Considering California gets many earthquakes, I’m confused why a tsunami hasn’t hit the US west coast.
In: Earth Science
Most of the tectonic movement outside of Florida comes from lateral movement. Think of this as rubbing your hands togheter while submerged in a bowl of water.
Most tsunamis are caused when tectonic plates gets pushed under or over eachother – causing vertical movement. Think of this like clapping your hands while submerged in a bowl of water.
One of those movements cause way bigger waves than the other, although both can technically displace the same amount of water.
Another factor has to do with how the coastline looks under the water. But I don’t know too much about that part. Just wanted to throw something in here in case no one else got you covered with an answer 🙂
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