Why can’t you just go underwater before the tsunami hits

Question

I’ve always thought this as a kid and I’ve been told it doesn’t work that way but never got an actual explanation

In: Physics

Answer 1

You’re probably comparing this to diving under a wave or duck diving while surfing. A tsunami *is* a wave, but the entire body of water is moving.

Think of trying to “dive under” the water when you are at the top of a 20 ft wave. You can dive under, but the water you’re going down in to is going to keep moving too, so you’re not really buying yourself anything