The massive security operation surrounding Barack Obama's inauguration showed that he will be the most protected president in the history of the United States. Photo: REUTERS.
The physics of a tsunami. Tsunamis can have wavelengths ranging from 10 to 500 km and wave periods of up to an hour. As a result of their long wavelengths, tsunamis act as shallow-water waves. A wave becomes a shallow-water wave when the wavelength is very large compared to the water depth. where g is the acceleration due to gravity (= 9.8 m/s2) and H is the depth of water.
This tsunami, caused by a massive earthquake that measured 9.0 on the Richter scale, reached a maximum height of 40.5 meters (133 feet), traveled as much as 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) inland and was responsible for 20,000 deaths, as well as the widespread release of radiation.any tsunamis are too small to notice, but some can have a leading wave as tall as 30 meters or more. As powerful as a wave this size is, however, it's the mass of water behind it that is responsible for most of the physical destruction.