A tsunami is a long-wavelength, gravity-driven water wave phenomenon typically generated by large, sudden displacements of the seafloor due to subduction-zone earthquakes, but also by submarine landslides, volcanic eruptions, or impact events. In deep ocean, tsunamis travel at jetliner speeds with low amplitudes and very long periods (minutes to an hour), behaving as shallow-water waves whose phase speed depends on water depth. As they shoal on continental shelves, energy conservation forces rapid increases in wave amplitude and reductions in wavelength and speed, producing highly nonlinear run-up, strong nearshore currents, and complex inundation patterns that are central to hazard assessment and numerical modeling.
The massive January 2022 eruption of Hunga volcano in the Kingdom of Tonga took the world by surprise.
Earth Sciences
Sep 3, 2026
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A powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia early Saturday, damaging buildings and homes, and triggering a tsunami warning. Authorities urged people on affected coastlines to move to higher ground.
Environment
Aug 15, 2026
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Scientists have discovered a new way to determine how big an earthquake may become just seconds after it begins. In a new study published in Nature Communications, researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Cal ...
Earth Sciences
Jul 29, 2026
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A 7.1 magnitude earthquake shook Japan 's southern main island of Kyushu on Tuesday, leaving dozens of people injured or missing after part of a shopping center and a huge chimney at a paper factory collapsed, officials said. ...
Environment
Jul 28, 2026
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New research led by the University of New England's Dr. Timothy Chapman has uncovered the trigger behind slow earthquakes, providing valuable answers for those living in disaster-prone areas. The research has been published ...
Earth Sciences
Jun 29, 2026
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As earthquakes struck from California to Venezuela to Japan, millions of people received warnings on their mobile phones, providing critical seconds to seek protection.
Earth Sciences
Jun 26, 2026
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Life on Earth took a long evolutionary journey that eventually created us, the purportedly intelligent species that dominates the planet. But there was no grand plan or design, only happenstance, nature and luck. Life on ...
Planetary Sciences
Jun 24, 2026
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338
In 2011, Japan reeled from the effects of a devastating magnitude 9.0 earthquake. But unnoticed in the chaos resulting from the quake, its major aftershocks and the tsunami it caused, something strange happened. About 16 ...
Earth Sciences
Jun 19, 2026
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An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.5 shook eastern Japan, including Tokyo, on Tuesday, but there was no danger of a tsunami, the meteorological agency said.
Environment
Jun 16, 2026
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A 6.7 magnitude earthquake shook part of central Indonesia's Sulawesi island Tuesday, injuring at least eight people, causing scattered damage and rattling residents of a city devastated by a quake and tsunami eight years ...
Environment
Jun 16, 2026
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