As natural disasters go, tsunamis are among the worst in terms of overall destruction and loss of life. They rival earthquakes in their ability to suddenly devastate a wide area. In recent years massive tsunamis have caused extensive damage in northern Sumatra and Thailand, parts of Japan's Honshu Island, and parts of Chile. So what are tsunamis, and what causes them?
A tsunami is a catastrophic ocean wave that is usually caused by a submarine earthquake, an underwater or coastal landslide, or the eruption of a volcano. Tsunamis can also result from the impact of a meteor or comet in a body of water. The word tsunami in Japanese means “harbor wave.”
Much like when a rock plunges into a still pond, once a tsunami-generating disturbance in the water occurs, a train of outward-propagating waves comes from the disturbance’s central point. These waves can travel as fast as 800 km (500 miles) per hour, with wavelengths that extend from 100 to 200 km (60 to 120 miles). However, in the open ocean, amplitudes (heights) of the waves are very small, only about 30 to 60 cm (1 to 2 feet) high, and the period of the waves (that is, the length from one wave crest or trough to the next) can last from five minutes to more than an hour. As a result, people on ships far from shore barely perceive the passage of the tsunami underneath them.
As the tsunami approaches the coast of an island or a continent, friction with the rising sea bottom slows the waves, and wavelengths become shortened while wave amplitudes increase. In essence, fast-moving water from further out to sea stacks itself on the slower-moving water near the shore. Just before the tsunami reaches the shore, the water is drawn back by the sudden change in wave activity, effectively pulling the tide out far from where it normally meets the beach. When the tsunami reaches the shore, it can push far inland (limited only by the height of the wave). Waters may rise as high as 30 meters (about 100 feet) above normal sea level within 10 to 15 minutes and inundate low-lying areas.