the.com/tsunami
the ocean's quietest threat, gathering all its rage offshore where you can't see it coming
means A series of enormous, fast-traveling ocean waves caused by a sudden displacement of water — usually from an undersea earthquake, landslide, or volcanic eruption — that can flood coastlines with devastating force.
from Straight from the Japanese: tsu (津), meaning harbor or port, plus nami (波), meaning wave — literally 'harbor wave.' The name reflects a hard-won observation: fishermen out at sea would feel nothing as the wave passed beneath their boats as a gentle swell, only to return and find their harbor destroyed. English borrowed the word wholesale in the late 19th century, and it largely displaced the older, scientifically inaccurate term 'tidal wave' — since tsunamis have nothing to do with the tides at all.
- true speed
- crosses oceans at jetliner pace, 500 mph
- deep water
- barely a ripple far out at sea
- warning sign
- the sea retreats before it returns furious
- not one wave
- arrives as a series, often hours apart
- name origin
- Japanese for harbor wave