17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.

18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.

Leviticus 18:24-28

24 " 'Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled.

25 Even the land was defiled; so I punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants.

26 But you must keep my decrees and my laws. The native-born and the aliens living among you must not do any of these detestable things,

27 for all these things were done by the people who lived in the land before you, and the land became defiled.

28 And if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before you.

Isaiah 24:1-6

1 See, the LORD is going to lay waste the earth and devastate it; he will ruin its face and scatter its inhabitants-

2 it will be the same for priest as for people, for master as for servant, for mistress as for maid, for seller as for buyer, for borrower as for lender, for debtor as for creditor.

3 The earth will be completely laid waste and totally plundered. The LORD has spoken this word.

4 The earth dries up and withers, the world languishes and withers, the exalted of the earth languish.

5 The earth is defiled by its people; they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes and broken the everlasting covenant.

6 Therefore a curse consumes the earth; its people must bear their guilt. Therefore earth's inhabitants are burned up, and very few are left.

Jeremiah 3:2-3

2 "Look up to the barren heights and see. Is there any place where you have not been ravished? By the roadside you sat waiting for lovers, sat like a nomad in the desert. You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness.

3 Therefore the showers have been withheld, and no spring rains have fallen. Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute; you refuse to blush with shame.

Ezekiel 33:25-28

25 Therefore say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Since you eat meat with the blood still in it and look to your idols and shed blood, should you then possess the land?

26 You rely on your sword, you do detestable things, and each of you defiles his neighbor's wife. Should you then possess the land?'

27 "Say this to them: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: As surely as I live, those who are left in the ruins will fall by the sword, those out in the country I will give to the wild animals to be devoured, and those in strongholds and caves will die of a plague.

28 I will make the land a desolate waste, and her proud strength will come to an end, and the mountains of Israel will become desolate so that no one will cross them.

Micah 1:1-5

1 The word of the LORD that came to Micah of Moresheth during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah--the vision he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

2 Hear, O peoples, all of you, listen, O earth and all who are in it, that the Sovereign LORD may witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.

3 Look! The LORD is coming from his dwelling place; he comes down and treads the high places of the earth.

4 The mountains melt beneath him and the valleys split apart, like wax before the fire, like water rushing down a slope.

5 All this is because of Jacob's transgression, because of the sins of the house of Israel. What is Jacob's transgression? Is it not Samaria? What is Judah's high place? Is it not Jerusalem?

Zephaniah 1:2-4

2 "I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth," declares the LORD.

3 "I will sweep away both men and animals; I will sweep away the birds of the air and the fish of the sea. The wicked will have only heaps of rubble when I cut off man from the face of the earth," declares the LORD.

4 "I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all who live in Jerusalem. I will cut off from this place every remnant of Baal, the names of the pagan and the idolatrous priests-

Hosea 4:1-3

1 Hear the word of the LORD, you Israelites, because the LORD has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: "There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land.

2 There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

3 Because of this the land mourns, and all who live in it waste away; the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the fish of the sea are dying.

Although the “judgment towards the land because of sins” principle isn’t accepted by scientists generally, they even label it as superstitious, unreasonable and unscientific, obviously, the droughts, crop failures, epidemics and the well-known massive animal deaths are warnings , warning people that natural disasters occur because of people’s sins.

Although scientists and unfaithful Christians don’t believe that, they can't save the land from ever-increasing disasters though!

~ A 9 magnitude earthquake and tsunami in Japan on March 11 last year

~ The worst drought in 60 years in the middle and lower courses of the Yangtzi River last year

~ Mount Etna in Italy erupted violently on May 12 last year

~ Sakurajima volcano in Japan erupted on May 12 this year, discharging to the sky endlessly.

~ A devastating drought occurred in Mexico late last year. 2.5 million people lacked both food and water. 1.7 million cattle died of thirst.

~ Tornado disaster in the U.S. in April this year

~ 900 pelicans and 5,000 dolphins washed to the shore of Peru in May this year.

The Bible has already warned that the land will be judged because of people’s sins. We, as the chosen people, must be alert. We must stay away from sins, lower ourselves and pray, seeking God’s Face.

2 Chronicles 7:12-14

12 the LORD appeared to him at night and said: "I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.

13 "When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people,

14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.