1. Terrifying and Troublesome Tsunamis by Joe Clark Block 9

2.  Tsunamis are started by landslides, earthquakes, or volcanoes.  The ocean floor must shift upward. A horizontal or sideways shift will not cause the waves.  Tsunami waves travel very fast.  The closer to shore the wave get, the more dangerous it becomes.  The tsunami wave slows down in shallow water and gets higher.  The earthquake that causes the tsunami can occur thousands of miles away from where the wave hits land. Giant Ocean Waves Interesting Facts

3. How a Tsunami Develops

4.  One of the worst tsunamis in the last century hit Papua, New Guinea, on July 17, 1998.  As described by Svitvil, the first event was an earthquake, only about 15 miles offshore, that measured 7.1 on the Richter scale.  More than 2,100 people died. Deadly waves of a tsunami can be a serious disaster, striking with almost no warning.

5. good news:  educational programs  warning systems bad news:  in many places warning systems are not in place, and people have not been trained to recognize warning signals. What can be done to reduce the damage caused by tsunamis?