What is a Megatsunami?
Tsunamis in 2004
In that sense the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was caused by regular activity and it can be listed alongside a number of others that were of a similar magnitude.Here’s a list of tsunamis that occurred in 2004:Date | Location and size |
---|---|
5 September 2004 | Honshu, Japan (Mw 7.2) |
2 November 2004 | Vancouver, Canada (Mw 6.7) |
28 November 2004 | Hokkaido, Japan (Mw 7.0) |
23 December 2004 | North of MacQuarie Island, Australia (Mw 8.1) |
26 December 2004 | Sumatra / Indian Ocean (Mw 9.0) |
Chicxulub impact
If we contrast that with the megatsunami we heard about in the video, we see an entirely different and less predictable cause.The megatsunami at Chicxulub in the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico was caused by a massive asteroid impact.Incredibly it created a megatsunami 100 metres high, this is significantly higher than any of the tsunamis that occurred in 2004.This is incredibly rare and there have been no megatsunamis caused by asteroid impacts in recorded human history.A truly extreme event.Our purpose is to transform access to education.
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