How Do Tsunamis Form?

A tsunami is formed when there is an earthquake, volcanic eruption or, more rarely, a landslide underwater. Typically, neither the earthquake, eruption or landslide are felt because they are so deep under water. However, the actions that have taken place are the first steps that lead to a massive tsunami that can cause tremendous damage to coastal regions.

It should be noted that a tsunami and a tidal wave are different because they are not caused by the same thing. A tsunami, as mentioned above, is caused by earth quakes, volcanoes or land slides. A tidal wave, as the name suggests, is caused by tidal movement. Therefore, the two are different, although both do produce high waves and can do considerable damage.

When an earthquake happens, for example, a massive amount of energy is released. It has been documented that the earthquakes that cause tsunamis are a few minutes and release slower amounts of energy than sharp ones that last only a few seconds. However, this consistent release of energy needs to go somewhere and that's what leads to the tsunami.

All of that energy pushes water up. And, as more energy is released, more water is pushed up. A large earthquake can lift thousands of square miles of ocean water with ease. This creates a rather large wave. This large wave then needs somewhere to go. And so it heads towards land. When it is going through water, it might only appear to be about a meter high and even when it crashes onto land, it's not going to be a hundred feet like shown in sci-fi movies.

The destruction of a tsunami comes from all of the energy built up in that water. The wave crashes onto land and because of how much energy is pushing on that water, it just flows onto land. It doesn't stop because there is more water behind it with so much energy pushing. This is what causes the destruction. It's not a massive wave that swallows buildings whole. Instead, it is the energy behind the wave that does all of the damage.