A Couple Of Tsunami Questions, If I May !!!

[WillyT]

Not trying to downplay the awful death and destruction that just occurred, but...

1) My remembering of Physics is kinda rusty, but over and over again, on various media outlets, the speaker kept referring to the fact that a Tsunami can travel 500 to 600 miles per hour. This, I remember, is true, but they seemed to imply that the speed of the wave was the cause of so much destruction.

As I recall... as a wave gets to shallower water, it spends a whole lot of its energy rising up into the air. IOW - While out in the open ocean, it travels more as a shock wave ripple, then as it approaches the shore, it slows and rises up into the destructive wave. And it is the height, weight, and volume of water that is the destructive force, not so much the speed of the wave.

Is this correct?

2) Not that any one human life is more important than any other, but Arthur C. Clarke lives along the shore of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Anybody know if he's OK???

:shrug:

[tk2kewl]

1. on 1 you are absolutely correct as far as I understand

2... dunno

[pleiku52cab]

2. Yea - he's ok

[mcscajun]

5. Source? or link? (nevermind, I found it)

:)

http://www.clarkefoundation.org/

[WillyT]

9. Thank You For That !!!

:hi:

[mcscajun]

3. I'm no physicist

...so I can't answer the speed question. But I think the implication is false. The speed only answers for how little time passes before it hits land and how much time there is for warnings or evacuation. I could be wrong.

But the main reason I'm posting is this: I do believe you're the first person to raise that question (about Arthur C. Clarke). Now you've got me wondering, as well. I imagine we'll find out that answer in a few days or so.

[Silverhair]

4. You are right. NT

[Minstrel Boy]

6. Colombo is on the western coast of Sri Lanka

so would have been spared.

[proud patriot]

7. That's how it works WillyT

My cousin is on the east coast of India somewhere
traveling right now . I sure hope she's okay .

[roguevalley]

8. as I understand it, it was about 12-14 mph when it hit land. I am

still boggling over the 1700' high tsunami that hit alaska. Someone on the boob tube said that.

[WillyT]

10. That's What I was Thinking...

The speed of the shock wave gets converted into height and weight as it gets to shore.

But 1700'??? Holy crap!!!

:scared:

[Warpy]

11. Yes, a tsunami is like a massive sound wave

and it does expend much of its forward energy when it runs into first the continental shelf and then land.

However, consider that 6 inches of water in an arroyo will wash a car away, traveling only about 35 miles per hour. The tsunami was still traveling much faster, even with much of the 400+MPH speed dissipated.

People were killed by the junk that was picked up and hurled into them, not as much as by the water itself.

As for Clarke, he's probably OK. Colombo is on the lee side of the island, away from the brunt of the shock wave. Check out the map at

[idiosyncratic]

12. The speed of the wave, and its height, are dependent on the

intensity of the disturbance, the distance the wave has traveled, and the topography of the ocean floor.

Off the coast of San Diego, there are ridges and canyons that would apparently reduce the intensity of the wave before it hits the land.

In some of the areas of the tsunami, the ocean floor might have come up from depths to the beach at a steep angle. That would have been a more devastating wave than another beach where it was shallow for a long way out.

If I understand it correctly, that long slope would take some of the strength out of the wave before it finally comes ashore.

[Tinoire]

13. Very

Now, tell me about earthquakes ;)

:hi:

[proud patriot]

14. I just heard back from my aunt and uncle , My cousin is okay

Whew......she saw the water , etc...but she's okay .

I had no idea she was that close to the coast on her
travels .

[SheilaT]

15. According to what I saw

a little bit ago on CNN international, in deep water tsunamis can travel around 500 mph, in shallow water maybe 100 mph. The water can reach as far as one mile inland. A tsunami can cross the Pacific Ocean in 24 hours.

And I know from reading elsewhere that usually the first wave is not the worst one, but the second one often is more powerful and higher and does much more damage. Sometimes there's enough time between the two to fool people into thinking everything is okay, and that's when they get killed.