Tsunami Glossary
A glossary of tsunami-related terms.
I
- Inundation
- The distance inland that a tsunami travels.
P
- PTWC
- The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center provides international warnings for tele-tsunami to countries in the Pacific basin.
R
- Recession
- The decline in sea level before a tsunami. Recession is a natural warning sign that a tsunami is approaching.
T
- Tele-tsunami or distant tsunami
- A tsunami originating from a source usually more than 1000 km away.
- Tide gauge
- A device that measures sea level height.
- Travel time
- The time for the first tsunami wave to travel from its source to a given point on a coastline.
- Tsunami
- A sequence of extremely long travelling waves, generated by large disturbances - movements of the sea floor during earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides or even meteor impacts. Tsunami travel fast, and each wave in the sequence may be separated from the next by between 15 and 60 minutes.