The 2009 Tsunami Warning For Hawaii and California - Get Prepared Now

The recent 8.0 magnitude earthquake in Samoa caused a Tsunami to hit several Pacific Islands, killing over one hundred people.  Certainly a lower death toll than the Tsunami a few years back in December, but any loss is never a good thing.  An official reported that warnings were given out so people could retreat to higher ground, which most people did.  However, not everyone made it, resulting in the death toll we have been reading about.

What if one of these tsunamis hit the United States coastal cities, such as Southern California?  It definitely would leave a mark, that is for sure.  Since most of the coastal cities are barely above sea level, it would not be hard at all for a tsunami to devastate several of these coastal establishments.  Unfortunately, a tsunami is due for the Pacific coast.  The best we can do is prepare for the worst to minimize the results.

Maybe a tsunami will not hit us, but the "big one" (the nickname for the inevitable massive earthquake likely to hit Southern California) will cause massive amounts of damage and casualties.  Once again, all we can do is prepare for it, because we currently cannot predict when earthquakes will occur.

Many people have been following a recent trend in the past few years that is growing exponentially in popularity.  This is the 'preparedness' trend.  It started with the September 11th attacks, when citizens prepared for possible chemical warfare.  Now Californians are preparing for the big earthquake, the southern United States is preparing for increasingly intense hurricanes, and everyone else in between is preparing for a mix of things related to the possible and predicted "end of the world" in December of 2012.  The Mayans have predicted that this 'apocalypse' will consist of hundreds of different natural disasters all at once resulting in widespread destruction and loss of life.

There really is not a better time to start getting prepared for the worst.  The earlier the better as they say.

You need to prepare yourself and your loved ones for the worst, so visit The 2012 Official Countdown [http://www.2012officialcountdown.net]. It's filled with information on how to become exceptionally prepared for anything that mother nature could throw at us.

How much do you value your safety? I know it's on my top 10 list, that's for sure.

Emergency Preparedness For A Tsunami - Being Prepared To Face The Wrath Of The Sea!

In 2004, a powerful tsunami washed over coastal areas in Southeast Asia, extending all the way to Africa's west coast. The tsunami took more than 200,000 lives, and some people were never recovered or identified. Much of this loss might have been avoided had an effective emergency preparedness system been in place.

The 2004 tsunami may have been the most deadly in recorded history, but it was not the first - 25 of them were recorded in the 20th Century alone. And while many of them have happened in the South Pacific, tsunamis have been recorded all over the world, from Japan to Chile, from Italy to to the United Kingdom. New Zealand's geologic record documents a tsunami 125,000 years ago,and written history documents these disasters as early as 1580 B.C. (following the Santorini volcano).

Until very recently, scientists have not been able to predict when and where a tsunami will strike, making emergency preparedness very difficult. Caused by earthquakes, volcanoes, and landslides on the sea floor, today we can make and educated guess about when they will happen after such an event.

Today, regions at high risk may use a tsunami warning system to warn people before the wave reaches coastal areas. Computer models are used to predict the time and location of impact Until now, the exact location where tsunamis will strike cannot yet be predicted. But once an underground earthquake occurs, an alert is sent to coastal communities that something could go in that direction. Emergency preparedness efforts are more likely to succeed when these alerts are timely.

The famous "Ring of Fire," where many volcanoes have occurrred along the lines where tectonic plates meet in the Asian Pacific, was not adequately protected by an early warning system in 2004. This was a valuable lesson for coastal areas around the world, and scientists are working hard to prepare for future events in that area.

Emergency preparedness for tsunamis begins with early warning systems that include four elements: information, advisory, watch, and warning. When the system detects an underground earthquake, Hawaii's Pacific Tsunami Warning Center releases the news to the effected communities. Because it is too early to predict the size, time, or location of the potential tsunami at this stage, a more general advisory will be delivered to likely targets. It may take hours from the seismic event to the actual tsunami.

Where evidence suggests that a tsunami is likely but hasn't been witnessed or verified, early warning systems issue a watch alerting populations to the likelihoood. Emergency preparedness plans dictate that, at this time, people in coastal areas should be alert and watch the sea for signs, like a quick receding of ocean waters, that a tsunami is on its way. A siren may be used to alert the people, anywhere from three hours before the event is expected. If the water does begin to recede, a mandatory evacuation will begin.

Once a tsunami has been seen and verified, they issue a warning with more detailed information about where and when the giant wave will hit. A siren will again alert people. Once a warning is issued, people should already be moving out of the danger zone. They can go to high ground or try to go farther inland, taking fresh water, food, and extra clothing with them as they go. Part of the emergency preparedness effort includes announcements that will be made over the radio telling them when it's safe to return.

The early warning system continues to work during and after the event. People will remain in the area to monitor the situation and to cancel the warning if the tsunami does not materialize.

World leaders now recognize how important emergency preparedness is to potential tsunami victims. They encourage community leaders to develop plans and conduct exercises so that they know how long it will take to evacuate vulnerable areas. They should also have current estimates on the number of people in the area so that they'll know if people are missing after the crisis has passed.

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