Deck 4: Tsunamis

Question 1

The most common cause of tsunamis is/are

A) meteorite impacts.
B) underwater landslides.
C) volcanic eruptions.
D) hurricanes.
E) offshore earthquakes.

Answer 1

E

Question 2

Which of the following describes the change in behavior of a tsunami as it enters shallow water?

A) The waves slow down.
B) The waves come closer together.
C) The waves become larger.
D) The waves slow down and become larger.
E) The waves slow down, become larger and get closer together.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Tsunamis are most deadly

A) in deep water.
B) when caused by landslides.
C) when they arrive with little warning.
D) in the Pacific Ocean.
E) in the Indian Ocean.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The fault rupture that caused the 2004 Indonesia tsunami occurred along a length of

A) 1200 m.
B) 1200 km.
C) 2000 km.
D) 100 m.
E) 5000 km.

Question 5

The eruption of which volcano in 1886 caused a tsunami that killed approximately 36,000?

A) Mt. Vesuvius
B) Mount St. Helens
C) Mauna Loa
D) Krakatoa
E) Mt. Fuji

Question 6

How much vertical and horizontal motion occurred on the fault which ruptured and caused the 2004 Indonesian earthquake and tsunami?

A) 50 m vertically and 100 m horizontally
B) 5 m vertically and 1200 m horizontally
C) 100 m vertically and 5 m horizontally
D) 5 m vertically and 15 m horizontally
E) 50 m vertically and 1200 km horizontally

Question 7

Tsunami damage can be reduced by

A) detection and warning systems.
B) education.
C) probability analysis.
D) detection and warning systems and education.
E) detection and warning systems, probability analysis, and eduction programs.

Question 8

The fault that ruptured and caused the Indonesian earthquake and tsunami of 2004 had been "locked" for

A) 10 years.
B) about 1000 years.
C) about 150 years.
D) about 50 years.
E) 4.5 years.

Question 9

Which of the following is a primary effect of tsunamis?

A) fire
B) water pollution
C) beach erosion
D) disease
E) loss of income

Question 10

Which of the following is a secondary effect of tsunamis?

A) flooding
B) beach erosion
C) ripped up vegetation
D) fire
E) house destruction

Question 11

The two tectonic plates involved in the 2004 Indonesian earthquake and tsunami were

A) Indonesia and Australia.
B) North America and Pacific.
C) Philippines and Japan.
D) Indo-Australia and Burma.
E) Antarctica and Indo-Australia.

Question 12

The speed of a tsunami in 4000 m deep water is

A) 20 m/s.
B) 40 m/s.
C) 200 m/s.
D) 50 km/h.
E) 1000 km/h.

Question 13

Which of the following countries was NOT affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami?

A) Australia
B) India
C) Somalia
D) Thailand
E) Sri Lanka

Question 14

The 1929 tsunami in Newfoundland

A) led to no deaths.
B) was caused by a landslide.
C) affected a largely urban area.
D) was a teletsunami.
E) is the first recorded tsunami in the Atlantic.

Question 15

Which of the following countries were most affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami?

A) Australia, India, Indonesia.
B) Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka
C) Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India
D) Thailand, India, Australia
E) Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Somalia

Question 16

In the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Indian Ocean,native peoples escaped the tsunami because

A) they heard warnings issued on the radio.
B) they had tribal oral traditions relating to past tsunamis and recognized the signs.
C) they didn't build near the shore.
D) the islands were not hit by the tsunami.
E) they were all at sea fishing when the tsunami struck.

Question 17

In which area are tsunamis most common?

A) Indian Ocean
B) Pacific Ocean
C) Japan
D) California
E) Caribbean

Question 18

Which of the following cause tsunamis?

A) earthquakes
B) hurricanes
C) landslides
D) earthquakes and landslides
E) hurricanes and earthquakes

Question 19

The 2004 Indonesian earthquake

A) permanently raised and lowered different areas around its epicentre.
B) is the largest known earthquake.
C) occurred between the Pacific and North American tectonic plates.
D) was caused by volcanism.
E) occurred on the island of Java.

