Tsunamis

A tsunami is a series of waves generated when a body of water is rapidly displaced on a massive scale. Earthquakes, subaerial and submarine landslides, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explosions and marine asteroid/comet impacts all have the potential to generate a tsunami. The effects of a tsunami can range from unnoticeable to devastating.

In deep water a tsunami typically has a small (<1m) amplitude (wave height) and a very long wavelength (typically hundreds of kilometres), which is why they generally pass unnoticed at sea. At shore, tsunami wavelengths decrease and amplitudes increase often by ten times or more.