TsunamisBy Mimi

A tsunami starts as “a large group of ocean waves caused by sudden movements deep in the ocean floor.” The waves merge in to one gigantic wave as it gets closer to the shore.

Tsunamis can be caused by earthquakes and underwater volcanoes (tectonic tsunamis). They can also be caused by meteorite impacts and underwater landslides.

How do tsunamis start?

They mostly happen in the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean. They travel from mid-sea to coastline.

Where do tsunamis typically happen?

So first the tsunami forms, which I explained at the beginning.

Then, the tsunami gets bigger as it reaches to shore.

Finally, the tsunami hits the coastline and can flow and wipe out an entire town.

What usually happens during a tsunami?

How often do tsunamis happen?

There is no such thing as a tsunami season. But, there have been more and more tsunamis each year.

There are ABOUT 25-40 tsunamis every nine years.

Tectonic plates, fault lines, seismic waves, and land are involved when the earth quake hits.

The ocean, the coastline, and when the tsunami is caused by another feature, like a volcano, that is also involved.

What features are involved with tsunamis?

A tsunami could travel up to 600 miles per hour.

biggest tsunamis are caused by meteorite impacts.

Tsunamis can reach up to a little more than 100 feet!

On the Richter scale, if there is a 10.o earthquake, it could cause a huge tsunami wave!

Coastlines could get wiped out and many, many houses could be flooded.

What are the most extreme conditions that can happen during

a tsunami?

Sometimes, we use the Richter scale. We use it because usually after an earthquake, there is a tsunami. The bigger the earthquake, the bigger the tsunami.

You can measure it by how big or tall it is. You can measure them by how much

damage they do.

What type of measurement do you use to classify tsunamis?

There can be devastating flooding. Sometimes, a few minutes to a few hours

after the tsunami, there are smaller waves. But they can still do a lot of devastation.

Many people usually drown, or don’t make it

What are the after effects of a tsunami?

continental shelf- under water plain buried under relatively shallow waters along the edge of a continent

continental margin region where continental crust meets oceanic crust

Wave length- in regular wave patterns, the distance from the crest, or top, of one wave to the crest of the next wave

continental plate- large segment of Earth's crust and uppermost mantle (region just below the crust) that supports a major landmass

tectonic plate- large segment of Earth's crust and uppermost mantle (region just below the crust) that moves as a unit over Earth's surface, floating on a partially molten layer of rock below

Seismic waves are waves of energy that travel through the earth, and are a result of an earthquake, explosion, or a volcano that imparts low-frequency acoustic energy.

Key Terms

Tsunamis do not occur as much as other natural disasters like tornados, but they are just as deadly.

The word tsunami is from Japanese words that translates as "harbor wave”

Other important facts

Thompson, Luke Tsunamis New York Grolier 2000

Wikipedia The Gale Encyclopedia of Science May 5

2010 U X L science Feb. 5 2010

Sources