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Surviving a Tsunami : Lessons from Aceh and Southern Java, Indonesia
Published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on behalf of its Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission
7 Place de Fontenoy, 75 352 Paris 07 SP, France
(c) UNESCO 2008
_________________________
CONTENTS
Introduction
________ Hazards of Destiny
________ Matter of Minutes
Early Warnings
________ Infrequent Reminders
________ Surviving Traditions
________ Earthquake Shaking
________ Receding Waters
________ Loud Noise and a Looming Wave
________ Frightened Birds
Evacuation Strategies
________ Abandon Belongings
________ Run to the Hills
________ Stay out of Cars
________ Avoid Rivers and Bridges
________ Climb a Tall Building
________ Climb a Water Tower
________ Climb a Tree
________ Use Floating Objects as Life Rafts
________ Expect More Than One Wave
________ If Offshore, Go farther out to Sea
Notes
________ Notes
________ References Cited
_______________________________
SAMPLE CONTENT
Surviving Traditions
Simeulue Island, off Aceh’s west coast, offers lessons on surviving a near-source tsunami without technological warnings. Generated near the earthquake epicenter just 50 km from the island’s north end, waves meters high reached most the island’s shores a few tens of minutes after the shaking began. The islanders received no advance notice from radios, sirens, cell phones, or tsunami warning centers. Yet just seven people died. What saved thousands of lives was a combination of natural and traditional defenses: the island’s coastal hills and the islanders’ knowledge of when to run to them.
Islanders had passed along this knowledge, most commonly from grandparent to grandchild, by telling of smong—a local term that covers this three-part sequence: earthquake shaking, withdrawal of the sea beyond the usual low tide, and rising water that runs inland. Smong stories filled free time, taught good behavior, or provided perspective on a fire or earthquake. The teller often concluded with this kind of lesson: “If a strong tremor occurs, and if the sea withdraws soon after, run to the hills, for the sea will soon rush ashore.”
Smong can be traced to a tsunami in 1907 that may have taken thousands of Simeulue lives. Interviews in 2006 showed islanders familiar with tangible evidence of the 1907 tsunami: victims’ graves, a religious leader’s earlier grave that the 1907 tsunami had left unharmed, stones transported from the foundation of a historical mosque, coral boulders in rice paddies.
Langi, barely 50 km from the epicentral area where the tsunami began, evacuated in 2004 with astonishing speed and success. The tsunami is said to have started coming ashore there 8 minutes after the earthquake. The waves, reaching heights of 10-15 meters, swept houses off their concrete foundations. Yet none of the village’s 800 residents died.
_________________________
If you wanna readmore the book, you can download the book in digital version from link below :
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Compiled by Eko Yulianto, Fauzi Kusmayanto, Nandang Supriyatna, and Mohammad Dirhamsyah
Published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on behalf of its Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission
7 Place de Fontenoy, 75 352 Paris 07 SP, France
(c) UNESCO 2008
_________________________
CONTENTS
Introduction
________ Hazards of Destiny
________ Matter of Minutes
Early Warnings
________ Infrequent Reminders
________ Surviving Traditions
________ Earthquake Shaking
________ Receding Waters
________ Loud Noise and a Looming Wave
________ Frightened Birds
Evacuation Strategies
________ Abandon Belongings
________ Run to the Hills
________ Stay out of Cars
________ Avoid Rivers and Bridges
________ Climb a Tall Building
________ Climb a Water Tower
________ Climb a Tree
________ Use Floating Objects as Life Rafts
________ Expect More Than One Wave
________ If Offshore, Go farther out to Sea
Notes
________ Notes
________ References Cited
_______________________________
SAMPLE CONTENT
Surviving Traditions
Simeulue Island, off Aceh’s west coast, offers lessons on surviving a near-source tsunami without technological warnings. Generated near the earthquake epicenter just 50 km from the island’s north end, waves meters high reached most the island’s shores a few tens of minutes after the shaking began. The islanders received no advance notice from radios, sirens, cell phones, or tsunami warning centers. Yet just seven people died. What saved thousands of lives was a combination of natural and traditional defenses: the island’s coastal hills and the islanders’ knowledge of when to run to them.
Islanders had passed along this knowledge, most commonly from grandparent to grandchild, by telling of smong—a local term that covers this three-part sequence: earthquake shaking, withdrawal of the sea beyond the usual low tide, and rising water that runs inland. Smong stories filled free time, taught good behavior, or provided perspective on a fire or earthquake. The teller often concluded with this kind of lesson: “If a strong tremor occurs, and if the sea withdraws soon after, run to the hills, for the sea will soon rush ashore.”
Smong can be traced to a tsunami in 1907 that may have taken thousands of Simeulue lives. Interviews in 2006 showed islanders familiar with tangible evidence of the 1907 tsunami: victims’ graves, a religious leader’s earlier grave that the 1907 tsunami had left unharmed, stones transported from the foundation of a historical mosque, coral boulders in rice paddies.
Langi, barely 50 km from the epicentral area where the tsunami began, evacuated in 2004 with astonishing speed and success. The tsunami is said to have started coming ashore there 8 minutes after the earthquake. The waves, reaching heights of 10-15 meters, swept houses off their concrete foundations. Yet none of the village’s 800 residents died.
_________________________
If you wanna readmore the book, you can download the book in digital version from link below :
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