Entries Tagged 'Tsunami is a great disaster' ↓

Tsunami (pronounced tsoo-NAH-mee) comes from two Japanese words. “Tsu” (harbour) “ nami “ (wave). These huge waves are sometimes called tidal waves, but they have nothing to do with the tides. The stronger tsunamis happen when a big part of the sea floor lifts along a fault pushing up a huge volume of water. The resulting waves are long and low, and might not even be noticed in deep water. They move at speeds up to 500 miles/hour. As they near shore, they slow down and the great energy forces the water upward into big waves. Many tsunamis are small, but sometimes they can each heights of more than 90 feet. Tsunamis are most common in the Pacific Ocean because of the earthquake activity associated with the “ring of Fire”.