Let’s learn a little more about the natural disaster Tsunami What is it?

A tsunami, also known as a tidal wave, is a series of powerful waves that are generated in a body of water with a large volume, it can be an ocean or sea. This is due either to the occurrence of an earthquake, an underwater landslide, a volcanic eruption or the impact of a meteorite.

The word tsunami comes from Japanese and means wave in port or hidden wave. These waves spread quickly, they can travel at speeds of about 500 mph (800 km/h) in deep water, as fast as a plane! and they can travel from one side of the Pacific or the Atlantic to the other in a day. As the waves approach the shore, their speed and the distance between them decrease, which causes them to increase in height.

These waves do not have the shape of the typical waves like the ones we see on the beach, rather they are a series of rises and falls of the sea level with great extension (over 1,000 km-620 miles), and between the crests of the waves It can take anywhere from 5 minutes to 1 hour, since the distance between the crest of one wave and the next can be over 400 miles. The force, weight and volume of water that a tsunami brings is enormous, practically the body of water spills over the coast. Each cubic meter (3.3 cubic feet) of water weighs 1 ton (2,204 pounds), just imagine the force of 2,000+ pounds on a person or structure, and that volume of water moving 30-50 mph. The water practically becomes a solid, impacting and destroying whatever is in its path.

The wave train generated by a tsunami has different heights, and the initial wave is not necessarily the highest. Tsunami wave heights can range from 3 meters (10 feet) to 30 meters (100 feet). The greatest risk from a tsunami is generally for areas up to 30 meters (90 feet) above sea level and less than 3 km (2 miles) from the coast.

Let’s see the following video below where we will make our own tsunami and understand their function and how they are formed.