Word Bank:
|
Column
of Water Drops with Seafloor
Column of Water Rises with Seafloor
Crest |
Oceanic Plate Drops
Oceanic Plate Rises
Sea level
Trough |
The
Development of a Tsunami:
A tsunami starts when a huge volume of water is quickly shifted.
This rapid movement can happen as the result of an underwater
earthquake (when the sea floor quickly moves up or down), a rock
slide, a volcanic eruption, or another high-energy event.
After the
huge volume of water has moved, the resulting wave is very long
(the distance from crest to crest can be hundred of miles long)
but not very tall (roughly 3 feet tall). The wave propagates
(spreads) across the sea in all directions; it can travel great
distances from the source at tremendous speeds.
