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The amplitude of a wave is how the wave is measured from the rest position or midline to the top of a crest or bottom of a trough,
measured in meters. A wave with a large amplitude will be particularly tall, and a wave with a small aptitude will be particularly short.
It turns out that the amplitude tells you how much energy is in the wave. A high amplitude wave is a high-energy wave, and a
low-amplitude wave is a low-energy wave. In the case of sound waves, a high amplitude sound will be loud, and a low amplitude sound
will be quiet. Or with light waves, a high amplitude beam of light will be bright, and a low amplitude beam of light will be dim.
But amplitude isn't the only factor that affects the energy of a wave. The other factor is frequency. Frequencyis the number of ways
that pass by each second, measured in hertz. So a wave of a particular amplitude will transmit more energy per second if it has a higher
frequency, simply because more waves are passing by in a given period of time.
Amplitude and wavelength are both measures of distance. The amplitude measures the height of the crest of the wave
from the midline. The wavelengthmeasures the horizontal distance between cycles. Wave speed is found by multiplying
the wavelengthand the frequency.
What is a tsunami?
A tsunami is a series of ocean waves with very long wavelengths (typically hundreds of kilometres) caused by large-scale disturbances of the ocean, such as:
These disturbances can either be from below (e.g. underwater earthquakes with large vertical displacements, submarine landslides) or from above (e.g. meteorite
impacts).
Tsunami is a Japanese word with the English translation: "harbour wave". In the past, tsunamis have been referred to as "tidal waves" or "seismic sea waves". The
term "tidal wave" is misleading; even though a tsunami's impact upon a coastline is dependent upon the tidal level at the time a tsunami strikes, tsunamis are
unrelated to the tides. (Tides result from the gravitational influences of the moon, sun, and planets.) The term "seismic sea wave" is also misleading. "Seismic"
implies an earthquake-related generation mechanism, but a tsunami can also be caused by a non-seismic event, such as a landslide or meteorite impact.
Tsunamis are also often confused with storm surges, even though they are quite different phenomena. A storm surge is a rapid rise in coastal sea-level caused by
a significant meteorological event - these are often associated with tropical cyclones.
In the deep ocean, the typical water depth is around 4000 m, so a tsunami will therefore travel at around 200 m/s, or more than 700 km/h.