Series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water
For other uses, see Tsunami (disambiguation) and Tidal wave.
"Sunami" redirects here. For the hardcore punk band, see Sunami (band).
The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami at Ao Nang, Krabi Province, Thailand3D 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 in turn generated by the gravitational pull of the Moon and the Sun, a tsunami is generated by the displacement of water from a large event.
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. This ongoing research is designed to help accurately forecast the passage of tsunamis across oceans as well as how tsunami waves interact with shorelines.
^Wells, John C. (1990). Longman pronunciation dictionary. Harlow, England: Longman. p. 736. ISBN 978-0-582-05383-0. Entry: "tsunami"
^"tsunami". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
^"tsunami". Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. Longman. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
^"Tsunami Terminology". NOAA. Archived from the original on 2011-02-25. Retrieved 2010-07-15.
^Barbara Ferreira (April 17, 2011). "When icebergs capsize, tsunamis may ensue". Nature. Archived from the original on 2011-11-04. Retrieved 2011-04-27.
^"NASA Finds Japan Tsunami Waves Merged, Doubling Power". Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
^"Tsunami 101". University of Washington. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
^"Definition of Tidal Wave".
^"What does "tsunami" mean?". Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
^Fradin, Judith Bloom and Dennis Brindell (2008). Witness to Disaster: Tsunamis. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society. pp. 42–43. Archived from the original on 2012-04-06.
^Cite error: The named reference Thucydides 3.89.1-4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference Smid, T. C. 103f. was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
A tsunami (/(t)suːˈnɑːmi, (t)sʊˈ-/ (t)soo-NAH-mee, (t)suu-; from Japanese: 津波, lit. 'harbour wave', pronounced [tsɯnami]) is a series of waves in a water...
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of water. Megatsunamis have different features from ordinary tsunamis. Ordinary tsunamis are caused by underwater tectonic activity (movement of the earth's...
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A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume within a body of water, often caused by earthquakes, or similar events...
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