Thesis: Tsunamis are caused by strong earthquakes beneath the seafloor
“A stone that drops into a pond sends out a widening of ripples, in the same way an earthquake under the sea creates a series of waves that can travel for many thousands of miles” (Langley 12). These waves are very long and wide as known as tsunamis. Sometimes tsunamis are also called seismic sea waves (“Tulane”1). Earthquakes on fault lines under or close to the ocean creates the most dangerous tsunamis (Langley 12). These waves can be formed by sudden displacements of the oceanic crust or a little raise or drop of the sea floor by the earthquake (“kjc”1). Another major cause of tsunami is landslide moving into the oceans, bays, or lakes can also generate tsunami(“Tulane”2). These landslides are usually caused by earthquakes or volcanic eruptions. ‘These waves can be produced anywhere without any warning at anytime.
The process of tsunamis, their size and speed:
In the middle of the ocean tsunamis cannot hurt anything or anybody even if they travel past because at that time they are still forming deep into the ocean (Carrutherst27). In the open ocean, tsunamis are impossible to see, they are only a few inches to a few feet in height. But, the length is so long hundreds of miles that you would not be able to see the entire wave (in addition, tsunami in the deep ocean is harmless but the trouble begins when it approaches the shore)(Carruthers29). When that happens sudden things takes place; it slows down, its wave length gets shorter, it gets much higher, and it therefore becomes much steeper. A 5 foot wave doesn’t seem as devastating. A 5 foot tsunami is a completely different type of breaking wave. Once the crest of a tsunami wave arrives, the wave keeps moving on shore. That little tsunami can flood coast for thirty minutes (With miles of water behind it). Tsunamis are not always the same size because of the size of the tsunami is usually relates to the size of the earthquake, the...