TYPES OF TSUNAMI

Types of Tsunamis according to mechanism of

occurrence

Types of Tsunamis according to

mechanism of occurrence

Types of Tsunamis according to area

of effect

Types of Tsunamis according to mechanism of

occurrence

The principal generation mechanism

(or cause) of a tsunami is the
displacement of a substantial volume
of water or perturbation of the sea.

 This displacement of water is usually

attributed to either:

Earthquakes
Landslides
Volcanic eruptions
Glacier Calving
Meteorite

Tsunami generated by earthquakes

When Tectonic earthquakes occur
beneath the sea, the water above
the deformed area is displaced from
its equilibrium position.

Tsunami generated by
landslides
These phenomena rapidly displace
large water volumes, as energy from
falling debris or expansion transfers
to the water at a rate faster than the
water can absorb.

Tsunami generated by volcanic

eruptions
One possibility is for a land-based
volcano to break down and collapse,
forcing large amounts of ash and
debris into the water.

 This
sudden
change
and
displacement of the water column
transfers to kinetic energy and
results in waves. More debris can
create a bigger increase in wave
amplitude and number.

Tsunami generated by glacier

calving
It is the sudden release and breaking
away
of
a
mass
oficefrom
aglacier,iceberg,ice front,ice shelf,
orcrevasse.

 Calving of glaciers is often preceded

by a loud cracking or booming sound
before blocks of ice up to 200 feet
high break loose and crash into the

Tsunami generated by meteorite

impacts
When a large enough meteorite
crashes into the ocean, it and the
water it strikes will vaporize, leaving
a sudden impact crater in the water
itself, a crater that the surrounding
water
rushes
to
fill
in.

 When the water surges in, it first

overfills the crater, then bounces
down, then back up, then down--the
ocean is trying to reach equilibrium
again. Meanwhile, every pulsation
creates a wave.

Types of Tsunamis according to area

of effect
Tsunami researchers classify tsunami
according to their area of effect.
They can be :
Local
Regional
Ocean-wide

Local Tsunami
A tsunami from a nearby source for
which its destructive effects are
confined to coasts within 100 km or
less than 1 hour tsunami travel time
from its source

Regional Tsunami
A tsunami capable of destruction in a
particular geographic region,
generally within 1,000 km or 1-3
hours tsunami travel time from its
source.
Regional tsunamis also occasionally
have very limited and localized
effects outside the region.

Ocean-wide tsunami
A tsunami capable of widespread destruction,
not only in the immediate region of its
generation, but across an entire ocean
It is generally more than 1,000 km or more than
3 hours tsunami travel time from its source.
In the last 200 years, there have been at least
26 destructive ocean-wide tsunamis and 9 have
caused fatalities more than 1,000 kilometres
from the source.

MEGATSUNAMI
Megatsunami also known as iminami which means
purification wave is an informal term to describe
atsunamithat has initialwave heights measured in
several tens, hundreds, or possibly thousands of meters
Theasteroidwhich created theChicxulub
craterinYucatanapproximately 65 million years ago
would have generated megatsunamis as high as 3
kilometers (1.9mi); enough to completely inundate even
large islands such asMadagascar.
The impactor had an estimated diameter of 10km
(6.2mi) and the crater is more than 180km in diameter