The Tsunami that Never Was
Jack was a young fisherman who lived on a remote island nation with a population of around 100,000 people that was located within the Pacific Ocean. As you may know, many islands in the Pacific Ocean lie within the Ring of Fire, a notoriously seismically active zone of the world. In fact, the island nation itself was born from origins much like Hawaii - from fiery magma rising through the crust of Earth and slowly building a taller and taller mountain.The residents of the island were all used to the earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, but all of the locals feared that one day an explosive eruption or massive earthquake would be the demise of the island nation. In fact, there was so much fear that the locals were apt to have nightmares of their island being destroyed.
One day, Jack was alone and fishing off the shore on a remote part of the island when he heard a rumble. Immediately, Jack thought that this rumble must be an earthquake, but he was not too concerned as the rumble did not last long. However, Jack noticed the rumbling emanating from the rocky slopes leading into the ocean again and immediately feared that there may be a larger earthquake than he had experienced before. Jack then noticed a large, 40-feet tall wave approaching the shoreline. Jack was sure that an earthquake had struck and caused an incoming tsunamic. Jack left his fishing gear and tore off back towards the town to notify the island news station.
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| This image from Pixabay depicts a wave much like the one Jack saw. |
Jack entered the news station out of breath and with panic clearly in his eyes. Jack quickly told the station that a tsunami was approaching the island, and everyone needed to evacuate before it arrived. The news station thought Jack surely would not lie about this impending disaster, and they wasted no time and quickly sent out news alerts that a tsunami was on its way to drown the island. As the citizens got the alerts, panic ran high. Residents vigorously pounded on their neighbor's doors trying to alert the others of the impending disaster. The panic quickly spread through most of the nation, and many residents began to abandon their homes and belongings.
Jeff, a geologist on the island, was at his laboratory when the news finally made it to him. He was confused as to why there was panic; his seismographs never detected an earthquake in the past day. To quell the panic, Jeff called the news station and informed them that there had not been any earthquakes, and asked where the story arose from. The news station told Jeff of Jack's story, and that they ran the story because Jack told them there was a 10-feet tall wave at his fishing spot. The news reported that the tsunami was a false alarm, but residents were still panicking.
Jeff had to find out what had happened so that he could ease the fears of the public. Jeff communicated more with the news station, and the news station was able to get hold of Jack. Jack agreed to take Jeff to his fishing spot to show Jeff where the incident occurred.
When Jeff arrived at the fishing spot, he noticed that 1,000 yards down the bank from where Jack was fishing, there was a slope of rocks that had not yet been oxidized by the air - a clear sign that the rock face was fresh. Upon further inspection, Jeff noticed that there were rocks with no algal growth or other organisms; these rocks were very fresh. Jeff had pieced together the story.
Jeff arrived back at the news station and told them that Jack was near the site of a rockslide that displaced enough water to cause a large wave, but that there was no serious danger. The news reported this to the public. Jeff discussed with the news station that they should not report unless they have credible evidence, and the news station learned a valuable lesson.
Though your scientific take on the story makes it so uniquely "you" (as I learned from your Introduction of your interest in civil engineering), I can definitely tell that your story derives from "The Foolish, Timid Rabbit!" The way you have written with such accurate terminology of the natural disaster, it sounds as if this could be derived from real events! While in the original the source of the sound was something silly, I like how the cause of the wave here was from something that was naturally occurring. This makes a little more dramatic of an "aha" moment for the reader, as what you described still doesn't sound good even if it wasn't something inherently dangerous. Your story makes me wonder how often examples of this sort of "telephone" reporting must happen, causing people to misinterpret a situation and panic unnecessarily. Very interesting interpretation of the Jataka Tale!
ReplyDeleteHi! I liked your interpretation of The Timid Rabbit story, even though the twist wasn't what I thought it was going to be. When you originally said that the locals had nightmares I thought the tsumani was going to be a dream that Jack had. I love the scientific thought you put into your story because it gives it more credibility than if you just threw around scientific jargon without it making sense.
ReplyDeleteHi Marshall! I really enjoyed your take on the Foolish, Timid Rabbit story. Something that caught my attention in the story was the people, like the island, were created from the magma. I thought that was incredibly interesting. I have to say that I loved your original take on this story. I didn't even realize what story it was until the end!I don't really have any suggestions for you, it was well written. Great job!
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