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.
Two powerful offshore earthquakes struck the same region in the southern Philippines hours apart on Friday with the first 7.4 magnitude temblor killing at least seven people, setting off landslides and prompting evacuations ...
Environment
Oct 10, 2025
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For people living near volcanoes, danger goes well beyond lava flows and clouds of ash. Some explosive eruptions can lead to dramatic collapses of the sides of a volcano, like those at Mount St. Helens, Washington, and Anak ...
Earth Sciences
Oct 3, 2025
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When the tectonic subduction zone beneath the Pacific Northwest moves, it does so in dramatic fashion. Not only is ground shaking from a magnitude 9+ earthquake incredibly destructive, the event triggers tsunamis and landslides ...
Earth Sciences
Oct 3, 2025
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In July 2024, a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck Calama, Chile, damaging buildings and causing power outages. The country has endured violent earthquakes, including the most powerful recorded in history: a 9.5-magnitude "megathrust" ...
Earth Sciences
Sep 30, 2025
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A massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami off Russia in late July tested an experimental detection system that had deployed a critical component just the day before.
Earth Sciences
Sep 12, 2025
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One of the worst earthquakes in European history ripped through Portugal in 1755, causing a tsunami, fires and shaking that killed tens of thousands of people and caused widespread destruction. Another less well-documented ...
Far beneath the waves, down in the depths of the Japan Trench—seven kilometers below sea level—lie hidden clues about some of the most powerful earthquakes and tsunamis on Earth.
Earth Sciences
Aug 27, 2025
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Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have helped develop an advanced, real-time tsunami forecasting system—powered by El Capitan, the world's fastest supercomputer—that could dramatically improve early ...
Earth Sciences
Aug 12, 2025
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Towering walls of water traveling at the speed of a jetliner, with coastal communities from Japan and Hawaii to South America and the U.S. West Coast in their path.
Earth Sciences
Aug 8, 2025
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The SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography) satellite captured the tsunami spawned by an 8.8 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on July 30, 11:25 a.m. local time. The satellite, a joint effort ...
Earth Sciences
Aug 7, 2025
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