A tsunami is a series of waves created when a body of water, such as an ocean, is rapidly displaced. Earthquakes, mass movements above or below water, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explosions, landslides,underwater earthquakes, large meteoroid or asteroid impacts and testing with nuclear weapons at sea all have the potential to generate a tsunami. The effects of a tsunami can range from unnoticeable to devastating.
The term tsunami comes from the Japanese words meaning harbor ("tsu") and wave ("nami"). [a. Jap. tsunami, tunami, f. tsu harbour + nami waves. - Oxford English Dictionary].
A tsunami can be generated when the plate boundaries abruptly deform and vertically displace the overlying water. Such large vertical movements of the Earth’s crust can occur at plate boundaries. Subduction earthquakes are particularly effective in generating tsunami.
Date December 26, 2004 Magnitude 9.3 Mw Depth 30 km (19 mi)
With a magnitude of between 9.1 and 9.3, it is the second largest earthquake ever recorded on a seismograph. This earthquake had the longest duration of faulting ever observed, between 8.3 and 10 minutes. It caused the entire planet to vibrate as much as 1 cm (0.5 inches) and triggered other earthquakes as far away as Alaska.Seismology is the study of the Earthquakes. Seismograph is the graphical representation of the seismic wave.
The disaster is known by the scientific community as the Great Sumatra-Andaman earthquake and is also known as the Asian Tsunami and the Boxing Day Tsunami
