While traveling in the deep ocean, tsunamis have small amplitudes wave height of less than 3 ft 1 m and negligible wave steepness, which is why they are not frequently noticed by people in ships, causing nothing more than a slight swell usually about mm above the normal sea surface that is a gentle rise and fall for most vessels.
A further feature of tsunami waves is that these high-speed waves lose very little energy as they travel across the open ocean, because the rate at which a wave loses its energy is inversely related to its wave length.
That is why they only propagate at high speed and with limited energy loss are capable of traveling great transoceanic distances. Coastlines in the "shadow" of affected areas are usually safe as tsunami waves generate outward from their source. However, tsunami waves which are oscillating waves and, just like every oscillating wave, can undergo reflection, refraction and diffraction processes can change their path or diffract around land masses, that is why, for instance, an island may be hit by the same tsunami from different directions.
Tsunami waves may not be symmetrical as they may be stronger in one direction. This depends on the source and geography of the surrounding area. Tsunami waves only become dangerous once they reach the shallow waters near the coast, in a wave shoaling process. In coastal areas where water levels gradually become shallower, the wave will slow down dramatically, become compressed and grow steeper due to the decreasing water depth.
The process of steepening of the waves surface is like a whip action. As the wave descends the whip from handle to tip, the energy is released into a smaller and smaller mass. This energy is transferred like the cracking of a whip in a violent crescendo.
When the tsunami wave enters shallow water, its length shortens and its height rises, thus the wave is forced upward into a towering wall of water sometimes as much as ft 30 m high. This is because of the mass and energy of a tsunami wave. In wind created waves only the upper layers are moved but with a tsunami wave the complete mass of water, from the seabed to the surface is being propelled into motion.
Its wave can be extremely high. It is also called killer waves. Successive waves are way stronger than the initial waves. They can be extremely dangerous to anything. For example, they can even undermine trees and can also lead to floods. It is common in Japan but is spreading to several countries. Without coming to notice, it can travel to miles per hour. Therefore it is the fastest.
There might not be any impact of the tsunami, whereas there can be serious harm sometimes. It depends upon the length and strength of the waves. It causes serious floods sometimes in history also there has been tsunami that had killed millions of people destroying their life. Therefore, it should be cleared how tidal waves and tsunami are different. The scale used to measure tsunamis is Sieberg-Ambraseys scale and the Imamura-Iida scale used for tsunamis in the Mediterranean sea and Pacific ocean, respectively.
The magnitude of tsunamis is measured by the ML Murty and Loomis. Tsunamis can cause extensive damage. These powerful waves can destroy entire villages, and drown anything that comes in its way. An effective way to prevent damage is to plant sturdy trees along the shoreline which are able to withstand the force of these waves. Tidal waves are phenomenon seen at most coastal areas. Tidal waves occur on a daily basis in most coastal area, whereas tsunamis occur as when there is seismic disturbance in large water bodies.
Although tsunamis cannot be accurately predicted, there are some warning signs that can be used to save lives. Share this comparison:. If you read this far, you should follow us:.
Diffen LLC, n. Tidal Wave vs. Comparison chart Tidal Wave versus Tsunami comparison chart Tidal Wave Tsunami About Tidal waves are waves created by the gravitational forces of the sun or moon, and cause changes in the level of water bodies.
Tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of large bodies of water. They generally have low amplitude but a high a few hundred km long wavelength. Cause Tidal waves are caused due to the gravitational force exerted by the sun and the moon.
0コメント