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;r-. 400 MILES
Tsunami height
Maximum height of
watermarks left by
tsunami inundation at 101
points along the
0
Ryoishi
27 houses;
5 dead
Average wave
height
of 62 feet.
- 100
- 80
L___j
Kariyado
0
Sources: Nobuhito Mori from the Disaster Prevention Research Institute at Kyoto University; Secretariat of Tsunami Joint Survey Group. Satellite images from GeoEye/EyeQ and Go ogle Earth.
.
The proposed movable gates could be erected where necessary to protect broken coastlines which are proned to tsunami waves incursions.
.
Scale model
In this case as in any other a scale-model of the workings of this tsunami defense mechanism would have to be built. Only it could determine if the
resoning about this concept makes it and gives the results hoped for. A tsunami scaled-model was made to see how a tsunami would hit a coastal town,
Seaside, Oregon. In a CBC documentary - Shock Wave - this experiment was shown in this 90 minutes long film which takes a look a the devastation
triggered by tsunami waves.
Shock Wave, CBC Television, December 27, 2009
Conclusion
Although this presentation has its flaws, it should not be dismissed right off for that reason. In the realm of proposals anything goes! Considering the
chances of a tsunami of great strength anywhere in the Pacific Rim, we should take all the ideas out there and make an assesment of their workability.
The end result could be the safety of millions of people. As we discovered with the December 26, 2004 tsunami in part of the south Asian and Indian
subcontinent coasts, mangroves would play a great roles in some areas where the have been preserved. Mangroves are hardly concrete walls but they
helped in slowing down the incoming tsunami wave. All coasts can't be restored with mangrove barriers or they would not grow everywhere in any case.
Thus this proposal takes into account this reality and offer a man-made barrier that is both financiallly, physically feasible and could mean the difference
between total destruction of territories, structures and people. In that sense it is worth spending some time and money to verify its potential which is not
of my reach. Considering the staggering high cost of a concrete barrier in the Kamaichi Bay (1,6 billions dollars), this proposal at least has the merit to
cost a small fraction of this and could prove to be way more efficient.