Imagine that you were sitting on a beach then suddenly you see water rushing at you at up to nine hundred and fifty kilometers per hour. You try to escape but this large wave strikes so fast without warning that you can't escape. This large wave is called a tsunami. The word tsunami comes from the Japanese words that mean, "harbor wave."

A tsunami is a large under water wave caused by the displacement of the ocean floor or a disruption of a body of standing water. Tsunamis can be caused by earthquakes, under water landslides, volcanic eruptions, meteorite impacts, under water explosives, and many other disturbances to the earth's crust that happens under water. They are often most deadly when they are caused by earthquakes. Although tsunamis can be caused by many disruptions to the earths crust earthquakes often cause them. In order for an earthquake to...