oceanography research paper

Wendy Torres

Professor Miller

Oceanography 001

6 December 2018

Current Event Project

I read the article “Tsunami and Earthquakes in Indonesia kill nearly 400, officials say”, by

Richard C. Paddock and Muktita Suhartono published September 28, 2018 in The New York

Times. The article discusses the tsunami that hit Indonesia in the central Island of Sulawesi, after

a 7.5 magnitude earthquake had just passed. The article continues talking about the number of

people affected by the earthquake, making 540 injured and 29 missing. Then more people were

confirmed dead after the tsunami hit the beach festival where people were preparing for the

event. The article also talks about a video that was recorded by a cellphone on top of a building,

showing the wave crashing onto the shore, then hitting roofs of one-story buildings. The

estimated height of the tsunami was about 16 feet or 5 meters.

The article is about waves and water dynamics. In our class we discussed waves and

water dynamics in chapter 8. We learned the way that tsunamis are created and what causes

them. Tsunamis are caused by three things, earthquakes, turbidity currents and underwater

volcanoes. The article also references seismic waves which is a tsunami, because its triggered by

a seismic wave. A tsunami is basically a large destructive wave that takes anything that is in its

way, it produces massive flooding. A vertical movement causes displacement of the sea water

leading to a tsunami wave.