How tsunamis work - Alex Gendler

View full lesson: ed.ted.com/lessons/how-tsunami...
The immense swell of a tsunami can grow up to 100 feet, hitting speeds over 500 mph -- a treacherous combination for anyone or anything in its path. Alex Gendler details the causes of these towering terrors and explains how scientists are seeking to reduce their destruction in the future.
Lesson by Alex Gendler, animation by Augenblick Studios.

[@AerisReyha]

"When nature is too powerful to stop, the safest course is to get out of its way" a nice wisely quote... ^_^

[@tamilanindian3420]

What does that quotation mean?

[@nightmare_blade2987]

Quotation is details from the text

[@TheRatha2012]

Yo-Yo-

[@tifteasinternational6395]

But what really makes tsunami is is the lava under the earthquake

[@tifteasinternational6395]

I knew that because in a tsunami to move away from the wave deadly

[@texturizer6224]

To add to this: - Wave lengths can be 100-1000km apart - Waves can approach shore in 5 minutes intervals - Time between each wave is 5-60 minutes Please like this so others can see!

[@waqasaps]

What happens when wave trough hits the ground first?

[@awesomegarvchadha3321]

Hi, I do not think that there is any possible way to convert the energy of Tsunamis for something else as it could be too dagerous. The reason how we can get energy from lightning is that we can control where it strikes and then save the power. In this case we can not controll Tsunamis at all, and even if we did, we would not be able to see the eneregy in the water and catch up to its speed.

[@Fifth_Avenue842]

Yes but this would determine how powerful and fast the waves hit the coastline, right? Constructive and Destructive Waves vary.

[@justtheletterV274]

Texturizer Also, There are also waves called Mega Tsunamis, which are caused by a large displacement of land in water, especially La Palma, a Canary Island with a super volcano that can create a landslide, causing waves 1 km /0.625 mi. /3300 feet high at first but then shrinking to 100 m/ 0.0625 mi./ 330 feet,

[@justtheletterV274]

@Good Puss 3000. oh look another promoter

[@daffyrackincash5650]

479 Persian soldiers “Mark can you swim?” “No why?” *Points at tsunami*

[@lorinbordas3912]

That’s when you know you messed up

[@creepystar1681]

@@lorinbordas3912 hehehe

[@creepystar1681]

@@seanconnolly6541 You poop

[@a_randomperson3044]

At that moment he knew he quaked up

[@jhellalove5055]

subtosub

[@JayD_Tron]

AH YES NOT A 1 HOUR LONG VIDEO FINALLY SOMETHING THEY CAN EXPLAIN IN JUST 3 MINUTES WITHOUT HAVING DRAMATIC MUSIC

[@juicy_citrus6033]

ikr

[@elgames9083]

👺

[@zoeyb9322]

Me: **The only one here for school work**

[@danna5965]

nah same

[@serenac.7192]

lol me too

[@janoferali5359]

Lol me 2

[@LW-vj1ki]

nope me too

[@theocotter550]

Nope geography

[@yasiruranaweera3888]

Me and my family got caught in 2004 Tsunami. Luckily, all of we survived. Most devastated thing I’ve ever seen. 😐

[@BlueJayy02]

The one in Thailand?

[@yasiruranaweera3888]

No in Sri Lanka.

[@yuktatantichativat6888]

@@yasiruranaweera3888 ahh I live in Thailand luckily I live in the central of the country and also I was born on the 28th of Sep. 2013 😑🙃

[@amazinglaurenfindinganewbe3152]

@@yasiruranaweera3888 I'm happy you survived from the tsunami

[@mingjingh3093]

That tsunami was probably 93 ft. high

[@CodyCombat]

If the tide recedes suddenly, run like hell

[@ethanbenjamin6681]

you cant run your so slow xd

[@vonadison5819]

Lol

[@sandravivianabadillo3359]

Cody Windsor fzxhkllll Foto cuando ni úû 🌋🏟️:-D:-$

[@sphansel3257]

galaxy gaming :3 then run to the farthest point inland and drive your car away .

