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📘 The seafloor moves before the wave does

You are standing on a beach when the ground jolts. Far offshore, a fault has lifted or dropped the seafloor. That vertical displacement nudges the water column and starts a tsunami.

3
lessons
~15 min
to learn
Adults
level
Start the course →

What you’ll learn

  1. Origin and motionExplain how seafloor displacement creates a long wave and how depth shapes its speed and path.A tsunami begins with a displaced water column, then travels through the basin at speeds and along paths set largely by bathymetry.
  2. Measurement and shoalingDescribe how DART measurements help forecasters and how shallow water transforms a tsunami.Deep-ocean pressure sensors reveal a subtle wave; shoaling then slows, shortens, and amplifies it near shore.
  3. Coastal impact and safetyDistinguish run-up from inundation and identify the immediate response to natural tsunami warnings.Coastal shape controls where water goes. Safety begins with leaving the hazard zone before waiting for a formal alert.

Questions this course answers

What most directly generates many earthquake tsunamis?

Vertical seafloor motion lifts or lowers the water column above the rupture.

How does a tsunami differ from a typical wind wave?

Tsunamis are long waves that involve much of the water column.

What mainly controls tsunami speed in the open ocean?

Long-wave speed increases with the square root of water depth.

Why can two distant coasts experience different tsunami heights?

Bathymetry and coastal geometry redistribute the wave’s direction and energy.

What does a DART system measure?

A bottom pressure recorder detects the tsunami’s long-period water-column signal.

What happens as a tsunami enters shallow water?

Decreasing depth slows the wave and increases its amplitude through shoaling.

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