On April 23, 1771, the largest tsunami wave, 85 meters high, was recorded near the Japanese island of Ishigaki. Moving at a speed of 750 kilometers per hour, she scattered about eight hundred tons of coral.
Translated from Japanese, the word "tsu" means "overflowing", and "nami" means "wave". Tsunamis are usually caused by a strong underwater earthquake or volcanic eruption.
In the ocean, tsunamis travel at speeds of up to thousands of kilometers per hour. But there they are very shallow, so the sailors do not even notice them. Approaching the coast, the waves slow down their speed, but their height increases to several tens of meters.
The first written reports of tsunamis appeared about two and a half thousand years ago. According to legend, it was from a huge wave that Atlantis died.
Did you know that:
- before the tsunami strike, you can observe a fast and strong ebb tide;
- in 2004, the Indian Ocean tsunami killed more than two hundred thousand people;
- palm trees on the shore are able to withstand the impact of the tsunami wave;
Promotional video:
- the tsunami that struck Japan in 2011 became the most expensive disaster in the history of the world;
- tsunamis, bringing with them a large amount of salt, can poison freshwater sources and groundwater with it;
- the speed of a tsunami wave can reach 800-900 kilometers per hour, but when approaching the coast, it drops to 80-100 kilometers per hour;
- especially destructive tsunamis can reach sixty meters in height;
- in 2004, thanks to a ten-year-old girl, Tili Smith, almost a hundred lives were saved during the Indian Ocean tsunami. From a geography lesson, Tili remembered that during a tsunami, water can instantly move away from the coast. The girl told her parents about this, who in turn managed to warn the neighbors on the beach. In honor of the young savior, the asteroid 20002 Tillismith was named.