Mondo Knows Facts
Tsunamis race across deep open ocean
In deep water the wave can match an airliner, but it rises only at the shore A tsunami moves as a shallow water wave whose speed depends on ocean depth. In four kilometres of water it travels at close to 700 kilometres per hour, with a crest often less than a metre high. As it reaches shallow coastal water it slows and the height climbs sharply. It sits in Mondo's science collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.
Where this comes from
Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.
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Tags: geology, tsunami, waves
Tsunamis race across deep open ocean: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- In deep water the wave can match an airliner, but it rises only at the shore. The figure is taken from NOAA, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a science fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Science shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
- What else can I read about it?
- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.