2010 HSIE assesment task: Natural Disaster: About Tsunami

A tsunami is caused by an earthquake in the bottom of an ocean, created by two tectonic plates moving past each other, a volcanic eruption or some other sea floor interactions, creating force that pushes water upwards faster and stronger. Sometimes a tsunami can reach up to 1,900km away from its epicenter and can be experienced really far away, depending on the magnitude of the earthquake which is measured by the seismograph which are located on sea floors to predict, analyze earthquakes under oceans.

Tsunami creates big giant waves that sweep from the sea into land, which can go up a few kilometres inland. Waves can be as high as 30m.

Here is a demonstration of how a tsunami could be created by sea floor earthquakes.

Reference from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsunami and were accessed on 23/2/10.