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The Ancient Greek historian Thucydides suggested in his 5th century BC History of the Peloponnesian War that tsunamis were related to submarine earthquakes, [12] [13] but the understanding of tsunamis remained slim until the 20th century, and much remains unknown. Major areas of current research include determining why some large earthquakes do ...
A tsunami hitting a coastline. This article lists notable tsunamis, which are sorted by the date and location that they occurred.. Because of seismic and volcanic activity associated with tectonic plate boundaries along the Pacific Ring of Fire, tsunamis occur most frequently in the Pacific Ocean, [1] but are a worldwide natural phenomenon.
A massive tsunami with waves up to 30 m (100 ft) high, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami after the Boxing Day holiday, or as the Asian Tsunami, [10] devastated communities along the surrounding coasts of the Indian Ocean, killing an estimated 227,898 people in 14 countries, violently in Aceh , and severely in Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu , and Khao Lak ...
A megatsunami is a tsunami with an initial wave amplitude measured in many tens or hundreds of metres.The term "megatsunami" has been defined by media and has no precise definition, although it is commonly taken to refer to tsunamis over 100 metres (330 ft) high. [2]
Tsunamis that cause damage or death near earthquakes occur about two times a year, according to the Global Historical Tsunami Database. A tsunami racing across an ocean and causing damage or deaths more than 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) away happens about twice a decade. Where do they occur? Tsunamis can occur in any ocean, sea or large body of ...
A tsunami earthquake can be defined as an undersea earthquake for which the surface-wave magnitude M s differs markedly from the moment magnitude M w, because the former is calculated from surface waves with a period of about 20 seconds, whereas the latter is a measure of the total energy release at all frequencies. [2]
Tsunamis can occur when an underwater earthquake rapidly displaces massive amounts of water, leading to a large, long wave that builds in intensity as it crosses the ocean.
The earthquake itself, with a moment magnitude of around 9.2-9.3, devastated Aceh Province, Indonesia, while the tsunami affected countries all around the Indian Ocean. Nations which were affected are listed below in alphabetical order. For detailed information about each country affected by the earthquake and tsunami, see their individual ...