Studying tsunamis with GPS satellites
On 30 July, a magnitude 8.8 earthquake off Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula triggered a tsunami that spread across the Pacific Ocean.
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.
On 30 July, a magnitude 8.8 earthquake off Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula triggered a tsunami that spread across the Pacific Ocean.
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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.
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