WOODS HOLE, Mass., Nov. 24 (UPI) -- The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution says it has created an educational Web site to help people prepare for and survive a tsunami.
Called an "interactive guide that could save your life," the site features the latest tsunami-related science research and compelling tsunami survivor videos and interviews.
"Tsunamis can neither be prevented nor precisely predicted yet," said site initiator Jian Lin, a Woods Hole geologist actively involved in tsunami research and a member of a U.S. national committee on tsunami warning and preparedness. "But people educated about tsunami warning signs can save their own lives and the lives of others."
Tsunami is the Japanese word for "harbor wave," and is the term used when giant undersea earthquakes, landslides or volcanic eruptions generate a sudden motion of ocean water that results in a series of large waves. In the open ocean, such waves can travel as fast as 500 miles per hour -- the same speed as a jet. A tsunami can quickly engulf vulnerable coastal regions, resulting in widespread destruction and death.
The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami took 240,000 lives.
Available at http://www.whoi.edu/home/interactive/tsunami/, the Web site instructs people how to prepare for a tsunami, how to respond should they see one approach and what to do in the aftermath.
