What are the differences in wave generated from impact sources and earthquake sources?
Good question! For one thing, there would be no limit on the amount of energy in an impact-generated wave. The bigger the impactor and the faster it’s moving, the more energy it would impart. On the other hand, earthquakes that are caused by movement along a fault are limited in magnitude by the amount of energy that can be stored up in the rock before it snaps. The largest recorded earthquake since we have had modern seismographs was the May 22, 1960 magnitude 9.5 quake in Chile. Earth hasn’t had a really large, crater-forming impact in modern times, so we have no way to compare the differences in seismic profiles. One thing we do know, however. When Earth is hit by a really big impactor, a shock wave travels through the Earth, focusing it’s energy on the point on the opposite side of the globe. The crust fractures, allowing vast quantities of basalt lava to flow out from the mantle, forming huge lava plateaus. If you are asking about differences in tsunami waves, the same principle a
