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Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: Kosh on July 07, 2010, 08:50:49 pm

Title: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: Kosh on July 07, 2010, 08:50:49 pm
If you're on land and you see a tsunami heading your way, would it be possible to somehow survive it?
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: Galemp on July 07, 2010, 09:12:32 pm
Well, the antimatter warhead washes over shields a little, so as long as it isn't too close to the center of the blast, a fighter or bomber has a good chance of surviving detonation.
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: ssmit132 on July 07, 2010, 09:24:23 pm
I don't think that's quite what he meant... :lol:
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: General Battuta on July 07, 2010, 09:53:46 pm
You might be able to shoot it down if you had something with reasonable firepower handy, but the blast wave might still get you.
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: Scotty on July 07, 2010, 09:57:10 pm
Well, if you're on land, it'll be a bit harder to avoid the shockwave.  Best hope is to intercept it fairly high in the atmosphere.
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: StarSlayer on July 07, 2010, 10:08:45 pm
Not to mention the shock wave will be several order of magnitudes more powerful in atmosphere.  That said I can't recall if a GTM-3 warhead explodes with full force if it is intercepted before it strikes the target?
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: Scotty on July 07, 2010, 10:10:24 pm
It may be more powerful, but I'm fairly sure it'll be smaller.  Hence, intercepting it at a higher altitude is a good idea.
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: Hippo on July 07, 2010, 10:41:03 pm
don't forget to press B
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: Klaustrophobia on July 07, 2010, 11:18:26 pm
We interrupt this hijack to bring the thread back to the original topic.

If you see the water receding prior to the tsunami, you have time to outrun it, but otherwise you're pretty much screwed.

We now return you to your thread hijack in progress.  Thank you for your patience.
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: FUBAR-BDHR on July 08, 2010, 12:11:41 am
Original topic answer:  Yes if you see it you can already be above the level it effects.

Fun topic answer:  Counter it with a Typhoon just offshore.  That should draw the water up to cool the engines thus reducing the impact to land (at least until it leaves or heads inland)
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: Galemp on July 08, 2010, 12:57:53 am
Fun topic answer:  Counter it with a Typhoon just offshore.  That should draw the water up to cool the engines thus reducing the impact to land (at least until it leaves or heads inland)

:lol:
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: Redstreblo on July 08, 2010, 01:29:44 am
I see a lot of responses about diverting the path of the tsunami with explosive force. The tsunami would then reverse course and threaten another section of land and on and on.

With all these waves being thrown about the oceans will become very rough and all ships will be doomed. I cannot think of all the consequences of an action like this... world wide destruction perhaps as a tsunami approaches all land at the same time and the world gets flooded and all will die.
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: mister J on July 08, 2010, 01:31:13 am
I guess it depends on how large the tsunami is going to be. You can go up a building or something or just run towards higher ground but if it's going to be a tsunami of cataclysmic proportions that isn't going to help.

as an aside, guess where we were when the Indian Ocean Tsunami struck?

that's right, swimming in the ocean. In South East Asia. We were wondering at the time why the hell the water was rising and falling weird (it actually caused nausea for me) and we went home and saw these news reports about how thousands of people died. My father and I looked at each other and were like FFFFFFFUUUUUUUU

Thankfully for us the nearby islands kinda absorbed the tsunami's impact and we didn't even get anything worthwhile.
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: General Battuta on July 08, 2010, 01:36:39 am
I see a lot of responses about diverting the path of the tsunami with explosive force. The tsunami would then reverse course and threaten another section of land and on and on.

With all these waves being thrown about the oceans will become very rough and all ships will be doomed. I cannot think of all the consequences of an action like this... world wide destruction perhaps as a tsunami approaches all land at the same time and the world gets flooded and all will die.

A ha ha ha.

You are missing the joke, my friend. Go to FreeSpace Wiki, type in 'Tsunami'.

And your concerns are misguided, tsunamis are barely noticeable out at sea.
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: Kosh on July 08, 2010, 03:14:32 am
Nice to know, but what about something like this?

