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Subduction Zones Essay

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Subduction zones can create beautiful landscapes such as mountains; however, they are also dangerous regions. Subduction zones occur because one of the plates that collide with other, in convergent plate boundaries, is of higher density. Hence it sinks into the earth back to the mantle (lecture 3, slide 24-26). When such phenomenon occurs, natural hazards such as earthquakes or tsunamis would occur, making these regions dangerous. Nevertheless, it does not limit traveling. Buying an insurance policy B would be more useful for this trip as it provides a greater sense of security. With more security, I would also be able to get more out of the beach holiday as I do not have to worry much about safety.
Subduction zones can create earthquakes that …show more content…

When megathrusts occur, the water above would be displaced. This cause waves to be created on the surface of the water and they can propagate over long distances. The waves also travel faster and creates larger crest when they encounter shallow waters (lecture 8, slide 13). Therefore, the tsunami wave can reach great heights when it hit the shore. Being close to the shoreline at a subduction zone can be very dangerous if a megathrust occurs. A famous example would be the 2011 tsunami in Japan which resulted in a 9.0 magnitude earthquake. The tsunami waves rose to a height of 3 to 38 meters and hit on Honshu’s coastline causing many casualties and devastating damages to the vicinity (Sorkhabi, 2011). Knowing that the subduction zone can creates megathrust to cause tsunamis, people have adopted preventive measures to reduce death toll. Educating civilians about the warning signs before the arrival of a tsunami wave such as waves retreating rapidly from coastline and vibrations of the ground is important. With these indications, it gives more time for people to evacuate from the coast to higher ground (lecture 8, slide 43 & 52). Seawalls and floodgates have also been built to reduce the impact of the coming tsunami waves and to redirect the waves respectively. If a tsunami was to occur at the beach, knowing the warning signs would give me time to evacuate from

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