HOW DOES A TSUNAMI FORM AND WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF IT?
A tsunami can form whenever there is a sudden and large displacement of water in the oceans. The usual cause is either an earthquake which ruptures the ocean floor, a volcanic eruption below sea level (Krakatoa caused a massive Tsunami) or a large meteor strike. They can also be caused when a large block of sediment is dislodged and flows down the continental slope as a turbidity current – these are usually triggered by earthquakes. The Tusnami is a series of very large wavelength and amplitude waves which travel very fast throuh the ocean until they hit land, where they will abruptly slow and break as huge waves. Tsunami cause many deaths as the recent example on Boxing day 2001 showed.
