What's a Tsunami?

Mr. Weather’s World is a weekly video series bringing you interesting and reliable information about the Earth Sciences, Space Weather, and Climate Change. Tune in each week for exciting new content with host and meteorologist Curt Silverwood (Millersville University Alum).

Edited with: Adobe Premiere, After Effects, Character Animator, and Audition.

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Tsunamis are a natural destructive force. Communities across the world along coastlines are at risk from tsunamis.

The word tsunami comes from the Japanese characters meaning “harbor wave”. A tsunami is formed from a series of waves as they move inland. They’re usually caused by earthquakes, landslides, or volcanic eruptions. They don’t happen too often, but can be dangerous to life and property, although most are small and non-destructive.

They don’t dramatically increase in height, they build up to great heights as the depth of the ocean decreases. The speed of tsunami waves depends on the ocean depth rather than the distance from the source of the waves. These waves can travel up to 500 mph over deep waters, only slowing down to 20-30 mph when they reach shallow waters. When they slow down, wavelength shortens, wave height increases, and currents intensify.

Tides have little to do with these massive waves and they shouldn’t be referred to as tidal waves.

Tsunamis can occur during any season and impact any coast along any ocean. They radiate outward in all directions from their source and can move across entire ocean basins.

They cause dangerous coastal flooding and powerful currents that can potentially last hours or even days.

The maximum height above sea level a tsunami reaches on shore is known as the runup. Runups typically are less than 10 feet high, but in extreme events can surpass 100 feet if a tsunami strikes near its source.

After one wave hits there can be several more waves afterward. The time between crests typically ranges from 5 minutes to 2 hours. Dangerous tsunamis can last for days.

78% of tsunamis typically occur in the Pacific - which you guessed it - is due to the Ring of Fire.

Tsunami warning centers use information from past earthquakes and tsunami events to give timely information to save lives.

Next time, we’ll focus on volcanic eruptions. Thank you for watching, and please subscribe to Mr. Weather’s World on YouTube for new videos every #WeatherWednesday!
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