Tsunamis

a) Tsunamis are huge weaves that begin when the sea floor is violently shaken by an earthquake, a landslide or a volcanic eruption.

b) In deep water, tsunamis travel unnoticeably below the surface. However, once they reach shallow water, they rear into waves 30 to 50 meters or higher.

c) Tsunamis are sometimes mistakenly called `tidal weaves’ but they are nothing to do with tides. The world `tsunami’ is Japanese word for 1harbour weaves’.

d) Tsunamis usually come in a series of 12 or more – between an interval of minutes and 1 hour.

e) Before a tsunami arrives, the sea may recede dramatically, like water draining from a bath!

f) Tsunamis usually travel along the seabed as fast as a jet plane, at 700kilometres hour!

g) Tsunamis arrive with in 15 minutes from a local quake.

h) Tsunamis travel so that a tsunami generated by an earthquake in Japan will swamp San Francisco in USA, 10 hours later.

i) The biggest tsunami ever recorded was an 85 meters high wave that struck Japan on April 24, 1971.

j) Tsunami cause great damage to lives and properties. The tsunamis that struck the coasts of Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and Maldives on 26 December 2004 killed more than 1,50, 000 people and washed away many inlands. It has even changed the geographical location of some islands. It was the first tsunami noticed in the Indian Ocean. Tsunamis usually occur in the Pacific Ocean.

k) Tsunami warnings are issued by the pacific tsunami warning center in Honolulu USA country, India, does have tsunami warning system.