A longer version of the this animation is also available. Note that the structures in this model are rigid - in a real-life tsunami, coastal structures often are destroyed. (The QuickTime movie presented here was digitized from a video tape produced from the original computer-generated animation.)
 
 

This animation, produced by Professor Nobuo Shuto of the Disaster Control Research Center, Tohoku University, Japan, shows the propagation of the earthquake-generated 1960 Chilean tsunami across the Pacific. Note the vastness of the area across which the tsunami travels - Japan, which is over 17,000 km away from the tsunami's source off the coast of Chile, lost 200 lives to this tsunami. Also note how the wave crests bend as the tsunami travels - this is called refraction. Wave refraction is caused by segments of the wave moving at different speeds as the water depth along the crest varies. Please note that the vertical scale has been exagaerated in this animation - tsunamis are only about a meter high at the most in the open ocean. (The QuickTime movie presented here was digitized from a video tape produced from the original computer-generated animation.)

This simulation of the 1993 Hokkaido earthquake-generated tsunami, developed by Takeyuki Takahashi of the Disaster Control Research Center, Tohoku University, Japan, shows the initial water-surface profile over the source area and the subsequent wave propagation away from the source. Areas in blue represent a water surface that is lower than the mean water level, while areas in red represent an elevated water surface. The initial water-surface profile, as shown in this image, reflects a large, long uplifted area of the sea floor lying to the west (left) of Okushiri Island, with a much smaller subsided area immediately adjacent to the southwest corner of Okushiri.

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