TSUNAMI
a solid and destroyer wall of liquid water
 |
| 19th century tsunami painting by japanese artist Hokusai |
 |
| 26 December 2004 Sumatra's West Coast |
A tsunami (pronounced tsoo-NAH-mee) is a series of waves, made in an ocean or other body of water by an earthquake, landslide, volcanic eruption, or meteorite impact. Tsunamis can cause huge destruction when they hit coastlines. Some people call tsunamis “tidal waves”, but these large waves really have little to do with tides, so the term “tidal wave” does not really suit them.
Tsunami waves are different from the waves you can usually find rolling into the coast of a lake or ocean. Those waves are made by wind offshore and are quite small compared with tsunami waves. A tsunami wave in the open ocean can be more than 100 km across. That’s roughly the length of 1000 American football fields! Tsunami waves are huge and can travel very quickly, at about 700 km/hr, but they are only about one meter high in the open ocean.
Tsunami waves are different from the waves you can usually find rolling into the coast of a lake or ocean. Those waves are made by wind offshore and are quite small compared with tsunami waves. A tsunami wave in the open ocean can be more than 100 km across. That’s roughly the length of 1000 American football fields! Tsunami waves are huge and can travel very quickly, at about 700 km/hr, but they are only about one meter high in the open ocean.
No comments:
Post a Comment