The tsunamis that took place in Indonesia, Japan, Chile and finally Cuba caused thousands of casualties and massive damage. What is tsunami and how does it occur? Tsunamis are called series waves arising from sudden movements on the sea floor. There may be several reasons for a tsunami to occur: earthquake, volcano eruption, underwater landslides or asteroids falling into the sea. WHAT IS TSUNAMI, HOW? Tsunami represents a long-term sea wave due to the energy passing into the sea as a result of earthquake, sky fall, nuclear explosions under the sea, volcano eruption and ground collapses, ground slips. Also hurricanes can cause tsunamis. In the past, tsunami waves were also called tide waves. 80% of tsunamis occur in the Pacific Ocean. Greek historian Tukididis suggested in his book The History of Peleponnes War that his tsunamis were caused by the submarine earthquake. Although Tukididis was known as the first person to put forward this theory, little was known about the formation of the tsunami until the 20th century. The subject is still under investigation. The first geological, geographic and oceanographic articles call tsunamis “seismic sea waves”. Some meteorological conditions, such as the tropical hurricane, can create large low pressure areas, causing meteosunamis with the fact that the sea is too high in storms called English storm surge. Meteotsunamis can also raise the sea level a few meters above the tide normal. This change is caused by low atmospheric pressure in the low pressure area. When this storm surgeler reaches the shore, they can be compared to tsunami by drowning the water around. How Does Tsunami Occur? Sometimes an earthquake or volcano eruption occurs at the bottom of the sea. In these events, one moves in two directions, pushing the water at the bottom of the ocean towards the surface. Sometimes it reaches the coast and travels for miles. These waves travel at a speed of 800 kilometers per hour in the open sea, but at that time they are not very tall. When the water reaches a place where it is not very deep, the speed of the waves is interrupted. The wave whose speed decreases suddenly increases well. The length of the wave sometimes reaches up to 30 meters. Some meteorological conditions, such as a tropical hurricane, can create large low pressure areas, causing tsunamis if the sea is too high in storms. WHERE IS CUBA ON THE CONTINENT? Cuba is officially an island country in the Caribbean Republic of Cuba. Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and many archipelago. Havana is the largest city of Cuba and the capital of the country. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city. It extends to the United States (150 km away) in the north of Cuba, Mexico and the Bahamas in the west, the Cayman Islands and Jamaica in the south, and Haiti and the Dominican Republic in the southeast. On October 28, 1492, Christopher Columbus landed and claimed the Kingdom of Spain on the island that now belongs to Cuba. Cuba remained a territory of Spain until the Spanish-American War that ended in 1898, and gained official independence from the United States in 1902. Cuba is the home of over 11 million people and is the most populous island nation in addition to having the largest surface area in the Caribbean. The island has a tropical climate warmed by the waters around it. At the same time, the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea and the island facing the Gulf of Mexico made the island open to hurricanes. Cuba Island, which is 1232.5 km long, is the 13th largest island on earth.
