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Encyclopedia of Earthquake Engineering pp 1–12Cite as

Tsunamis as Paleoseismic Indicators

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Synonyms

High-energy deposits; Tsunami deposits; Tsunamigenic layers; Tsunamiites; Tsunamites

Introduction

Tsunami waves are the result of a large mass of water being displaced by different processes. Earthquake-induced tsunamis have small wave heights offshore and very long wavelengths up to several hundred kilometers (line source tsunami). This is in contrast to tsunamis caused by mass movements (subaerial or underwater origin), volcanic eruptions and explosions, glacier calvings, or meteorite impacts, which have very high waves and very short wavelengths close to the origin (point source tsunami).

More than 85 % of tsunamis have tectonic causes such as fault movements (5 % are caused by volcanic activity, 5 % by landslides, and 5 % by a combination of all other causes; impact tsunamis are very rare), and 80 % of these occur in the Pacific Ocean; other oceans and seas have also been affected by tsunamis like the Mediterranean Sea. Tsunami evidence has also been found on the...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Neotectonics and Natural Hazards, Department of Geosciences and Geography, RWTH Aachen University, Lochnerstr. 4-20, 52056, Aachen, Germany

    Klaus Reicherter

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  1. Klaus Reicherter
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Correspondence to Klaus Reicherter .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Risk & Uncertainty, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom

    Michael Beer

  2. Institute for Risk and Uncertainty, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom

    Ioannis A. Kougioumtzoglou

  3. Institute for Risk & Uncertainty, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom

    Edoardo Patelli

  4. Institute for Risk & Uncertainty, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom

    Ivan Siu-Kui Au

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Reicherter, K. (2021). Tsunamis as Paleoseismic Indicators. In: Beer, M., Kougioumtzoglou, I., Patelli, E., Au, IK. (eds) Encyclopedia of Earthquake Engineering. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-36197-5_26-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-36197-5_26-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-36197-5

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