Question 20

Which of the following has a low risk of tsunamis?

A) Hawaii
B) Brazil
C) India
D) Alaska
E) Japan

Question 21

Tsunami waves differ from wind-driven waves because

A) their wavelength is much shorter in open ocean waters.
B) their amplitude is larger in open ocean waters.
C) their amplitude is quite large in deep water.
D) their amplitude is small in deep water, but becomes larger in shallow regions.
E) their wavelength is shorter in deep water, but becomes larger in shallow water.

Question 22

The 1929 Grand Banks Tsunami in the North Atlantic was triggered by

A) a volcanic eruption.
B) an earthquake triggered submarine slump/landslide.
C) a hurricane.
D) extreme tidal events.
E) a large magnitude earthquake.

Question 23

The run-up of a tsunami is the

A) farthest distance where the effect of the tsunami can be measured.
B) time elapsed between earthquake and first waves striking shore.
C) distance travelled from the epicentre of an earthquake.
D) maximum horizontal and vertical distances reached by the largest wave
E) duration of a tsunami event.

Question 24

Which of the following statements concerning the Indian Ocean tsunami is FALSE?

A) The tsunami caused devastation in many countries around the Indian Ocean.
B) The tsunami was caused by a 9.2M earthquake.
C) The tsunami spread across the Indian Ocean in less than an hour.
D) The tsunami affected only coastal nations.
E) There was no tsunami warning system in the Indian Ocean.

Question 25

Tsunamis are rare in the Atlantic Ocean because it has almost no subduction zones.

Question 26

Tsunami damage along coastal areas can be minimized with land use practices,such as

A) construction of wharfs and docks.
B) development of seaside with building materials.
C) preservation of natural vegetation such as mangrove swamps.
D) clearing of vegetation.
E) construction of levees.

Question 27

The largest tsunamis in Earth's history have been triggered by

A) asteroid or comet impacts.
B) landslides.
C) earthquakes.
D) volcanic eruptions.
E) severe weather events.

Question 28

During the Indonesian earthquake,1000 years of strain was released in less than a second.

Question 29

Which of the following locations around the Pacific does NOT experience tsunamis?

A) Japan
B) Chile
C) Philippines
D) Alaska
E) All locations around the Pacific experience tsunamis to one degree or another.

Question 30

Any body of water can experience a tsunami.

Question 31

Which of the following do NOT cause tsunamis?

A) earthquakes
B) landslides
C) extinctions
D) impacts
E) volcanoes

Question 32

During the Sumatra earthquake in 2004,some parts of the coastline were raised,whereas others dropped.

Question 33

The first warning of a tsunami comes when

A) seawater rapidly retreats along shore with rapid drop in sea level.
B) early-stage waves encounter the shoreline.
C) tsunami warning buoys detect changes in sea level.
D) the epicentre of an earthquake is determined.
E) seismic waves of an earthquake are first detected.

Question 34

The ________ was the most deadly tsunami disaster in history,responsible for over 230,000 deaths.

A) 2011 Japan Tsunami
B) 2004 Sumatra Tsunami
C) 1964 Alaska Tsunami
D) 1883 Krakatoa eruption and Tsunami
E) 1755 Lisbon earthquake and Tsunami

Question 35

Earthquakes with lateral or side-to-side motion (such as on the San Andreas fault)generally do not produce tsunamis.

Question 36

Which of the following damage is a result of secondary effects of a tsunami?

A) outbreaks of cholera
B) the destruction of coastal vegetation
C) damage of buildings
D) loss of life
E) ruptured gas lines

Question 37

The huge loss of life in the 2004 Indonesian tsunami was due partly to the absence of a tsunami early warning system for the Indian Ocean.

Question 38

Which of the following would accentuate damage from a tsunami?

A) excessive plant and tree matter along the shoreline
B) barren coastline with little development
C) development of off-shore piers
D) rocky shoreline
E) occurrence of high tide

Question 39

Volcanic eruptions can trigger small tsunamis through

A) seismic events associated with the eruption.
B) volcanic mudflows entering the sea.
C) seafloor eruption of volcanic lavas.
D) seafloor spreading along mid-ocean ridges.
E) explosive lava and water reactions.

