Tsunamis (Japanese for “harbour wave”) are form in large open bodies of water, such as oceans, seas, and large lakes, caused by a rapid displacement of water. Whilst tsunamis are in fact classed as waves, they do not form in the conventional manner. For example, a regular wave can be formed via friction from surface winds or via gravitational pull on the water from the moon. Tsunami waves on the other hand are caused by large disturbances, often underwater that as a result, cause a huge displacement of water, in a short period of time, that later leads on to become the wave. Dr Anthony Joseph, author of Tsunamis (2011) stated that whilst tsunamis are caused by a variety of geodynamic phenomena, undersea earthquakes are the main cause, accounting for 82% of tsunamis recorded on the “tsunami database”. Not only is this the case, but from research it is clear that ‘seaquake’ tsunamis are also amongst the most devastating, having caused, for example, the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami that was accountable for the deaths of approximately a quarter of a million people, amongst 14 countries. It is estimated that approximately a million people have lost their lives as a result to tsunamis within recorded history, and with an estimated 3 billion people living within high risk tsunami zones worldwide (Veitch and Jaffray, 2010), it is clear that tsunamis are a huge, global environmental issue.
With tsunamis posing a risk, and having effected so many people worldwide there are many issues that arise as a result. The economic effects of a tsunami event can be huge, and can in fact be enhanced by the political decisions made by the governments of the countries affected before, during and after the event. However, it must be noted that the economic effects of tsunamis are not limited to the aftermath, as investment into tsunami warning systems and coastal protection all do have an economic impact.
Possibly one of the most economically impactful tsunami events in recent years was the 2011 tsunami that hit the North East coast of Japan following a magnitude 8.9 earthquake. Physical damage alone was estimated to have cost the country between $195 billion and $305 billion; to put that into perspective, the upper end of that figure is near equal to the 2014 GDP of Israel, which sat at $303.771 billion (http://statisticstimes.com/economy). However, it wasn’t just the national economy that was affected by the tsunami; during the aftermath economists correctly predicted that the disaster shaved half a percentage point off global economic growth, due to the standstill in Japan’s export reliant economy (the third largest global economy, accounting for 8.7% of global GDP as of 2011) Congressional Research Service, 2011)). The economic issue was very severe, as noted here by the Telegraph Online in 2011:
“The yen initially spiked to a record high against the dollar after the quake, prompting the first joint intervention by the Group of Seven rich nations in 11 years…”
As a rise in the global price of the Yen (¥) makes Japanese made products a lot less covetable across the globe, the G7 intervention, that began with central bank in Japan selling Yen to weaken its value (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business), aimed to fix the hit in the Japanese markets with hope that the knock on effect would be a global economic improvement. Although, approximately 134 countries, alongside 39 international organisations all provided aid to help recovery efforts in Japan according to Foreign Ministry of Japan, which would have further contributed to a recession in the global economy.
In recent years much research and investment has been dedicated to tsunami damage mitigation technologies. Detached breakwaters, are a technology that have widely installed around the coasts of Japan, and their effectiveness has been proven in the past. For example, it is believed that the detached breakwater that surrounds Male Island of the Maldives protected the island from becoming completely submerged during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami (Fujima et al., 2006). A summary of extensive research into the effectiveness of detached breakwaters suggests that breakwaters can reduce the run-up height of tsunami waves by 40%-80%, and that “tsunami wave pressure on seawalls can be reduced to less than 60% by a detached breakwater” (Hanzawa et al, 2011).
However post-2004 Indian Ocean tsunami a lot of money has been invested into early-warning systems, as it is well known that a lack of any warning system and poor government communication with the public led to the large number of casualties during the tsunami event. According to the Sri Lankan Red Cross, partnering with the International Federation of Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and other organisations, $1.3 million has been used to fund the installation of offshore early warning systems in Sri Lanka and equipping communities with the training and knowledge to survive in another similar situation (http://bobmckerrow.blogspot.co.uk). In a quote from Tissa Abeywickrama, Director General of the SLRC she states:
“We have trained people time after time in order to face a situation like this. Our investment on mitigation & early warning certainly paid off”
This here proving, that it is just as important to invest in educating the people as it is to invest in the construction of such defences, because ultimately the people are a countries biggest economic asset.