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Tsunami Tsunami (tsoo-NAH-mee) - That's: This Principle

A tsunami is caused by an undersea earthquake that displaces water and triggers long waves. Most tsunamis occur in the Ring of Fire, a zone of tectonic plate boundaries and frequent seismic activity circling the Pacific. While tsunami waves travel swiftly over the ocean's surface, appearing only a few feet tall, their energy increases dramatically as they reach shore. Modern warning systems help detect impending tsunamis and save lives.

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Miguel Ángel Chocontá Motavita
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36 views

Tsunami Tsunami (tsoo-NAH-mee) - That's: This Principle

A tsunami is caused by an undersea earthquake that displaces water and triggers long waves. Most tsunamis occur in the Ring of Fire, a zone of tectonic plate boundaries and frequent seismic activity circling the Pacific. While tsunami waves travel swiftly over the ocean's surface, appearing only a few feet tall, their energy increases dramatically as they reach shore. Modern warning systems help detect impending tsunamis and save lives.

Uploaded by

Miguel Ángel Chocontá Motavita
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Tsunami

This sea monster is a (2)tsunami (tsoo-NAH-mee). That’s


Japanese for “great harbor wave.” Though sometimes called
“tidal waves,” tsunamis have nothing to do with tides. Usually an
undersea earthquake starts a tsunami’s waves rolling across the
ocean. If you’ve ever tossed a pebble into a pond, then watched
ripples spread out over the surface, you’ve seen (b)this principle
at work.
1. What are three synonym expressions for (2)tsunami?
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________

2. What does (b)this principle refer to?


 How to throw rocks into the water
 How a tsunami begins
 How waves come to the shore and go away in tides

About four out of five tsunamis happen within the (3)“Ring of


Fire,” a zone of frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions
roughly matching the borders of the Pacific Ocean. Along the
ring’s edges, giant slabs of the earth’s crust, called (4)tectonic
plates, grind together. Sometimes the plates get stuck, and
pressure builds. Then, the plates can suddenly come apart and
slam into a new position. The jolt causes an (5)earthquake. If an
earthquake lifts or drops part of the ocean floor, the water above
(c)
it starts moving too. (d)This triggers a tsunami.

3. Write a definition (as in a dictionary) for the words in the


list, all the information you need is in the text
RING OF FIRE:
_______________________________________

TECTONIC PLATES: ____________________________________


EARTHQUAKE:
________________________________________

4. What does (c)it refer to?


 The water above the ocean floor.
 The surface of the sea.
 The ocean floor.

5. What does (d)This refer to?


 The eruption of volcanoes in the Ring of fire
 The movement of water after an earthquake underwater
 An earthquake on land

A tsunami can race across the ocean at (6)500 miles (805


kilometers) an hour. Oddly, in deep wá ter (e) its waves are only a
few feet high. But when the waves approach shore, (f) they
increase in energy and height. Often before a tsunami hits, there
is a giant vacuum effect, and water is sucked from harbors and
beaches. People see the bare sea bottom littered with flopping
fish and stranded boats. That is because waves are made up of
(7)crests, or high points, and (8)troughs, or dips between crests.
When a trough hits land first, the water level drops drastically.
Usually another wave blasts ashore about 15 minutes later, then
another and another—for two hours or more.

6. Complete the following sententes with the correct


synonym word or expression you can find in the text.
 Another expression related to velocity with the same
meaning for (6)500 miles is _______________________
 A (7)crest is also know as a _________ __________
 A (8)trough is a _____ ____________ _ _____
(e)
7. its refers to
 The first Tsunami's waves
 The highest waves at the shore
 The ocean's waves

8. (f)they refers to
 The first Tsunami's waves
 The waves at the shore
 The low tide waves
Tsunamis have killed more than 50,000 people in the past
century. To save lives, scientists established the Pacific Tsunami
Warning System, based in Hawaii, in the U.S.A. (g)Its network of
earthquake detectors and tide gauges detects quakes that may
cause a tsunami. We can’t tame the tsunami. But we can learn
when [h]it’s coming and escape the sea monster’s fury.
9. [g]Its refers to Select one:
 The Pacific Ocean
 The Warning System
 Hawaii (USA)
[h]
10. it refers to
 The Tsunami
 The night tide
A furious wild animal from the sea

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