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The term tsunami comes from the Japanese language meaning harbor ("tsu") and wave ("nami"). The term was created by fishermen who returned to port to find the area surrounding a harbor devastated, although they had not been aware of any wave in the open water. A tsunami is not a sub-surface event in the deep ocean; it simply has a much smaller wave heights offshore, and a very long wavelength, which is why they generally pass unnoticed at sea, forming only a passing "hump" in the ocean.

A tsunami does not look like the popular impression of "a normal wave only much bigger". Instead it looks rather like an endlessly onrushing tide which forces its way around and through any obstacle. Most of the damage is caused by the huge mass of water behind the initial wave front, as the height of the sea keeps rising fast and floods powerfully into the coastal area. The sheer weight of water is enough to pulverize objects in its path, often reducing buildings to their foundations and scouring exposed ground to the bedrock. Large objects such as ships and boulders can be carried several miles inland before the tsunami subsides. (Wikipedia)

To see what it is like to be caught in a tsunami, here are some video clips from the December 2004 tsunami:

• The approaching tsunami
• The tsunami hits a hotel
• The devastation caused by the water

• Indian Ocean
• Krakatoa, Indonesia
• Lisbon, Portugal
• Pacific Northwest
• Southern Chile
• Aleutian Islands, Alaska