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For Other Uses, See and .: Tsunami (Disambiguation) Tidal Wave

A tsunami is a series of waves caused by the displacement of a large body of water, often in an ocean. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, meteorite impacts and other events can trigger tsunamis. Unlike wind-driven waves, tsunamis are driven by changes in water displacement and can cause enormous destruction when reaching coastal areas. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was one of the deadliest natural disasters in history, killing over 230,000 people across 14 countries. While Japan has the longest recorded history of tsunamis, various regions around the world experience tsunamis triggered by seismic events.

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80 views4 pages

For Other Uses, See and .: Tsunami (Disambiguation) Tidal Wave

A tsunami is a series of waves caused by the displacement of a large body of water, often in an ocean. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, meteorite impacts and other events can trigger tsunamis. Unlike wind-driven waves, tsunamis are driven by changes in water displacement and can cause enormous destruction when reaching coastal areas. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was one of the deadliest natural disasters in history, killing over 230,000 people across 14 countries. While Japan has the longest recorded history of tsunamis, various regions around the world experience tsunamis triggered by seismic events.

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For other uses, see 

Tsunami (disambiguation) and Tidal wave.

The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami at Ao Nang, Krabi Province, Thailand

3D tsunami animation

A tsunami (/(t)suːˈnɑːmi, (t)sʊˈ-/ (t)soo-NAH-mee, (t)suu-;[1][2][3][4] from Japanese: 津波, lit. 'harbour
wave',[5] pronounced [tsɯnami]) is a series of waves in a water body 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, landslides, glacier
calvings, meteorite impacts and other disturbances) above or below water all have the potential
to generate a tsunami.[6] Unlike normal ocean waves, which are generated by wind, or tides,
which are generated by the gravitational pull of the Moon and the Sun, a tsunami is generated by
the displacement of water.
Tsunami waves do not resemble normal undersea currents or sea waves because
their wavelength is far longer.[7] Rather than appearing as a breaking wave, a tsunami may
instead initially resemble a rapidly rising tide.[8] For this reason, it is often referred to as a tidal
wave,[9] although this usage is not favoured by the scientific community because it might give the
false impression of a causal relationship between tides and tsunamis.[10] Tsunamis generally
consist of a series of waves, with periods ranging from minutes to hours, arriving in a so-called
"wave train."[11] 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 230,000 people killed or missing in 14 countries
bordering the Indian Ocean.
The Ancient Greek historian Thucydides suggested in his 5th century BC History of the
Peloponnesian War that tsunamis were related to submarine earthquakes,[12][13] but the
understanding of tsunamis remained slim until the 20th century and much remains unknown.
Major areas of current research include determining why some large earthquakes do not
generate tsunamis while other smaller ones do; accurately forecasting the passage of tsunamis
across the oceans; and forecasting how tsunami waves interact with shorelines.
Contents

 1Terminology
o 1.1Tsunami
o 1.2Tidal wave
o 1.3Seismic sea wave
 2History
 3Causes
o 3.1Seismicity
o 3.2Landslides
o 3.3Meteorological
o 3.4Man-made or triggered tsunamis
 4Characteristics
 5Drawback
 6Scales of intensity and magnitude
o 6.1Intensity scales
o 6.2Magnitude scales
 7Tsunami heights
 8Warnings and predictions
o 8.1Possible animal reaction
 9Mitigation
 10See also
 11Footnotes
 12References
 13Further reading
 14External links

Terminology
Tsunami
Tsunami

"Tsunami" in kanji

Japanese name

Kanji 津波

showTranscriptions

The term "tsunami" is a borrowing from the Japanese tsunami 津波, meaning "harbour wave."
For the plural, one can either follow ordinary English practice and add an s, or use an invariable
plural as in the Japanese.[14] Some English speakers alter the word's initial /ts/ to an /s/ by
dropping the "t," since English does not natively permit /ts/ at the beginning of words, though the
original Japanese pronunciation is /ts/.
Tidal wave

Tsunami aftermath in Aceh, Indonesia, December 2004.

Tsunamis are sometimes referred to as tidal waves.[15] This once-popular term derives from the
most common appearance of a tsunami, which is that of an extraordinarily high tidal bore.
Tsunamis and tides both produce waves of water that move inland, but in the case of a tsunami,
the inland movement of water may be much greater, giving the impression of an incredibly high
and forceful tide. In recent years, the term "tidal wave" has fallen out of favour, especially in the
scientific community, because the causes of tsunamis have nothing to do with those of tides,
which are produced by the gravitational pull of the moon and sun rather than the displacement of
water. Although the meanings of "tidal" include "resembling"[16] or "having the form or character
of"[17] the tides, use of the term tidal wave is discouraged by geologists and oceanographers.
A 1969 episode of the TV crime show Hawaii Five-O entitled "Forty Feet High and It Kills!" used
the terms "tsunami" and "tidal wave" interchangeably.[18]

Seismic sea wave


The term seismic sea wave is also used to refer to the phenomenon, because the waves most
often are generated by seismic activity such as earthquakes.[19] Prior to the rise of the use of the
term tsunami in English, scientists generally encouraged the use of the term seismic sea
wave rather than tidal wave. However, like tsunami, seismic sea wave is not a completely
accurate term, as forces other than earthquakes—including underwater landslides, volcanic
eruptions, underwater explosions, land or ice slumping into the ocean, meteorite impacts, and
the weather when the atmospheric pressure changes very rapidly—can generate such waves by
displacing water.[20][21]

History
See also: List of historic tsunamis

Lisbon earthquake and tsunami in November 1755.


While Japan may have the longest recorded history of tsunamis, the sheer destruction caused by
the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami event mark it as the most devastating of its kind
in modern times, killing around 230,000 people.[22] The Sumatran region is also accustomed to
tsunamis, with earthquakes of varying magnitudes regularly occurring off the coast of the island.
[23]

Tsunamis are an often underestimated hazard in the Mediterranean Sea and parts of Europe. Of


historical and current (with regard to risk assumptions) importance are the 1755 Lisbon
earthquake and tsunami (which was caused by the Azores–Gibraltar Transform Fault), the 1783
Calabrian earthquakes, each causing several tens of thousands of deaths and the 1908 Messina
earthquake and tsunami. The tsunami claimed more than 123,000 lives in Sicily and Calabria
and is among the most deadly natural disasters in modern Europe. The Storegga Slide in the
Norwegian Sea and some examples of tsunamis affecting the British Isles refer to landslide
and meteotsunamis predominantly and less to earthquake-induced waves.
As early as 426 BC the Greek historian Thucydides inquired in his book History of the
Peloponnesian War about the causes of tsunami, and was the first to argue that ocean
earthquakes must be the cause.[12][13]
The cause, in my opinion, of this phenomenon must be sought in the earthquake. At the point
where its shock has been the most violent the sea is driven back, and suddenly recoiling with
redoubled force, causes the inundation. Without an earthquake I do not see how such an
accident could happen.[24]

The Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus (Res Gestae 26.10.15–19) described the typical


sequence of a tsunami, including an incipient earthquake, the sudden retreat of the sea and a
following gigantic wave, after the 365 AD tsunami devastated Alexandria.[25][26]

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