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Japanese /su Nɑ Mi/ /tsu Nɑ Mi/ Large Lake Earthquakes Volcanic Eruptions Underwater Explosions Nuclear Devices Glacier Calvings Meteorite Impacts

A tsunami is a series of waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, usually in an ocean. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, meteorite impacts and other disturbances above or below water can generate tsunamis. Tsunamis have long wavelengths and resemble a rapidly rising tide rather than typical breaking waves. They generally consist of a series of waves lasting minutes to hours. While their impact is limited to coastal areas, tsunamis can be enormously destructive and affect entire ocean basins, such as the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed over 290,000 people across 14 countries.

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3 views1 page

Japanese /su Nɑ Mi/ /tsu Nɑ Mi/ Large Lake Earthquakes Volcanic Eruptions Underwater Explosions Nuclear Devices Glacier Calvings Meteorite Impacts

A tsunami is a series of waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, usually in an ocean. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, meteorite impacts and other disturbances above or below water can generate tsunamis. Tsunamis have long wavelengths and resemble a rapidly rising tide rather than typical breaking waves. They generally consist of a series of waves lasting minutes to hours. While their impact is limited to coastal areas, tsunamis can be enormously destructive and affect entire ocean basins, such as the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed over 290,000 people across 14 countries.

Uploaded by

Ana Andrews
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© © All Rights Reserved
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A tsunami (plural: tsunamis or tsunami; from Japanese: , lit.

"harbour wave";[1] English


pronunciation: /sunmi/ or /tsunmi/[2]) , also known as a seismic sea wave or,
inaccurately, as a tidal wave, is a series of waves in a body of water caused by the
displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes,
volcanic eruptions and other underwater explosions (including detonations of underwater
nuclear devices), landslides, glacier calvings, meteorite impacts and other disturbances above
or below water all have the potential to generate a tsunami.[3]
Tsunami waves do not resemble normal sea waves, because their wavelength is far longer.
Rather than appearing as a breaking wave, a tsunami may instead initially resemble a rapidly
rising tide, and for this reason they are often referred to as tidal waves. Tsunamis generally
consist of a series of waves with periods ranging from minutes to hours, arriving in a socalled "wave train".[4] Wave heights of tens of metres can be generated by large events.
Although the impact of tsunamis is limited to coastal areas, their destructive power can be
enormous and they can affect entire ocean basins; the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was among
the deadliest natural disasters in human history with at least 290,000 people killed or missing
in 14 countries bordering the Indian Ocean.
The Greek historian Thucydides suggested in his late-5th century BC History of the
Peloponnesian War, that tsunamis were related to submarine earthquakes,[5][6] but the
understanding of a tsunami's nature remained slim until the 20th century and much remains
unknown. Major areas of current research include trying to determine why some large
earthquakes do not generate tsunamis while other smaller ones do; trying to accurately
forecast the passage of tsunamis across the oceans; and also to forecast how tsunami waves
would interact with specific shorelines.

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