What is the difference between a tsunami and a tidal wave?
A tsunami is similar, but due to an earthquake usually. The quake raises the level of ground under the ocean, sometimes by many feet which pushes the water up and away. That disturbance then propagates away from the region and just corresponds roughly to an area where the height of the ocean is higher than normal. This may be a region of 20-30 miles or more. Now clearly if you are standing on the beach, the water will flow in to the point where the average height of the ocean is equal to the average height of the land. If the ocean suddenly raises its level by 3 feet say, then the entire ocean will appear to flood in till it encounters the point where the land has risen by 3 ft on average. In some coastal areas this might be many miles inland. If the raising of the water was very violent as sometimes happens in a huge landslide or it encounters the same type of restrictions that I mentioned in the tidal bore, this is when we migt see the classic hollywood “tidal-wave”, but it is not re
