What to Do? How do earthquakes generate tsunamis? By far, the most destructive tsunamis are generated from large, shallow earthquakes with an epicenter or fault line near or on the ocean floor.
These usually occur in regions of the earth characterized by tectonic subduction along tectonic plate boundaries.
History Government U. Cities U. Updated February 21, Factmonster Staff. Where: China When: More than , people in the Shensi Province were killed by this earthquake. It caused the collapse of caves that people had carved out of cliffs and used for homes. Where: Armenia When: Nearly 4, square miles of densely populated land was ravaged by an earthquake. Tsunami is a series of sea waves that are huge and move forward at a great pace to engulf anything that comes in its direction.
Tsunamis are caused by landslides and earthquakes taking place at the floor of the ocean or even beneath it. This displacement of the sea floor causes displacement of huge volume of sea water above it. This displacement takes shape of monstrous waves of water moving at high speed causing much devastation and damage of life and property especially in the coastal areas.
When ever a coastline experiences a tsunami, it is mostly because of an earthquake occurring near the coast or any distant part in the ocean. The earth quake causes no damage or devastation but the sea waves created by it in the form of tsunami spell disaster for those living in coastal areas. Although earthquake magnitude is one factor that affects tsunami generation, there are other important factors to consider.
Thrust earthquakes are far more likely to generate tsunamis. During the rupture, one side of the fault is pushed upwards relative to the other, and it is this type of movement is known as thrust. Earthquakes of magnitudes between 6.
However, small sea level changes might be observed in the vicinity of the epicenter. They can only occur due to secondary effects such as landslides or submarine slumps. Earthquakes of magnitudes between 7.
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