Tsunami papi

Question 1

How tsunamis are formed

Answer 1

• Plate movement in the sea causes seabed to slip or be displaced along fault lines, releasing seismic energy.
• A large volume of water is lifted, forming waves of great wavelength and low height of less than 1 meter.
• Waves travel towards land at high speeds. On approaching shallower waters, greater friction with shallower seabed slows the waves down, allowing oncoming waves to get closer together, pile up and increase in height, reaching a few meters high.
• The tsunami crushes onto the shoreline, with great impacts, sweeping properties and lives inland.

Question 2

An example of a tsunami occurence

Answer 2

In 2004, a 9.2 magnitude earthquake occurred in the Indian Ocean and triggered a tsunami with waves of 4 to 39 meters high that spread throughout the Indian Ocean and went as far as 10km inland. It caused damage to coastal communities in 12 countries with low-lying coastal areas of western Sumatra, Indonesia experiencing the worst damage

Question 3

Description of a tsunami

Answer 3

Tsunamis are unusually large sea waves that may be formed by the movement of the seafloor during a large earthquake.