Questions and Answers (Q and As)
1. Q: What does the word ‘tsunami’ mean and where did it get its name?
A:
Tsunami is a Japanese word meaning “harbor wave”.
2. Q: What is a tsunami?
A:
A tsunami is a series of waves in the ocean or other large body of water that is
created by a geological event.
3: Q: What causes
tsunamis?
A:
Tsunamis are often generated by landslides or earthquakes. Volcanic eruptions
can also cause tsunamis. There is some historical evidence that indicates that,
in the distant past, asteroids and comets striking the earth have created huge
tsunamis.
4. Q: How fast does a
tsunami travel?
A:
A tsunami can travel as fast as 750 km per hour.
5. Q: What was the
highest tsunami?
A:
The highest tsunami was recorded in Luita Bay, Alaska and was 518 m.
high.
6. Q: What year was the
first tsunami recorded?
A: The first recorded tsunami was in 1410 B.C.
7. Q: What was the worst tsunami that was ever created by a landslide?
A: The worst tsunami that was ever created by a landslide or an avalanche was a rockslide in Vaiont Reservoir, Italy which created a tsunami that killed 3,000 people.
8. Q:
How do scientists gather information and detect tsunamis?
A: Tsunamis scientists gather data from tide gauges. They also conduct field
surveys in areas previously hit by tsunamis in order to study the behavior of
real tsunamis.
9: Q:
What equipment do scientists use to predict tsunamis?
A:
Two new methods used to improve the predictions of tsunamis right after
an earthquake are deep-ocean buoys to measure the tsunami waves long before they
can reach land and better computer programs to predict the heights of the wave
when they do reach the coast.
10.
Q: Do tsunamis stop once it
hits land?
A: After the runup, part of the tsunami energy is reflected back to the open ocean. A tsunami can generate a particular type of wave called edge waves that travel back-and forth, parallel to shore. These effects result in many arrivals of the tsunami at a particular point on the coast rather than a single wave.