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Tsunamis
Tsunamis are caused by earthquakes, landslides and sometimes by volcanic eruption. Most commonly they are caused by earthquakes that causes disturbance below the ocean floor as they occur. This further moves water up to the surface creating large waves. These large waves are hundred of feet high and are known as tsunami. In the middle of the sea these waves are not that large but as they approach the shores they get very dangerous and cause great chaos to the land and its inhabitants. A tsunami is capable of destroying anything that comes on its way including buildings, trees, homes of people, trucks and cars and even telephone lines (Bryant).
As there are different causes, there are different ways how a tsunami is made. When an earthquake takes place below the ocean floor it causes tectonic plates to flow against each other causing instability on the sea levels and creating large waves as an effect. Sometimes earthquakes also create landslides that in result can cause tsunami as the remains from landslides can cause water to move. Volcanoes can also explode underneath the sea. If that happen it causes a sudden gush of wave to move upwards in form of large waves (Bryant). The World’s most devastating tsunamis are the ones that occurred in Lisbon (Portugal), Sanriku (Japan), Messina (Italy), South Chile, Izmit Bay (Turkey) and the tsunami in the Indian Ocean (Bryant).
The tsunami at Lisbon took place in 1775 measuring to a magnitude of 9 on a Richter scale. In total there were three earthquakes that caused massive cracks on the surface of the earth. The wave was around 100 feet high and cause about 90% damage to the buildings in the city. In total there were one hundred thousand people killed (Mendes).
In 1896 an earthquake occurred in Sanriku that caused great disturbance on the sea some 100 miles away from the shore. It measured a magnitude of about 8.5 on the scale. As it happened far away from the shore, the people did not have any clue about its emergence. Once it had reached the shore the people did not have any time to react but surrender to the massive force. It resulted in about 90,000 killings in total (Lee).
In 1908, Messina faced the most destructive earthquake in the entire history of Europe. An earthquake of around 7.4 magnitudes followed by a tsunami 40 feet high destroyed the entire city. The population of Messina at the time was around one hundred and fifty thousand people and the tsunami had directly affected a hundred thousand people (Satake).
The most powerful earthquake in history till date was recorded in Southern Chile of a magnitude of around 9.5 on a Richter scale followed by a tsunami of about 35 feet. It happened in 1960 and the total estimated cost was worth five hundred and fifty million US dollars. Some two thousand people died because of the tsunami that occurred (Satake).
One other dangerous tsunami occurred in Izmit Bay in turkey on a magnitude of 7.6 on Richter scale. It killed just a little fewer than 50,000 people and left half a million of them homeless. The result was very damaging for the inhabitants as 600,000 people became homeless and many of them died because of the cold weather and lack of shelter (Satake).
It is nearly impossible to predict a tsunami but there are some measures that could be taken in order to prevent it from causing damage to communities. Seismograms should be maintained in regions close to a sea or an ocean. This would help to detect vibes from beneath the surface and alarm of possible threat coming from the sea. Measures could then be taken to accommodate people at a safer place. Communication channels could be built to signal and alarm people of possible threat. Sirens could be installed in areas where there is maximum threat and could be used to warn people in desperate situations. People should be educated in areas of high risk. They should be taught how to react and do their best to save their life (Bryant).

Works Cited
Bryant, Edward. Tsunami: The Underrated Hazard. New York: Springer, 2008.
Lee, Min. Tsunami! Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1998.
Mendes, L. A. The 1755 Lisbon Earthquake: Revisited. New York: Springer, 2009.
Satake, Kenji. Tsunamis. New York : Springer, 2005.