The word tsunami is of Japanese origin. The word "tsunami" is both singular and plural. It literally translates to "Harbor Wave". The name "Harbor Wave" is a bit misleading due to the fact that tsunami are not restricted to harbors and can affect any coastline structure. Many English-speaking people also call tsunami "Tidal Waves". The term "Tidal Wave" is likewise a misnomer because "Tidal Waves" are not caused by the tides and are unrelated to the tides, although tide level can alter the amount of runup (flood level caused by tsunami) on coastal areas.

The phenomenon known as a tsunami is a series of waves of extremely long wavelength and long period, generated in a body of water by an impulsive disturbance that displaces a large amount of aforementioned water. The displacement of water can be a result of many naturally occurring geological and meteorological ev

Submarine landslides, which often accompany large earthquakes, as well as collapses of volcanic edifices, can also disturb the overlying water column, as sediment and rock slide downward and are redistributed across the sea floor. Similarly, a violent submarine volcanic eruption can create an impulsive force that uplifts the water column and generates a tsunami. Conversely, supermarine landslides and cosmic-body impacts disturb the water from above, as momentum from falling debris is transferred to the water. Generally speaking, tsunami generated from these mechanisms, unlike the Pacific-wide tsunami caused by some earthquakes, dissipate quickly and rarely affect coastlines distant from the source area.

As a result of their extremely long wavelengths, tsunami behave like shallow-water waves. A wave becomes a shallow-water wave when the ratio between the water depth and its wavelength gets very small. Shallow-water waves move at a speed that is equal to the square root of the product of the acceleration of gravity (9.8 m/s/s) and the water depth. In the Pacific Ocean, where the typical water depth is about 4000 m, a tsunami travels at about 200 m/s, or over 700 km/hr. Because of the fact that a wave loses its energy at a rate that is inversely proportional to its wavelength, tsunami not only transfer through the water at high speeds, but they can also travel great distances with limited energy losses.

death toll from the cases mentioned are staggering to say the least, and they are just a sample of what is contained on the NGDC database.

Over the span of time, several catastrophic tsunami have made landfall. At least one notable tsunami occurs approximately each year worldwide. The National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) database contains tsunami data dating back to 49 BC. Examination of the database shows the following statistics: SEP 20,1498 an earthquake in Nankaido, Japan caused a tsunami which killed 31,000 people; on FEB 3, 1605, an earthquake in Nankaido Japan caused a tsunami which killed 5000; on DEC 2, 1611, an earthquake in Sanriku, Japan caused a tsunami which killed 5000; on OCT 28, 1707, an earthquake in Tokaido-Nankaido, Japan caused a tsunami which killed 30,000; on OCT 29, 1746, an earthquake in Lima, Peru caused a tsunami which killed 4800; on MAY 22, 1782, an earthquake in the South China sea killed 40,000; on AUG 13, 1868, an earthquake in Northern Chile cause a tsunami which killed 25,674; on AUG 27, 1883, an earthquake in the South Java Sea caused a tsunami which killed 36,500. The!

Out of the three West Coast states, California was by far the hardest hit. Tsunami waves killed a total of 12 people, and caused an estimated 17 million dollars in damage. Of the 12 deaths, 10 occurred in Crescent City, which, due to bathymetry, was struck by a unusually large 21-foot wave. The tsunami flooded a large portion of the city, causing approximately 15 million dollars in damage. Further down the coast, wave heights at Humbolt Bay and Eureka reached 14 feet. The tsunami caused an estimated 1 million dollars in damage to San Francisco Bay, where it was only 3.7 feet high. Wave heights reached 10.1 feet at Half Moon Bay, 10 feet a Santa Cruz, 8.5 feet in Monterey, and 6.5 feet in San Diego. One person died in Los Angeles, when the 6-foot tsunami surge struck the Cerritos Channel.

Throughout history, Mother Nature has delivered some deadly blows to Mankind. Man has finally come to an understanding of the physics behind many of the natural disasters encountered on planet earth: however, the day Man gains the power, knowledge and ability to stop these forces of nature still appears to be far over the horizon. Perhaps the day will come when the human race will have to ability to stop the terrifying "Harbor Waves".

An earthquake-generated tsunami occurs when an earthquake causes a deformation of the seafloor, which will cause a corresponding displacement of the over

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