The Comment of Dr. Namazu(catfish)
Produced by Kunio Ozawa
Little Red Riding Hood: (Red or Red girl)
No problem, Mr. Wolf. Let’s ask Dr. Namazu and he can teach us about a tsunami
clearly.
OK, everybody, let’s call his name together to see him.
Hello--, Dr. Namazu!!!
Dr. Namazu:
Who called me?
Red:
It’s me, Dr. Namazu.
Dr. Namazu:
What happened, Little Red girl?
Red:
Dr. Namazu, would you teach us about a tsunami?
Dr. Namazu:
Tsunami!? well.
Basically, a big earthquake that occurs at sea bottom causes a tsunami. As other causes,
a submarine volcanic eruption and an underwater landslide can also bring on a tsunami.
But most causes are a submarine earthquake, so it doesn’t happen frequently.
Red:
Then, when does such a big earthquake happen?
Dr. Namazu:
OK, earthquakes. Nobody knows when it happens. Among different kinds of earthquake,
a tsunami is predicted on the Tokai earthquake which residents of Shizuoka fear.
Tokai earthquakes occurred every 100 or 150 years over and over again, tsunamis
always accompanied them.
Red:
Though you said “every 100 or 150 years”, we can see tidal waves that come with
typhoon every year. TV says they are also big waves, so what are the differences
between tsunamis with earthquakes and big waves with typhoon?
Dr. Namazu:
In a nutshell, a characteristic of a tsunami is that big waves look like a mountain which
come on us.
Red:
Gosh! Sea seems like a mountain,,,, I don’t get it, Dr.?
Dr. Namazu:
A tsunami has 3 different points from other waves.
First, it can suddenly hit us with huge waves looking like scale of a mountain.
Small waves ripple like ZABUZABUN ZAZAZAAAA. But the bigger waves for surfing
comes ZAZAZAZA, ZABUUUUN! ZAZAZAAA!!!.
We usually know a day’s wave condition in a glance at a beach, but a tsunami suddenly
hits us with huge waves like a mountain coming on. This is the first characteristic of a
tsunami.
Red:
Okay, so what is the second point?
Dr. Namazu:
The second characteristic of a tsunami is that it doesn’t roll back soon because it comes
on with great force. Only the first flow of mountain wave continues for 50 to 10 minutes,
and then other roll on over and over again.
Red:
Yes, what’s gonna happen then?
Dr.Namazu:
A tsunami easily passes beach area and rolls on further and further to the land.
That is why it is too late to escape after a tsunami has rolled on. This is the second
characteristic of a tsunami.
Red:
So then, what is the third point?
Dr. Namazu:
The scale of tsunami is so huge that it takes many things such as buildings and trees
away when getting back to sea. And this mountain waves come more than once, it is
really dreadful, isn’t it?
Red:
Yipe! How can we survive when meeting tsunami hit?
Wolf:
Don’t worry, Red girl, I got a good idea.
As we knew through the puppet play right now, tide gets at ebb when a tsunami comes.
So, when Tokai earthquake occurs, I would go to sea to check whether the tide ebbs or
not. And then I should escape only when the tide is at ebb, right?
Dr. Namazu:
You go to beach? That’s a silly idea! There is no time to check the tide in the case of
Tokai earthquakes because the tsunami rolls on to beach as quick as Tokai earthquake
occurs. When you feel earthquake at a beach area, you must escape to higher place as
soon as possible.
Tsunami attack is not always with tidal ebb like the case of that puppet play.
I’m going to tell a story. This is the original of a story “Inamura no Hi”, and it would
make us understand well that not every Tsunami has a phenomena of tidal ebb.
About 150 years ago, 1854, 2 big earthquakes occurred together over some area,
Shizuoka, Aichi, Mie, Wakayama and Kochi in Shikoku, and many people died in the
two earthquakes.
The first one is called the Tokai earthquake in Ansei era, and the other is the Nankai
earthquake in Ansei era.
Towns and villages in each beach area were severely damaged by big tsunamis after
both earthquakes.
For example, some beach area in Shizuoka prefecture suffered tsunami attack as high
as 5 to 10 meter.
In this hall, there is a drop curtain in the stairwell of 1st to 2nd floor that shows the size
of tsunamis at that time.
Has everyone seen it?
If anybody has seen it, please raise your hands.
Okay, others should check it out later to know well how huge scale those tsunamis were.
In Hiromura, small village in Wakayama prefecture, a true story in this big
earthquakes 150 years ago became the original of “Inamura no Hi”.
A man in the story, Goheibei (Giheibei Hamaguchi), was a rich trader, 35 years old and
during his prime when the earthquake occurred.
His diary talks about the occasion, and I’m going to read pages on the 2nd day and 2nd
earthquake to you today.
“ On December 24th in 1854. Short after 4pm, there was a huge earthquake. The scale
was incomparably stronger than one of yesterday. After shaving, I took a look around
village and heard a big sound from the sea – DOOOON DOOOON!! –. So I went to the
beach to check the sea and it looked same as usual. However, there was a thin and dark
line on the surface of the sea faraway, and then it became thicker and thicker instantly
and got wider. It began rippling across with great speed.”
After that, the village was suddenly damaged by the tsunami.
Winter has fast-sinking sun. Village people had difficulty escaping in the dark night. So,
Goheibei kindled a torch and fired up shocks by wayside to make guideposts for village
people escaping repeated tsunamis, and this became the story of “Inamura no Hi”.
The important point in this story is, as you know, his diary doesn’t say the fact “tide
ebbed before tsunamis”. As the case of this story in Wakayama, we have to take notice
that tsunamis would come without a sign of tidal ebb in Tokai earthquakes.
Did everyone understand what a tsunami attack is and how we should be prepare for it?
Wolf:
Oh yeah, I know it already! If we feel a big earthquake at a beach, we should expect
tsunamis to come and escape to a higher place quickly, right?
Red:
But, are there high places around a beach?
Do you have any idea?
Red:
Oh, Bank!?
Dr. Namazu
No, it is too close to the sea.
Red:
Then, how is a second floor of a house?
Dr. Namazu:
Well… If no choice, it can be good, but much higher is better.
Red:
Let’s say mountain? Is it okay, right?
Wolf:
Hey, a mountain is actually very far from beach more than we expect, so we must be
damaged before escaping.
Red:
Yipe!!! So what should we do?
Dr. Namazu:
Hopefully, a mountain or hill exists near sea. Otherwise, if you cannot find such places,
the 3rd floor of very substantial building is okay. 4th floor is much recommended when
possible.
Red:
Uh-huh, we better escape to a place as high as 4th floor. I got it.
Red:
Okay everyone! Let’s ask Dr. Namazu any questions in this opportunity!
– Question-and-Answer Session –
Red:
Okay then, can I ask next?
Dr. Namazu, does a tsunami really occur sometimes without an earthquake?
Wolf:
Are you kidding? How can a tsunami occur without quake?
Dr. Namazu:
You mean whether a tsunami occurs without earthquake, don’t you?
If an earthquake in the bottom of far-off sea generates a tsunami, it will come to us
taking a few hours through sea. As a result, a tsunami can suddenly occur at a calm
beach without earthquakes and tidal changes. When it happens, TV or radio say
“Tsunami is coming on!!”, and then you should run away to a higher place quickly.
Do you understand?
Red:
Yes! When TV or Radio alarms us, quick escape to a higher place is needed, right?
Everyone! You got it?
Thank you very much today, Dr. Namazu.