Tsunamis

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  • Tsunamis
definition
  • A wave train, or series of waves, generated in a body of water by an impulsive disturbance that vertically displaces the water column. Earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, explosions, and even the impact of cosmic bodies, such as meteorites, can generate tsunamis. Tsunamis can savagely attack coastlines, causing devastating property damage and loss of life.
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Abstract from DBPedia
    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. Tsunami waves do not resemble normal undersea currents or sea waves because their wavelength is far longer. Rather than appearing as a breaking wave, a tsunami may instead initially resemble a rapidly rising tide. For this reason, it is often referred to as a tidal wave, although this usage is not favoured by the scientific community because it might give the false impression of a causal relationship between tides and tsunamis. Tsunamis generally consist of a series of waves, with periods ranging from minutes to hours, arriving in a so-called "wave train". Wave heights of tens of metres can be generated by large events. Although the impact of tsunamis is limited to coastal areas, their destructive power can be enormous, and they can affect entire ocean basins. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was among the deadliest natural disasters in human history, with at least 230,000 people killed or missing in 14 countries bordering the Indian Ocean. The Ancient Greek historian Thucydides suggested in his 5th century BC History of the Peloponnesian War that tsunamis were related to submarine earthquakes, but the understanding of tsunamis remained slim until the 20th century, and much remains unknown. Major areas of current research include determining why some large earthquakes do not generate tsunamis while other smaller ones do. This ongoing research is designed to help accurately forecast the passage of tsunamis across oceans as well as how tsunami waves interact with shorelines.

    津波(つなみ)は、地震や火山活動、山体崩壊に起因する海底・海岸地形の自然環境の急変により、海洋に生じる大規模な波の伝播現象である。まれに隕石衝突が原因となったり、湖で発生したりすることもある。なお、津波(tsunami)は通常は地殻変動要因の現象を指し、気象要因の現象、特にプラウドマン共鳴により増幅された海洋長波は気象津波として区別する。 1波1波の間隔である波長が非常に長く、波高が巨大になりやすいことが特徴である。地震による津波では波長600 km、波高5 m超のものが生じた事がある(津波が陸上に達するとこの値は大きく変わる)。 津波という現象は、例えるならば大量の海水による洪水の様な現象 であり、気象など他の要因で生じる波とは性質が大きく異なる。大きな津波は浮遊物と共に陸深くに浸入し、沿岸住民の水死や市街・村落の破壊など、種々の災害を発生させる。

    (Source: http://dbpedia.org/resource/Tsunami)