rush88
12-29-2004, 06:14 PM
While the death toll from the costliest natural disaster (http://www.todayonline.com/articles/31960.asp) in history continues to climb (http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=645814) and may reach 100,000 (http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1471432004), someone asks, “What is a tsunami?” (http://www.presstelegram.com/Stories/0,1413,204~21474~2622983,00.html)
“A tsunami is a series of ocean waves that are generated by a large-scale disturbance of seawater. Most tsunamis are generated from earthquakes, but they can also occur after volcanic eruptions, landslides and meteor impacts. The most destructive tsunamis are created by large earthquakes with an epicenter or fault line near or on the ocean floor. Usually, it takes an earthquake with a strength above 7.5 on the Richter scale to generate a destructive tsunami.”
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/39/2004_Indonesia_Tsunami.gif
Tsunami is a combination of two characters 津波 – the first one means “harbor” and the second, “wave,” which doesn’t suggest anything about a tsunami’s massive energy (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20041227/TSUNAMISCIENCE27/TPInternational/Asia).
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