Whenever there’s a tsunami in the movies it’s always a 100 foot tall wall of water instead of the rolling waves we see in real life. Could a wave actually get that high and make it to land?
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Tsunami’s generally involve the whole water column as part of the wave. The normal waves you see are surface waves, and as the name inplies are only on top of the water column.
The wavelength of a tsunamis is MUCH greater than that of a surface wave. In open water the wavelength of the tsunami can be hundreds of km while a surface wave has a wavelength of a few 10’s of meters.
Instead of stacking up, a tsunami “stacks long”. It may be a short wave (height wise), but it keeps coming and coming and coming because it has such a long wavelength.
As everyone else says, a tall wall of water is much more photogenic/cinematic and scares people–probably because people have plenty of experience with surface wave with very few having experience with an actual tsunami.
Tsunami’s generally involve the whole water column as part of the wave. The normal waves you see are surface waves, and as the name inplies are only on top of the water column.
The wavelength of a tsunamis is MUCH greater than that of a surface wave. In open water the wavelength of the tsunami can be hundreds of km while a surface wave has a wavelength of a few 10’s of meters.
Instead of stacking up, a tsunami “stacks long”. It may be a short wave (height wise), but it keeps coming and coming and coming because it has such a long wavelength.
As everyone else says, a tall wall of water is much more photogenic/cinematic and scares people–probably because people have plenty of experience with surface wave with very few having experience with an actual tsunami.
> Could a wave actually get that high and make it to land?
[Yes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZTx0XBx4hk). But these aren’t tsunamis.
Tsunamis are as damaging as they are not because of their height but because of their length. A tsunami can have a wavelength of hundreds of kilometers, so there is a huge amount of water behind it unlike a normal wave that breaks and dissipates when it hits land, a tsunami behaves more like a rapidly rising tide (hence why they’re sometimes known as “tidal waves”).
Note that tsunamis triggered by landslides rather than seismic activity can be *much* larger. In 1958, a landslide in Lituya Bay, Alaska, triggered a megatsunami that caused damage 524m (1719ft) above the waterline. This is higher than the Empire State building. Such an event has, as far as I’m aware, never been filmed, so who knows what it would look like.
> Could a wave actually get that high and make it to land?
[Yes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZTx0XBx4hk). But these aren’t tsunamis.
Tsunamis are as damaging as they are not because of their height but because of their length. A tsunami can have a wavelength of hundreds of kilometers, so there is a huge amount of water behind it unlike a normal wave that breaks and dissipates when it hits land, a tsunami behaves more like a rapidly rising tide (hence why they’re sometimes known as “tidal waves”).
Note that tsunamis triggered by landslides rather than seismic activity can be *much* larger. In 1958, a landslide in Lituya Bay, Alaska, triggered a megatsunami that caused damage 524m (1719ft) above the waterline. This is higher than the Empire State building. Such an event has, as far as I’m aware, never been filmed, so who knows what it would look like.
> Could a wave actually get that high and make it to land?
[Yes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZTx0XBx4hk). But these aren’t tsunamis.
Tsunamis are as damaging as they are not because of their height but because of their length. A tsunami can have a wavelength of hundreds of kilometers, so there is a huge amount of water behind it unlike a normal wave that breaks and dissipates when it hits land, a tsunami behaves more like a rapidly rising tide (hence why they’re sometimes known as “tidal waves”).
Note that tsunamis triggered by landslides rather than seismic activity can be *much* larger. In 1958, a landslide in Lituya Bay, Alaska, triggered a megatsunami that caused damage 524m (1719ft) above the waterline. This is higher than the Empire State building. Such an event has, as far as I’m aware, never been filmed, so who knows what it would look like.
That’s because the movies are unrealistic!
Tsunamis have really long wavelengths (100s of km). For a wave to break, they must reach a height that is 1/7th of the wavelength. That would require a height of 10s of km to break. Obviously that does not happen, so tsunamis do not become breaking waves and instead roll up on shore.
A breaking wave is much for dramatic so movies opt for that
That’s because the movies are unrealistic!
Tsunamis have really long wavelengths (100s of km). For a wave to break, they must reach a height that is 1/7th of the wavelength. That would require a height of 10s of km to break. Obviously that does not happen, so tsunamis do not become breaking waves and instead roll up on shore.
A breaking wave is much for dramatic so movies opt for that
That’s because the movies are unrealistic!
Tsunamis have really long wavelengths (100s of km). For a wave to break, they must reach a height that is 1/7th of the wavelength. That would require a height of 10s of km to break. Obviously that does not happen, so tsunamis do not become breaking waves and instead roll up on shore.
A breaking wave is much for dramatic so movies opt for that
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