(http://www.eos.ubc.ca/courses/Dist-Ed/SyllabusImages/tsunami.jpg)
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: Flipside on July 08, 2010, 09:46:31 am
I believe most victims of Tsunami are killed by either being thrown against something during the initial impact, or being dragged away by the backwash currents. High Ground is the obvious, and probably most effective solution.
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: Bobboau on July 08, 2010, 12:41:16 pm
actually I think most are killed by the sudden loss of infrastructure.
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: Flipside on July 08, 2010, 02:32:08 pm
Probably, yes, if you consider that many Tsunami tend to take place in places that have a weak infrastructure to start with, you are most likely right to say more have been killed by the effects of the Tsunami than the wave itself. That said, the initial impact, I think, is the concern here, we are assuming that this is a first-world country with the ability to react post-disaster? Bobboau's right that it does make a lot of difference.
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: Kosh on July 08, 2010, 06:34:50 pm
I believe most victims of Tsunami are killed by either being thrown against something during the initial impact, or being dragged away by the backwash currents. High Ground is the obvious, and probably most effective solution.

But sometimes there isn't enough time to get to the high ground. Tsunami's travel very fast. So if you get caught up in one, are there any ways to gaurentee you'll live?
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: General Battuta on July 08, 2010, 06:53:34 pm
I believe most victims of Tsunami are killed by either being thrown against something during the initial impact, or being dragged away by the backwash currents. High Ground is the obvious, and probably most effective solution.

But sometimes there isn't enough time to get to the high ground. Tsunami's travel very fast. So if you get caught up in one, are there any ways to gaurentee you'll live?

No.
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: NGTM-1R on July 08, 2010, 07:33:20 pm
But sometimes there isn't enough time to get to the high ground. Tsunami's travel very fast. So if you get caught up in one, are there any ways to gaurentee you'll live?

If you get caught in the surge, you should probably just bend over and kiss your ass goodbye. Your best hope is to see it coming and make it to a second or third story and hope that the building can take it.
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: iamzack on July 08, 2010, 07:36:14 pm
Four posts into a thread about surviving a natural disaster, and the solution is already "shoot it."
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: NGTM-1R on July 08, 2010, 07:39:35 pm
Four posts into a thread about surviving a natural disaster, and the solution is already "shoot it."

For the mentally and FreeSpace-impaired.

http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Tsunami
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: iamzack on July 08, 2010, 09:43:12 pm
The mental image of shooting a wave of water is way funnier than any freespace reference.
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: watsisname on July 09, 2010, 02:56:25 am
Four posts into a thread about surviving a natural disaster, and the solution is already "shoot it."

Shooting it always works. (http://xkcd.com/640/)
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: Snail on July 09, 2010, 04:53:57 am
DAKKA DAKKA DAKKA
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: Flipside on July 09, 2010, 05:36:18 am
I believe most victims of Tsunami are killed by either being thrown against something during the initial impact, or being dragged away by the backwash currents. High Ground is the obvious, and probably most effective solution.

But sometimes there isn't enough time to get to the high ground. Tsunami's travel very fast. So if you get caught up in one, are there any ways to gaurentee you'll live?

Not really, luck is probably your best friend in those situations, the most effective defences against Tsunami really take place long before they hit shore, in the form of pre-warning systems, so areas can be evacuated, but when several million tonnes of water decide they are going to be somewhere else, there's very little we can do about it on short notice. There might be some possibilities in the Japanese ideas for divrerting lava using channels and barriers to try and coax the lava on a particular route, rather than stop it entirely, but water is far more liquid than lava than and channeling etc will only have a limited affect.

In the end, the best, best method for defending against a Tsunami is to build your city underwater, but that's kind of a major undertaking and simply replaces the threat of drowning during a Tsunami with the threat of drowning through malfunction. Personally, I think Tsunamis are probably safer.
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: Snail on July 09, 2010, 05:37:49 am
In the end, the best, best method for defending against a Tsunami is to build your city underwater, but that's kind of a major undertaking and simply replaces the threat of drowning during a Tsunami with the threat of drowning through malfunction. Personally, I think Tsunamis are probably safer.
What about a flying city?
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: Flipside on July 09, 2010, 05:41:35 am
I think flying cities are a little too sci-fi for me at the moment :p Once we get to that stage of development, I suspect you'll have a lot more options to stay away from Natural Diasters, including heading off to another planet.

Edit: Thinking about it, you may stand a better chance if you can get some good solid buildings between you and the wave, if, by the time the water reaches you, it has spent most of its energy hitting stuff, you only have to deal with the depth of the water, which shouldn't be too bad as long as you can swim and there is something to head for. The risk is, of course, misjudging and having the building that was supposed to save you collapse on top of you.
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: StarSlayer on July 09, 2010, 08:15:38 am
 Anti Grizzly Bear Attack Suit modified with the following:
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Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: jr2 on July 09, 2010, 10:37:44 am
But sometimes there isn't enough time to get to the high ground. Tsunami's travel very fast. So if you get caught up in one, are there any ways to gaurentee you'll live?

