The term “tsunami” was adopted from the Japanese, the word tsunami, tsu (津) which means harbor and nami (波), which means waves. In ancient times, after the tsunami hit, the Japanese people will soon going to the port to witness the damage caused by the tsunami, since it, they used the term of tsunami means “harbor wave.” So far, the tsunami is still considered a natural disaster that does not endanger (underrated hazard), since its arrival is quite rare. Many of the causes of tsunamis, such as an earthquake under the sea (ocean-bottom earthquake), landslides under sea (submarine landslide), volcanoes, and other causes. Among the causes, an earthquake under the sea is the most frequent and most dangerous. Underwater landslides with landslide size of the continent is also dangerous, but the effectiveness of the tsunami due to undersea mudslides is still far below the effectiveness of the tsunami by the earthquake.
Not all earthquakes generate tsunamis, this depends on several key factors such as fault type, slope angle between the plate (dip angle), and the depth of the earthquake center (hypocenter). An earthquake with certain characteristics will generate a tsunami that is very dangerous and deadly, namely :
1) Fault type ride (thrust / reverse fault).
This type is very effective moving the volume of water above the plates to move as the beginning of the tsunami.
2) The slope angles between the plates.
The higher the angle (approaching 90 °), the more effective tsunami is formed.
3) The depth of the epicenter of shallow (<70> 7.0 R) and shallow, but if its fault was not increased, but the normal fault or parallel (strike slip fault), we can be sure the tsunami would be difficult to form. An earthquake with the strength 7.0 R, with fault type rise and shallow, could form a tsunami with a height reaching 3-5 meters.Tsunamis can travel in any direction from the original source and can hit a wide area, even the bend area, protected or areas far enough from the original source of the tsunami. It’s called local tsunami, the tsunami that just happened and hit the sector in a limited area. This happens because the initial location of the tsunami is a region that narrow or closed, such as straits or lake.There is also the so-called tsunami remote (distant tsunami), this is because a tsunami could hit a very broad and far region from the original source.
As happened in Chile on May 22, 1960 triggered by the quake with more strength than 8.0 R. Tsunami with more than 10 meters of the level has caused severe casualties and damage in Chile, Japan, Hawaii and the Philippines. The tsunami waves killed 1,000 people in Chile and 61 people in Hawaai. The tsunami waves reached the eastern coast of Okinawa, Japan after traveling for 22 hours and killed 150 people in Japan.Tsunami velocity depends on the depth of water. In deep-sea and open, the velocity reaches 800-1000 km / hour. The height of the tsunami in the ocean in only reached 30-60 cm, with wavelengths in the hundreds of kilometers, so that their presence at sea difficult to distinguish from ordinary wave, not even felt by the ships which were anchored in the middle of the ocean. Unlike the wind waves, where only moving the upper surface; tsunami waves experienced in all parts of the movement of water particles, ranging from the surface to the inside of the ocean. When the tsunami enters the shallower waters, wave height increases and its speed dropped dramatically, though energy is still very strong to bear all the objects in its path. Flow tsunami with a height of 70 cm was still strong enough to haul and wash away people.
Various types of tsunami wave
As a result of the collision that occurred on these plates will display three types of wave Primary wave (P-wave), Secondary waves (S-Wave), and the third is called Surface waves (surface waves).Primary wave (P wave) is spread as a result of pressure and stretching. Primary wave has a velocity of about 8 km / sec. This wave will be felt first with an earthquake, because it will come earlier than the other wave propagation, this is due to wave with high frequency. Primary wave amplitude is relatively low so that the wobble caused no damage.
Secondary waves (S Wave) is spreading like a wave of water which floated the square. Spread up and down, the wave have the speed of propagation was about 4 km / sec, will certainly be felt more slowly than Primary Wave. However, this secondary wave has a width of oscillation (amplitude) that large, so this wave will have a very large force in the shed building, also caused landslides, steep cliffs.
The third wave will sweep the surface section. These waves are called surface waves. The third wave will certainly be felt within the earthquake. But because the speed is different, these waves are not coming together. Primary Wave will come first, followed by secondary waves. But if the distance epicenter near the second course, this wave will be felt almost simultaneously. if the distance is only 4 km from the epicenter, of course the difference is only a second.
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