Tsunami?

[Scarlett]

Forgive my ignorance, but what exactly IS a Tsunami? Is the name of the wave? Is it the name of the earthquake which causes tidal waves? Is it the group of islands? The news just talks of "The Tsunami" but doesn't make it clear exactly what it is!

[Weaza_cfc]

Tsunami is the japanese word for tidal wave. Therefore a tsunami is a tidal wave. Literally translated i do believe it actually means harbour wave. Hope this is of help

[Clanad]

As Weaza_cfc has explained, a tsunami is a Japanese word with the English translation, "harbor wave." Represented by two characters, the top character, "tsu," means harbor, while the bottom character, "nami," means "wave." However, a tsunami is not actualy a tidal wave, as such... here a re a few good web sites to explain the phenomena...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4136289.stm

http://www.prh.noaa.gov/itic/tsunami_events/events.html

http://www.ga.gov.au/urban/factsheets/tsunami.jsp

[brachiopod]

We use the word 'tsunami' not because 'it has become trendy' but because there is no equivalent English word to describe the event.

Although, as stated above, it literally means 'harbour wave', the Japanese correctly identified the cause of these waves, and used this word solely to describe surges caused by seismic events (which are common in and around Japan).

It is NOT a tidal wave, which is the whole point of using this word in the first place.

There are three main types of 'surge' (this term is preferable to 'wave')

Tidal surges are caused by tidal forces ie the sun and moon. The Severn Bore is an example of a tidal surge.

Storm surges are caused by meteorological events (such as wind or weather systems, a deep depression (low pressure system) actually causes a local rise in sea level)

The flooding of East Anglia in 1953 which resulted in some 300+ deaths, was caused by a combination of tidal and storm surges, (a depression centred over the North Sea coinciding with the time of high tide.)

And finally, waves propagating through water away from, and caused by, a site of seismic activity are known as 'seismic sea surges', 'seismic sea waves' or, more succinctly, 'tsunami'. (sing. & plur.)