Portal:Tsunamis

The Tsunami portal

The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami at Ao Nang, Krabi Province, Thailand

A tsunami (/(t)suːˈnɑːmi, (t)sʊˈ-/ (t)soo-NAH-mee, (t)suu-; from Japanese: 津波, lit. 'harbour wave', pronounced [tsɯnami]) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explosions (including detonations, landslides, glacier calvings, meteorite impacts and other disturbances) above or below water all have the potential to generate a tsunami. Unlike normal ocean waves, which are generated by wind, or tides, which are in turn generated by the gravitational pull of the Moon and the Sun, a tsunami is generated by the displacement of water from a large event.

Selected article

The Tsunami UDP Protocol is a UDP-based protocol that was developed for high-speed file transfer over network paths that have a high bandwidth-delay product. Such protocols are needed because standard TCP does not perform well over paths with high bandwidth-delay products. Tsunami was developed at the Advanced Network Management Laboratory of Indiana University. Tsunami effects a file transfer by chunking the file into numbered blocks of 32 kilobyte. Communication between the client and server applications flows over a low bandwidth TCP connection, and the bulk data is transferred over UDP. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Events that can cause a tsunami

A mass of ice calves from the Perito Moreno glacier in Lago Argentino

Ice calving, also known as glacier calving or iceberg calving, is the breaking of ice chunks from the edge of a glacier. It is a form of ice ablation or ice disruption. It is the sudden release and breaking away of a mass of ice from a glacier, iceberg, ice front, ice shelf, or crevasse. The ice that breaks away can be classified as an iceberg, but may also be a growler, bergy bit, or a crevasse wall breakaway. (Full article...)

List of events articles
Earthquake Submarine earthquake Tsunami earthquake Submarine eruption Landslide Meteorite impact

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General images

The following are images from various tsunami-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Japanese Tsunami warning sign (from Tsunami warning system)
Image 2The energy released produces tsunami waves. (from Tsunami)
Image 3Evacuation route sign in a low-lying coastal area on the West Coast of the United States (from Tsunami warning system)
Image 4Diagram showing several measures to describe a tsunami size, including height, inundation and run-up (from Tsunami)
Image 5Tsunami warning system in East Timor (from Tsunami warning system)
Image 6Mast with warning system, and sign detailing escape routes, on the coast of Okumatsushima, Miyagi prefecture, Japan (this coast was severely hit by the 2011 tsunami) (from Tsunami warning system)
Image 7A seawall at Tsu, Mie Prefecture in Japan
Image 8An illustration of the rhythmic "drawback" of surface water associated with a wave. It follows that a very large drawback may herald the arrival of a very large wave. (from Tsunami)
Image 9Plate slips, causing subsidence and releasing energy into water. (from Tsunami)
Image 10Satellite image of Lake Kivu (from Tsunamis in lakes)
Image 11Figure 1: Diagram showing how earthquakes can generate a tsunami. (from Tsunamis in lakes)
Image 12Tsunami aftermath in Aceh, Indonesia, December 2004 (from Tsunami)
Image 13Tsunami Early Warning Tower board in Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka (from Tsunami warning system)
Image 14Calculated travel time map for the 1964 Alaska tsunami (in hours) (from Tsunami)
Image 15Drawing of tectonic plate boundary before earthquake (from Tsunami)
Image 16One of the deep water buoys used in the DART tsunami warning system (from Tsunami)
Image 17When the wave enters shallow water, it slows down and its amplitude (height) increases. (from Tsunami)
Image 18The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami at Ao Nang, Krabi Province, Thailand (from Tsunami)
Image 19Over-riding plate bulges under strain, causing tectonic uplift. (from Tsunami)
Image 20Evacuation route sign on the pavement in Kamakura, Japan (from Tsunami warning system)
Image 21The wave further slows and amplifies as it hits land. Only the largest waves crest. (from Tsunami)
Image 22Lisbon earthquake and tsunami in November 1755 (from Tsunami)

Selected tsunami article

The 2009 Samoa earthquake and tsunami took place on 29 September 2009 in the southern Pacific Ocean adjacent to the Kermadec-Tonga subduction zone. The submarine earthquake occurred in an extensional environment and had a moment magnitude of 8.1 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VI (Strong). It was the largest earthquake of 2009. The earthquake initiated with a normal-faulting event with a magnitude of 8.1. Within two minutes of the earthquake rupture, two large magnitude 7.8 earthquakes occurred on the subduction zone interface. The two magnitude 7.8 earthquakes had a combined magnitude equivalent to 8.0. The event can be considered a doublet earthquake. (Full article...)

Selected tsunami articles

In the news

3 April 2024 – 2024 Hualien earthquake: A magnitude 7.4 earthquake strikes off the coast of Taiwan, prompting tsunami warnings for Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. A large section of the uninhabited Guishan Island collapses into the ocean. Nine people are killed in Taiwan, including four by rockfalls, with more than 930 others injured. (AP) (Al Jazeera)