How does a volcanic eruption cause a tsunami?

Here is my final version of how does a volcanic eruption cause a tsunami?

A volcanic eruption can cause a tsunami is a few different ways. The two types of eruptions are a normal volcanic eruption and the other is an underwater volcanic eruption.

A normal volcanic eruption or a land eruption is less likely to cause a tsunami because when it erupts there is no water above it to make a tsunami. A land eruption can cause a tsunami in three ways. The first is when the volcano erupts the original explosion and shaking can disturb the water and cause waves. The second is when the volcano erupts and all the hot lava and ash slides down the mountain side and can cause a landslide made of land and lava. The land then falls into the water and makes tsunami waves. The third way is that the eruption from volcano can cause some seismic activity which can be an earthquake. If these three combine it can crate a huge tsunami with massive power.

An underwater volcanic eruption is more likely to cause a tsunami because when it erupts there is water above it. An underwater volcanic eruption can create an earthquake, landslide and tsunami waves just like a normal volcanic eruption. The thing that makes an underwater volcanic eruption so dangerous is that when it erupts, the lava and power from the explosion pushes up and makes the water go sideways resulting in large waves.

Volcanic eruptions cause 4.6% of tsunamis, 9.1% of tsunami deaths and have killed 41,002 people. The two major volcanic generated tsunamis have been the Krakatau eruption in August 1883 which killed 36,000 people and Japanese Unzen eruption in May 1792 which killed 4,300 people.

How does a landslide cause a tsunami?

Here is my final version of how does a landslide cause a tsunami?

Landslides that cause tsunamis are called submarine landslides because these landslides take place underwater.

Submarine landslides usually happen in a continental shelf or an underwater trench. Landslides happen here because these areas have large slopes. These areas can have slumping rock, unconsolidated sediment, or weaknesses in the rock areas. Most landslides occur from earthquakes which cause a landslide.

Submarine landslides happen when there is a great mass of land underwater that slides or gets displaced from its original position and falls onto the seabed. The land mass then takes up the space that the water previously had which makes the water rise and make waves.

The size of the waves depends upon the volume of the material moved, the depth pf the submergence and the speed of the landslide. The speed of the landslide depends on how the landslide occurred. Earthquake caused landslides travel very fast because it is a quick break away from the original land mass. Landslides they happen from gradual breakaway travel slower because it is a very slow breakaway.

How does an earthquake cause a tsunami?

Here is my final version of how does an earthquake cause a tsunami?

A tsunami can happen when one tectonic plate is forced underneath another on the seabed. This movement is slow and gradual and can go on for centuries. Eventually the strain on the upper plate becomes too much and it lurches violently upwards causing an earthquake. The vast amount of water pushed upwards by the earthquake can create a tsunami.

Tectonic plates make up the earth’s surface. They rest on a vast layer of hot rock called the mantle. These plates are moving slowly at all times. Where the edges meet they either slide past each other, scrape together or crash head on. The area where the plates meet is called a fault line.

Earthquakes are measured on the Richter Scale. The higher the reading on the scale, the larger the earthquake and larger the tsunami. The same is when it is a low reading on the Richter Scale.

Seismic activity is the most common cause of tsunamis. Over the past two millenniums earthquakes have produced 82.3% of all tsunamis.

What is the difference between a tsunami and a tidal wave?

Here is my final version of what is the difference between a tsunami and a tidal wave

The difference between a tsunami and a title wave is that tsunamis are created by an earthquake, landslide, volcanic eruptions or meteorites. Tidal waves are caused by tides and can mean a few different types of waves. The other difference is that tsunami waves spread from the original source while a tidal wave only goes in one direction, to the shore.

What do tsunamis look like?

Here is my final version of what does a tsunami look like?


Stokes waveTo put it simple, a tsunami looks like a giant wall of water rushing towards the shore. The waves can be over 30 metres tall before they hit the shore and when they do, there is a rush of white water causing destruction.

Tsunami waves can take different shapes, there are 5 different wave types. The sinusoidal wave, stokes wave, solitary wave, N-waves and the double waves.

How far do tsunamis travel?

Here is my final version of how far do tsunamis travel?

When a tsunami is generated, the distance travelled by the waves depends on how fast and powerful the waves are.

Once a tsunami has been generated, its energy is distributed throughout the water column, regardless of the ocean's depth. The waves will travel outward on the surface of the ocean in all directions away from the source area, much like the ripples caused by throwing a rock into a pond. The wavelength of the tsunami waves and their period will depend on the generating mechanism and the dimensions of the source event.

The period of the tsunami waves may range from 5 to 90 minutes depending on how long the waves are. The wave crests of a tsunami can be a thousand km long, and from a few to a hundred kilometres or more apart as they travel across the ocean.

A tsunami wave will travel across the ocean until it dies down into a small wave or until it reaches land. When a tsunami is created in the middle of the ocean, the countries closest to the original area will be hit with large and powerful waves while countries far away will be hit with small waves.

Tsunamis can travel for thousands of kilometres across the ocean and can reach countries far away in a couple of hours. For example the Asian tsunami in 2004 was generated just west of Indonesia and Thailand hit both countries within an hour, hit India and Sri Lanka within 2 hours, hit Australia within 5 hours and hit Africa within 10 hours. Obviously Indonesia and Thailand got hit the worst because the tsunami was in full flight when it hit while Africa got hit with small and not powerful waves.

How powerful are tsunamis?

Here is my final version of how powerful are tsunamis?

A tsunami is one the most powerful forces in the world. People, boats and entire villages can be tossed inland or swept out to sea. Tsunami waves can rip up forests and are strong enough to lift cars into trees and knock houses from their foundations.

The power of a tsunami wave depends on what caused it and how powerful the event was. For example an earthquake with a high reading on the Rictor Scale will produce a more powerful tsunami than an earthquake with low reading on the Rictor Scale.