Japan’s tsunami debris all set to reach the US coast
April 11th, 2011 - 7:55 pm ICT by Aishwarya BhattTokyo, Apr 11 (THAINDIAN NEWS) A month after the devastating quake hit Japan, massive debris that have been floating across the Pacific are expected to reach U.S coasts. These include everything that was washed away when tsunami hit Japanese towns and cities. Ocean currents will eventually carry these debris to reach the shores of Washington, Seattle and California.
According to oceanographer Curt Ebbesmeyer, depending on the current speed of ocean drifts that are carrying the debris, it will take about a year for things that easily float to appear on U.S shores, this debris include wood, plastic toys and boats. And it will take another year for other materials like fishing nets and furniture pieces to come ashore. “So you have to imagine a city say the size of about Seattle, put it through a grinder and what happens?” said Ebbesmeyer. Even bodies are expected to come out.
What is actually dangerous about this floating rubble is the possibility of wrecking shipping vessels which operate on propellers. The largest debris like capsized ships will cause more damage and result in the obstruction of certain waterways when the operating ships are ruined. According to researchers, some pieces of the debris will break up into smaller pieces or even sink deep into the ocean floor.
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Tags: boats, capsized ships, coasts, drifts, fishing nets, furniture pieces, grinder, ocean currents, ocean floor, oceanographer, plastic toys, quake, rubble, shipping vessels, smaller pieces, towns and cities, tsunami, tsunami debris, washington seattle, waterways