[@the_hanburger]

Your profile pic is a logo of a game

[@russiaunion4713]

How to survive a tsunami : Be the camera guy

[@user-kw9yi5nj1h]

I survived the 2011 Fukushima tsunami I was only 11yrs old then

[@amychen5344]

You climb a mountain with 100-180 ft so earthquake warning ⚠️ tsunami 🌊 100 ft

[@chairnot0k36]

@@user-kw9yi5nj1h wow it's that true

[@catmagedsproductions1998]

Kid:But how? Camera man:just put water on your head

[@frav3n]

You mean stay on high ground

[@samsamhuns928]

TED-Ed is one the best educational channels on youtube with its easy to grasp examples and animations

[@itswasmimi]

No

[@HarshKS2]

​@@itswasmimithen who?

[@sharcs]

If I ever have twin daughters, I'm naming them Sue and Nami.

[@terry2788]

Ohhh, so if they ever got lost you could shout "Sue, Nami!" to make everyone freak out and cause panic while having a logical explanation, genius!! 😂😂

[@someoneinparticular6458]

Lᴜɴᴀ HAHAHA HAHAHA HAHAHA LOLOLOL YOU GOT ME!

[@raniasultan2330]

Sharcs .

[@zeejay6625]

lol! It happened here in Cebu, Philippines (it's impossible for us to get hit by tsunamis as we are surrounded by nearby islands). It was Feb 2012. People ran for the mountains when one motorcyclist was looking for her daughter after an earthquake, "Chonamae, Chonamae!" But he pronounced it as "tsonami! tsonami!", creating a panic among the people and leaving their vehicles on the streets to run to the mountains. HAHAHA (Disclaimer: It's just a legend. I don't know if it's true or not. But that's what people thought caused the panic.) 😂

[@mariee3414]

DR Death the wolf XD

[@justinekobes3757]

This is so well put and explained, thank you!! I've always had an interest in tectonic plates.

[@Username-mq1tx]

people: No a tsunami I don't want it to kill me Tsunami: Ha Ha Waves go Splash Splash

[@jhellalove5055]

subtosub

[@KyleAngeloManguni]

tsunami hits caused fire

[@TheArabsolga]

gg mother nature, gg...

[@rensodanieldelcastillovega4394]

It's like Age of Empire

[@Nugcon]

lmao

[@prettyplayz7806]

Well, it could of maked electrical fires?

[@cheeseburgermonkey7104]

if buildings had fireplaces then it would

[@Diana_L.]

What this doesn't capture is the incredible wavelength of tsunamis. That's why most of the videos of the 2011 don't show towering waves bearing down on the shore. There, the leading edge of the tsunami usually wasn't very high, but the wave got gradually higher as more of the tsunami came ashore.

[@Username-mq1tx]

I watched this video for a school project about tsunamis thank you for the infomation

[@akashmoana-singh8453]

fun fact: the highest ever recorded tsunami was over 1100 metres in Alaska caused by a massive landslide, where only a father Fisherman and his son saw it. (but they survived)

[@joeybrazda364]

i wish wouldve witnessed that let alone survive it

[@element6972]

Akash Moana-Singh there were some bigger than that

[@akashmoana-singh8453]

Element 69 could u say which one plz

[@sebp3249]

That one in Alaska was reported to be 550 metres high mate haha, there hasn't been waves around 1km since the meteor that whipped the dinosaurs out.

[@blanque4250]

I thought the meteor caused water to evaporate

[@LokmanSalikoon]

Best explanation of what a tsunami is so far. Good job!

[@BinkieMcFartnuggets]

If Poseidon was so powerful why couldn't he afford a pair of pants?

