What is atsunami?

A tsunami is a massive wave caused byunderwater volcanoes and earthquakes.Even landslides from under the water canget a tsunami going.Tsunamis are also influenced by waterdepth. When water is really deep thenthe tsunami is just a powerful currentishthing going through the water; when itreaches land it forms a huge wave.THE TSUNAMI

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When the tsunami hits theshore, because the tsunami isactually under the water too,ripples go from the bottomof the tsunami to the top,creating a massive wave.

How do scientists predict thearrival time of a tsunami?

They track the winds, according toseason and temperature. Usually theinformation they collect only showspatterns after the tsunami takes place.They're trying to perfect this, but theweather is still pretty unpredictable.Scientists closely look at areas that areoften hit by tsunamis, such as beachesnear plate boundaries.

(The earth is made up of a number ofplates that fit together. Where theplates meet, the earth’s surface isweaker. Underneath the plates there ismagma. Sometimes the plates shift,creating a gap between the plates.Magma comes gushing out fromunderneath the plates, creating anunderwater volcano or an earthquake.)

Scientists record wave heights andspeeds, sometimes using buoys that areplaced on the water surface off the coast.If there are any unusual recordings, thescientists will be alerted and hopefullypredict the arrival time of the tsunami,before it strikes.

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