Question: what causes tsunamis?

Ekbal Hussain answered on 16 Jun 2014:

Hi @Gargank!

Tsunamis are large, very energetic ocean waves. These are very similar to the ripples you see when you throw a rock into a pond. But, next time you try this, if you watch carefully you’ll see that the ripple made by your stone slowly dies away after a few metres.

Tsunami waves do not die away so easily. They can keep they’re energy for much longer and travel much further. For example, a very large tsunami that was made in Japan in 2011 traveled all the way around the world and came and hit England!

To make a tsunami all you really need is to move a very very large amount of water very quickly. Earthquakes that move the ground underneath the oceans are the most common way to do this. Although large rock falls and landslides into the oceans can also make them.

Some tsunamis can be very very big indeed. The large one that hit Japan in 2011 was, in some places, over 20 metres high. That’s almost 4 double-decker buses high!

Hope that answers your question. I know a lot more tsunami facts. Just ask if you’d like to know more!