[@alexkiryuin9668]

if i were powerful and worshiped i wouldn't wear pants either

[@tomdoyle8448]

alex meow hahahaha

[@jaypee9575]

Solomon Grundy want pants too

[@oliversinden9638]

He likes to hang out with his wang out

[@bagheofminhrau]

𝒯𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝓃ℴ ℒℰ𝒱ℐ'𝒮 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓃.

[@saventra1038]

*Has two essays due tomorrow* Brain: You need to find out how a tsunami works. Dew it.

[@tomstanely]

Damn. I remember the 2004 Tsunami. I was asleep when it happened, but I woke up and went to the balcony and I saw a huge flood. At first I thought it was heavy rain, but it was too much. An uncle said it must have been a tsunami.

[@HughJass-jv2lt]

Whatever! You were dreaming 😜😜

[@Skylah]

@@HughJass-jv2lt This comment is just funny, especially with the unironic use of emojis 🤣

[@HughJass-jv2lt]

@@Skylah ❤❤

[@BaadBadBoy]

This should have a lot of people re-thinking their beach-house.

[@MikeDunn]

BaadBoy's Playhouse Hurricane Sandy had a lot of people re-thinking their beach house at the Jersey shore.

[@jimred1369]

or even better, avoid buying property near the tectonic plate

[@Skandar0007]

RIP, the 218,000 people.

[@DirectorStephens]

RIP THE WHOLE WORLD DURING THE SAN FRANCISCO TSUNAMI

[@weirdo6821]

FFFFF F FFF F F

[@jhellalove5055]

subtosub

[@NexusOfChaos]

these vids have taken me an hour past my bed time XD too much good info!

[@NexusOfChaos]

+NexusTheBrony im just gonna close my omputer and take from here tomorrow...

[@nses9989]

+NexusTheBrony SAME, ONCE I WATCH ONE VIDEO FROM TED I KEEP WATCHING

[@user-ht3tp3uj4v]

+Lu Sung haha , Same here . I bet everyone same. The narators and the animations are awesome in TED-ed. Also the information is interesting but I forget it as soon as the video is over xD

[@goody400plays5]

+Κώστας Καραπαπαχατζηδιμιτρακόπουλος same :(

[@sillysaili]

+NexusTheBrony SAME

[@emmac573]

thanks, y’all just helped me write my science essay that’s due tomorrow. time? *3:47 am* l love you middle school❤️

[@lucid1963]

How's Highschool

[@gamingfiredrago]

@@lucid1963 😂 don't freak em out

[@sopi7416]

i’m definitely not here because i have an assessment that was due 2 weeks ago that contributes to most of my grade

[@crvtbhununun6012]

F

[@Moni-_.]

F

[@acolossalangrybook3169]

F

[@definitelynotasimp9334]

Did you get a good grade.

[@sopi7416]

@@definitelynotasimp9334 my teacher kept on asking me y I haven't sent it in for her but I just ignored her and ended up getting a D. my parents weren't happy lol

[@MaritsView]

*02:56** That is because the tsunami walls were 10 meters in height and the tsunami waves were 20 to 40.5 meters in height.* *But despite that, it definitely slowed it a little, without these walls it would've been even worse.*

[@zeff8820]

No, the highest tsunami wave from 2011 is 20 meters but the tsunami run-up reach as high as 40 meters. Tsunami wave height is not the same as tsunami run-up height.

[@nalialightning6730]

@@zeff8820 yes you are correct but most people don't know the correct terminology and simply refere to the run-up or on-shore height (40m in this case) when they say height not the Tsunami or off-shore height (20m). Edit: typos

[@zeff8820]

@@nalialightning6730 this is one of the example that shows the true height of the tsunami wave 2011, it's clearly the highest one is above 10 meters but i don't think it reached more than 20 meters and most of tsunami wave height footages from 2011 are around 8-10 meters. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eYq5lYyJeL16absm27s

[@zeff8820]

@@nalialightning6730 compared to the indian ocean tsunami 2004 wave heights, most reasearchers suggest the biggest and highest wave are around 9-30 meters high in Sumatra because the destruction is incredible and very visible even from the satellite kzbin.info/www/bejne/marWnWOoqsilf5I

[@lordcthulhu3589]

I watched this when I was a kid, keep the good work up dude!

