Answer: Most waves form due to winds or tides, but tsunamis have a different cause altogether. A tsunami is most often formed by an earthquake, but it can also be formed by an underwater landslide, volcano eruption or even meteorite.
The process is fairly complex, so let’s start digging into it.
What are tsunamis and how they form
Most waves form due to winds or tides, but tsunamis have a different cause altogether.
Most waves form due to winds or tides, but tsunamis have a different cause altogether. A tsunami is most often formed by an earthquake, but it can also be formed by an underwater landslide, volcano eruption or even meteorite.
The process is fairly complex, so let’s start digging into it.
What is a tsunami
“Tsunami” is a Japanese word meaning “harbor wave,” but that doesn’t say much about their nature, and tsunamis are not nearly restricted to harbors. A more accurate term would be “seismic sea waves,” and it would describe them more accurately. However, tsunami has stuck and it’s what everyone uses today. People sometimes refer to them as “tidal waves,” but that term is technically incorrect and should be avoided in this context.
Tsunamis are indeed waves, but unlike wind waves, they have a much larger wavelength. Think a bit about waves — in the context of physics, not in the context of sea waves. A defining characteristic of every wave is its wavelength. Wind waves have short wavelengths which can be clearly seen on any shoreline. They come in every few seconds, with a few meters in between — sometimes, even less. But a tsunami has a huge wavelength, oftentimes longer than a hundred kilometers and this is why they are so dangerous (more on that a bit later). Tsunamis are almost always not singular waves, but come in as train waves.
HOW TSUNAMIS FORM BELOW.
How tsunamis form – earthquakes
The vast majority of tsunamis form due to earthquakes — specifically tectonic tsunamis. As an earthquake happens, the ground beneath the water is moved up and/or down abruptly and as this movement happens, a mass of water is displaced and starts moving in all directions. This marks the start of a tsunami.
The displaced water starts to move as a wave. At this point, it has a very low amplitude as it is located in deep water (earthquakes on the coastline rarely cause tsunamis). Tsunamis in open water are usually shorter than 0.3 meters (12 inches).
Hope this helps!!! Good luck!!! ;)
