We explain what tsunamis are, and what their causes and consequences are. Also, are they different from tsunamis?
What is a tidal wave?
It is known as a tidal wave (from the Latin seasea, and motusmovement) or sometimes also as tsunami (from Japanese tsuport or bay, and namiwave) to a complex oceanic phenomenon in which waves of great energy and large size which move quantities of water far above ordinary wind waves and can travel hundreds of meters into dry land, destroying everything in their path.
Tsunamis should not be confused with oceanic movements produced by the tide, such as tides, or with floods caused by storms, hurricanes and tropical storms. Unlike these, tsunamis are generated in most cases as consequence of a major tremor or earthquake (or tidal waves, properly speaking, since they occur on the seabed), since the formation of a large sea wave requires the transmission of enormous amounts of kinetic energy to the water.
Paradoxically, a minimal unevenness on the seabed, even a few centimeters deep, is enough to mobilize an enormous mass of seawater that, upon recovering its physical balance, transmits energy in a very energetic wave. capable of traveling kilometers in a short time practically invisible on the high seas, until reaching shallower waters and losing speed due to friction with the ground, however gaining it in height. This results in a sequence of huge waves.
Tsunamis are feared for their destructive potential, as seawater rushes violently onto land, and are often some of the biggest concerns in the immediate aftermath of an earthquake of considerable magnitude. The area of the world with the most frequent presence of tsunamis is the Pacific Ocean, in the so-called “ring of fire” of enormous underwater seismic activity.
Causes of a tsunami
Tsunamis are a product, just like earthquakes, of movements of tectonic plates beneath the earth's crust . These movements often lead them to collide, clash, and change their shape, generating friction whose energy is transmitted in the form of vibration, in this case, to the waters.
Similarly, tsunamis are 90% due to tidal waves, or earthquakes that occur very close to the coast. Other possible causes of a tsunami are explosion of underwater volcanoes or the impact on the sea of meteorites large size.
Consequences of a tsunami
We have already mentioned the primary and most feared consequence of tidal waves: tsunamis. The destructive capacity of gigantic waves and fast are widely feared in coastal populations of the Pacific Ocean, and have been demonstrated time and again in their history of natural disasters.
On the other hand, tsunamis themselves can induce momentary or permanent changes in the distribution of ocean currents, or even in the flora and fauna of the seabed.
Differences between tidal wave and tsunami
Although they are normally used as synonyms, there is a technical precision regarding the use of the terms tidal wave and tsunami.
By the first we refer to an earthquake that occurred at sea that is, a violent tectonic movement that occurs on the seabed. The second term, on the other hand, is considered a consequence of said underwater tremor, as it strictly refers to the gigantic wave that is generated by transmitting the seismic vibration to the waters.
However, since 90% of tsunamis are caused by tidal waves although not all tidal waves necessarily cause a tsunami, they are often used more or less interchangeably in common speech.