[@magicpenguin0839]

Tsunami: here I come Person: let’s record : ) Tsunami: am I a joke to you ?!

[@jhellalove5055]

subtosub

[@jhellalove5055]

THEMAGICPENGUIN yes small youtuber here

[@magicpenguin0839]

@@jhellalove5055 sure

[@jhellalove5055]

THEMAGICPENGUIN done #50 please stay connected

[@magicpenguin0839]

@@jhellalove5055 sure

[@craftyunicorndream8865]

Here's a fact about tsunamis I researched at school u might know: Some tsunamis can be hundreds of kilometers long!!! 🙂😉

[@I34R]

Very clearly explained. Thanks a lot helped me for my midterm

[@BassDat33]

It doesn't look like a big wave really, you see the sea coming, and coming, and coming, and never retreat... this happens way faster than u think at the moment. Its like when you have a big water pool to swim, then the plastic tears and the water floods everything in the yard, now take that moment in your head with sea, a pool that has pretty much endless water and keeps flooding everything. Now that you have a picture of the flood, add fishing ships, big containers and cars floating moving towards you, when it reaches the town it will be with some planks part of trees or even walls from houses. I'm not trying to argue here, its just the video shows like a rally big wave to surf in and fear, but its more like i said in the text before. I'm from Chile, and the tsunami on 2010 killed more people than the earthquake itself.

[@amandawild8522]

Yup, kinda disappointed by how that misrepresented it in that way.

[@Koroar]

It's true, though massive waves like that are possible when the tsunami is caused by a landslide, look up the Lituya Bay tsunami.

[@MariamMohamed-vg8nm]

This video really helped me because i am doing a project on this and it had so much info

[@enigma63071]

"When nature is too powerful to stop the safest course is to get out of its way" .... where to???? I dont think the 18000 in Japan and the 200000 in Asia were just standing there enjoying the scene!!!

[@apburner1]

Jebus fuck, really? Did they really need to explain that you should get out of the way if you can, that sometimes you can't? Do you have people explain to you how to wipe your ass, and that sometimes you run out of toilet paper?

[@enigma63071]

apburner1 If i can run then i will and not going to wait for someone to tell me ... I was talking about the people who could not... in their case, that safest way is inapplicable... sure they didnt need someone to tell them to run because they know that, but they could not due to the circumstances.

[@enigma63071]

***** I like the idea of converting disasters to a power source, but yeah! sadly - as you said - we only use the power to kill each other

[@MaryMary-iw7wh]

+Flarus 500mph could definately power entire villages in third world countries.I say let's do it! And while we are at it, could someone please create a way to capture and harvest lightning. All of that wasted energy going into the ground, I need that energy as my light bill gets quite high in the Arizona Summer.

[@wallaceanature2788]

I think the point is that with early warning, thanks to detection and monitoring systems, it may be possible to evacuate an area before the tsunami hits. More than 1,500 people died last week in Sulawesi from a series of heavy earthquakes and a tsunami. The devastation has an aftermath of suffering due to loss of infrastructure, power, clean water, road access, food supplies, telecommunications, etc. Takes sometimes years to rebuild in developing countries.

[@ventisca89]

Palu, Indonesia, Sept 28 2018

[@wallaceanature2788]

😭

[@pramashaumadhana9086]

RIP

[@theabandonedchannel1]

Yeah I’m in Bali Indonesia Last Time is Little Tsunami in Lombok Now is in Palu

[@kakashihatake1008]

It's my birthday 😥

[@raziqsiddiq812]

Lampung, Indonesia - Banten, Indonesia Des 23 2018

[@cadtexequiel732]

This was the first Ted Ed video I ever watched wayback 2014

[@simuraisim8002]

who else is doing this for their geography homework

[@id-f86]

science homework

[@taeyongssecret24thchildand93]

Same, geography work too!! omg, I am so bored and kinda irritated because this video basically just summed up what we learnt in class!!