Have Scotty beam you up.
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: Scotty on July 09, 2010, 10:46:46 am
I don't do requests.
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: Snail on July 09, 2010, 11:09:39 am
lulz
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: watsisname on July 09, 2010, 01:42:52 pm
The best way to survive a tsunami is with a survivaball (http://www.survivaball.com/usage.php).
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: Androgeos Exeunt on July 09, 2010, 02:12:41 pm
I thought climbing up a tree is the best way to survive a tsunami.
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: Herra Tohtori on July 09, 2010, 02:13:40 pm
I believe most victims of Tsunami are killed by either being thrown against something during the initial impact, or being dragged away by the backwash currents. High Ground is the obvious, and probably most effective solution.

It's over Tsunami, I have the high ground! (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IHaveTheHighGround)

YOU UNDERESTIMATE MY POWER

Don't try it... :shaking:

Actually, the safest place to be during a tsunami is in the water, sufficiently far from the shallow coast waters. When the wave hits shallow water, the energy of the wave motion conserves (reasonably well), but due to reduction in the water depth the surface amplitude increases immensely. If you're far enough out that you're not washed to the shore and then back with the receding water, hitting stuff like trees, buildings and cars on the way, you should be just fine.

On the other hand if you're actually on the beach and see the wave coming, the safest bet is to either get on top of a solid building and hope it doesn't collapse under you...

Of course, there are different kinds of tsunamis, depending on how they are originated. The phase of the wave front hitting the coast line is pretty important. Waves with negative initial amplitude have a "deeper" area ahead of them, and they give the warning with fast receding waters. Positive initial amplitude waveform means the water rises immediately with no further warning.

By the way if you go to area with possibility of tsunamis, make yourself familiar with paths to tsunami shelters and in general instructions for such incident. That's going to increase your odds of survival much more than asking about it from internet people.
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: iamzack on July 09, 2010, 03:32:36 pm
What if you're in shallow(ish) water and you see the wave rise? if you swim through it to the other side can you be okay, like with smaller waves?
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: Herra Tohtori on July 09, 2010, 04:16:38 pm
No.

First of all, in shallow water there is no way you could swim against the wave which essentially pushes water on land like a flood tide.

Secondly, tsunamis usually consist of multiple waves. The first one is not necessarily always the highest/most energetic/most destructive one.
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: Aardwolf on July 09, 2010, 09:15:46 pm
How to survive a tsunami? Well if it's anything like how to survive a typhoon: stop cutting down the mangroves!
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: watsisname on July 10, 2010, 07:11:24 am
No.

First of all, in shallow water there is no way you could swim against the wave which essentially pushes water on land like a flood tide.

Secondly, tsunamis usually consist of multiple waves. The first one is not necessarily always the highest/most energetic/most destructive one.

Not to mention that even if you did somehow manage to "swim to the other side" of the waves, you'd just end up getting pulled out to sea when all that water goes back out again.

So, basically, you'd have to swim like The Zohan.
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: Grizzly on July 12, 2010, 10:21:01 am
Wear dog tags. There are no sure ways to survive tsunami's (Although being an expert on 'not drowning' can help you if you are not knocked unconsiousness by the wave itself or something else), but ensuring that people know who you are will help the relief people a lot. A forensics expert showed me pictures of his ID work in Sri Lanka, and those pictures where gruesome. Quite a few people working there eventually couldn't take it anymore.

Oh, in case... Try not to swim too much. Floating is better. Swimming during a storm or other circumstances where a lot of current is involved is bassicly fruitless and gets you nowhere, only leaves you exhausted, after which you will probably drown.
Title: Re: Surviving a tsunami
Post by: Androgeos Exeunt on July 12, 2010, 01:12:29 pm
Wear dog tags. There are no sure ways to survive tsunami's (Although being an expert on 'not drowning' can help you if you are not knocked unconsiousness by the wave itself or something else), but ensuring that people know who you are will help the relief people a lot. A forensics expert showed me pictures of his ID work in Sri Lanka, and those pictures where gruesome. Quite a few people working there eventually couldn't take it anymore.

Oh, in case... Try not to swim too much. Floating is better. Swimming during a storm or other circumstances where a lot of current is involved is bassicly fruitless and gets you nowhere, only leaves you exhausted, after which you will probably drown.

Yeah, especially that last bit. In learning about longshore currents during Geography years ago, my teacher deviated a little to give us this same safety tip. I'm glad I remember it.