Question 40

Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A) All tsunamis travel long distances.
B) All earthquakes cause tsunamis.
C) All landslides cause tsunamis.
D) All tsunamis are caused by displacement of water.
E) All tsunamis cause loss of life.

Question 41

Tsunamis travel fastest in shallow water.

Question 42

Tsunamis are not single waves,but a series of waves that can take hours to die down.

Question 43

The city of Banda Aceh in Indonesia,close to the earthquake that caused the tsunami was likely severely damaged by the earthquake before being hit by the tsunami.

Question 44

Tsunamis decrease in wave size (amplitude)as they approach shorelines.

Question 45

Local tsunamis,though small,can be deadly because there is little warning for the communities near the source.

Question 46

Only earthquakes with up-down motion of the tectonic plates produce tsunamis.

Question 47

Flank collapse of volcanic islands leads to local tsunamis,which diminish rapidly away from the source.

Question 48

The two most deadly tsunamis known both occurred in Indonesia.

Question 49

Any earthquake can cause a tsunami.

Question 50

The study of ancient tsunami deposits using radiocarbon dating is an important tool in understanding the frequency of tsunamis in areas where they are rare but powerful.

Question 51

Sri Lanka experienced the second greatest death toll (after Indonesia)in the 2004 tsunami.

Question 52

Shallowly sloping sandy coastlines are more vulnerable to tsunamis than steep rocky shores.

Question 53

People in the countries bordering the Indian Ocean were caught by surprise in the 2004 tsunami because tsunamis are relatively rare in the Indian Ocean.

Question 54

Over 35,000 Sri Lankans died in the 2004 tsunami,despite the fact that it took two hours for the tsunami to reach Sri Lanka.

Question 55

85% of tsunamis occur in the Pacific Ocean.

Question 56

The largest known run-up occurred in a local tsunami in Lituya Bay,Alaska.

Question 57

The first wave of the wave train in a tsunami is the largest.

Question 58

The Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 originated off the northeast coast of Africa.

Question 59

There have been no significant tsunamis in the Atlantic Ocean in the 20th century.

Question 60

The 1929 tsunami in Newfoundland was a local tsunami caused by a subduction related earthquake.

Question 61

Local tsunamis can be especially deadly because of reduced warning and reaction times.

Question 62

Tsunamis have not resulted in loss of life in Canada.

Question 63

What is an inundation map,and what is it used for?

Question 64

There were no secondary effects during the 2011 Japanese tsunami.

Question 65

Tsunamis can be triggered by landslides.

Question 66

There have been no recorded deaths in North America due to tsunamis.

Question 67

The 2011 Tohoku earthquake,4th largest in recorded history,was large enough to shift the Earth's rotational axis.

Question 68

Although the effects of the 2011 Japanese Tsunami were devastating,the effects were only measurable along the Japanese coast.

Question 69

The 2011 Tohoku earthquake (9.0 mag)responsible for the Japanese Tsunami was the result of upward movement on a giant thrust fault marking the surface of the Pacific Plate.

Question 70

Explain why not all earthquakes cause tsunamis.

Question 71

How is "risk" defined and why,according to this definition,do common,relatively small events have the same risk factor as large catastrophic ones?

Question 72

The east coast of Canada is more at risk from tsunamis than the west coast.

Question 73

Even tsunamis only one or two metres high have the power to destroy small buildings.

Question 74

A tele-tsunami can travel thousands of kilometers and cause damage on distant shorelines.

Question 75

A tsunami consists of multiple surging waves.

Question 76

What role did coastal vegetation play in the 2004 Indonesia tsunami?

Question 77

Given that coastal mangrove can limit tsunami damage,why has it commonly been removed in many tropical locations such as Thailand?

Question 78

Deaths for the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 exceeded a quarter of a million people.

Question 79

Earthquake initiated displacement of the seafloor is the most common mechanism for the generation of tsunamis.

Question 80

The speed of a tsunami increases as it nears land.