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Tsunami
Slide # 1
Tsunami
• Caused by:
– Vertical faulting on the sea floor
– Landslides
– Volcanic eruptions
– Anything that can displace the water
column.
Slide # 2
Amazing Wave Heights
• Highest Ocean Wave Measured
– 112 feet (~34 meters)
– North Pacific, February 1933
• Highest Tsunami
– 1700 feet (~518 meters)
– Lituya Bay, Alaska; July 1958
– Caused by landslide
• Largest wave by wavelength
– Tides (1/2 the circumference of the Earth)
Slide # 3
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Wind Waves
Wind forces acting on a capillary wave: Wind forces convert capillary waves
to wind waves.
Slide # 4
© 2002 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.
Wind Waves
Slide # 5
Ocean Wave Formation
• Movement of energy through a
medium (water).
• Energy moves forward, but not
the water.
• Exception: When wave reaches a
shoreline.
Deep water
Shoreline
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Wave Anatomy
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Slide # 8
Slide # 9
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Life of a Tsunami
• Initiation
– Ocean floor is displaced vertically.
• Split
– Wave energy travels towards nearest coastline and
towards distant coastlines.
• Amplification
– Upon reaching shallower waters, the water steepens up.
• Runup
– Water rushes onto land like a fast moving tide (not a
wall of water)
Slide # 10
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Initiation & Split
Slide # 11
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Amplification and Runup
From Yahoo News of March 2011 Tsunami near Sendai, Japan
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Location:
80 miles east of Sendai, Honshu, Japan
231 miles northeast of Tokyo, Japan
Depth:
15.2 miles
Slide # 13
Images courtesy of the US Geological Survey
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Slide # 14
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Comparisons
• ~30 times stronger than the SF 1906 Earthquake
• ~900 times stronger than both the Loma Prieta in
1989 & Haiti earthquake in 2010.
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Slide # 16
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Tsunami and Earthquake Size
• Magnitudes below 6.5
– Earthquakes of this magnitude are very unlikely to trigger a tsunami.
• Magnitudes between 6.5 and 7.5
– Small sea level changes may be observed in the vicinity of the
epicenter.
– Tsunamis are rare and are due to underwater landslides triggered by
earthquake.
• Magnitudes between 7.6 and 7.8
– May produce destructive tsunamis especially near the epicenter.
– At greater distances small sea level changes may be observed.
• Magnitude 7.9 and greater
– Destructive local tsunamis are possible near the epicenter.
– Significant sea level changes and damage may occur in a broader
region.
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Slide # 18
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