How do earthquakes produce tsunamis?
Only large earthquakes which occur underneath or near the ocean and create movements in the sea floor generate tsunamis. All oceans can experience tsunamis but there are more large, destructive tsunamis in the Pacific Ocean because of the many major earthquakes along the margins of the Pacific Ocean and also because dip-slip earthquakes (which involve vertical rather than lateral ground motion) are more common in the Pacific than elsewhere.