[@danielward9376]

Just to clear something up, Fukushima didn't cause18000 deaths, the tsunami did. It is a little misleading in the video if you aren't listening carefully. Great video though. Thunderfoot has some good videos about the affect Fukushima had on people.

[@ThalesII]

It's also important to note that the sea wall surrounding Fukushima wasn't as tall as it was supposed to be. Other nuclear plants' walls managed to stop the water due to being taller.

[@wesleymorgan8406]

This is so important!

[@HusseinDoha]

The tsunami was not the reason for the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The earthquake ruined the power plant.

[@ey3z4ya]

@@HusseinDoha The tsunami was actually the reason. Fukushima took a direct hit from the waves and the reactor was flooded.

[@crocojason]

Really informative... Excellent job!

[@kindnesssad]

My teacher showed me this as my homework so i sent him a distorted version of another video and he really has no idea what that was about LOL

[@sussykanyeballs176]

thanksssss! helped me a lot in my project

[@sakshimakkad7520]

Hey! This is an irrelevant question but I am asking 'Which app are you using to animate this video??' Please answer as soon as possible. And the video wad wonderful, thanks for giving such a nice video.

[@b3a3n3a3n3a3s]

Love the animation!

[@thinhla5906]

Thanks Ted! The video is really informative

[@frozenmagma2826]

this helped me a ton. i needed this info for an assignment

[@viloet3332]

this 3 minute video helped me more than my geography teacher did

[@sejal9765]

really good video i love the imagination and animation : )

[@tiachang1487]

This was a really good video. It was really informative.

[@andiniamalia9297]

Thank you sm. I'll use it for my assessment

[@osama9347]

This helped me ALOT THANK YOU😃

[@deranged311]

Very educational and easy to understand!

[@keisha.dechaca]

Ive just watched a tsunami video that occured in Ryoishi Town on 2011 and the tsunami didnt seem to be a giant wave. It was rather a fast and powerful watersurge that covered the whole harbor and everything else around the coastline in just a matter of a minute or less. A horrendous scene.

[@elizabethmiller2032]

I am looking for tsunami videos for school, this is the best one ever!!

[@wowshiii4519]

We used this exact video literally in our science class

[@GamifyYourself]

Nobody : Literally Nobody : *Me : Here For School E-Lesson 🤣😂

[@iwanthomas9197]

haha same

[@NejraKovacevic]

Used this for my presentation, thanks

[@joemulligan8162]

Thx so much. Helped me with school project a lot

[@ScorpionYTS]

Thanks! Helped me a lot)

[@ScorpionYTS]

***** LOL, hey! #TED

[@MegaJoshua987]

+Scorpion - Agar.io Woah I was just watching one of your videos, then went to home and saw this video in my recommended. :o I love your vids btw...

[@AdamOnPCGaming]

Ayyy, I want to play Agat with you!

[@Ano_mi.]

Others pronouncing - T-s-u-n-a-m-i (sunami) Me pronouncing when I was a kid - T-s-u-n-a-m-i ( Tasunami)

[@Namrataa_Boraah]

Armyyyyyyy. Same here

[@Ano_mi.]

@@Namrataa_Boraah oh hi army 💜

[@thehanliyanage6796]

This was very helpful for my homework thank you TED-ED :)

[@jellypudding1833]

Japan: oh I been in a tsunami India:yes bro me to Netherlands:what is a tsunami?

[@brianwest1371]

Is it just me, or were other people gave this video and told to complete an assessment for school?

[@MeepChangeling]

You could plant massive concrete pillars in the coastal water so they cause the energy to diffuse and warp around them thus preventing the wave from forming as the energy changes path like a ball in a pachinko machine, loosing energy with each bounce but eh, do your own thing I guess.

