Tsunami

A tsunami is generated when a large amount of water is displaced usually from tectonic activity, landslides, meteor impacts, volcanic eruptions or caldera collapses. Most commonly tsunamis occur following an earthquake, or the movement of two tectonic plates. The energy, in the form of a wave propogating from a center, then travels at incredibly fast speeds across the ocean.

When tsunamis are generated they are usually located in very deep water, with very long wavelengths. Wavelength and wave height are inversely related; as wave legth decreases, wave height increase and visa versa. In the middle of the ocean, a tsunami can pass underneath a ship without being noticed. As the wave moves closer to shore however, the depth of the water becomes more and more shallow. This causes the wave length to decrease and the wave height to increase. Eventually the wave will crash sending massive amount of water onshore, number 4 and 5 on the schematic.

Tsunamis generally do not look like the huge symetrical waves as Hollywood usually portrays them. They are more like large surges of water that don't stop at the beach like normal waves. There is so much energy that the waves keep going, inundating the shoreline.

July 17th