[@fullmetalfunk]

+Meep “the” Changeling It would depend on how big the tsunami is. If you go and watch some of the footage of the tsunami in Japan in 2011, or the Southeast Asian Boxing Day tsunami, there was just so much energy that that really wouldn't have stopped it. It would have just pushed right past, and any debris that hit it might have pulled the pillars down anyway. You're also going to be hard pressed to put enough pillars up to make any difference even for a small tsunami along the entire seaboards of tsunami prone areas. It's cheaper and probably much more effective to monitor conditions and give evacuation warnings when it's thought a tsunami might be approaching. The only places something like that could be useful, and only if you built them big enough and strong enough, would be at places like the Fukushima reactor where, even with people evacuated, the surge of water could cause catastrophic consequences. Even then, higher seawalls would be better suited and probably more effective than the pillars. Also maybe not building nuclear reactors around the ocean or on fault lines, lol.

[@samsonmathew2519]

Great Video. Very well explained.

[@jeanruiz7036]

Thank you for the lesson

[@MarcianusImperator]

I may be wrong, but from what I remember, a tsunami isn't like a normal wave in that it is as if the sea level as a whole has risen - the wave stretches a great distance in depth.

[@TheBluMeeny]

You've reiterated the video. Congrats.

[@BattleBunny1979]

as is pointed out in the video.

[@vroxxzz]

It did mention a rise in sea level. Watch the video again.

[@TheBluMeeny]

It actually did mention it, if you watch it over again...

[@oyatunes]

And also unlike wind waves tsunami transfers also water so im confused.

[@bethrock1407]

Noah:I love tsunamis but tsunamis are terrifying and scary :-) O_O

[@iyaaltaee8044]

Thank you, this video explained it very clear for me, 😄

[@lekhasri.b7189]

thank you a lot this helped me !!

[@zomicks-bakery-org]

When I was young, my father taught me that. Now I see it visualized

[@JohnSmith-kb2sr]

Wdym "Underwater Earthquakes", of course it was Poseidon.

[@tallymark2417]

In the year 1700, there was a massive earthquake in Alaska. It caused a tsunami over in Japan. Because there wasn’t any way of communicating soon enough back then, the people in Japan had no idea where this death wave came from.

[@sonaliduttaeverythingdeart3587]

Thanks for the information.

[@cameronwest9745]

Those darn tectonic plates man,I’m tryna tell ya 🤧🤧🤧

[@2009shumy]

No, it was actually the Poseidon.

[@popcornegg4405]

Petar Ivanovic poseidon just found a new toy

[@helgeherrmann3821]

It's good to have a lot of info.

[@GoodieM8]

thank you so much for this. this video was exactly the video i needed for my work. its absoulutely perfect

[@gaminggamer6736]

Fun fact: You are only here for school work

[@RotorSpotter_]

Nah. I was just curious

[@zeejay6625]

lol! Here in Cebu, Philippines (it's impossible for us to get hit by tsunamis as we are surrounded by nearby islands). It was Feb 2012. People ran for the mountains when one motorcyclist was looking for her daughter after an earthquake, "Chonamae, Chonamae!" But he pronounced it as "tsonami! tsonami!", creating a panic among the people and leaving their vehicles on the streets to run to the mountains. HAHAHA (Disclaimer: It's just a legend. I don't know if it's true or not. But that's what people thought caused the panic.) 😂

[@lydiasensei4957]

for those raised in metric system, Tsunamis's travel 800km/h and reaching heights of 6,000 m.

[@MrHeat48]

Well made video. Thank you.

[@mei6061]

I need to write a paragraph so. I need to learn something

[@avishabiswasvlogs]

Nice

[@Lemon_L3x]

Who came for geography homework

[@thomasmannia]

I did

[@gabbyreyleyes690]

I LOVE TO STUDY EARTHS NATURAL DISASTERS IT IS SO MUCH FUN TO STUDY. thx 4 the vid ted ed i watch them all the time for fun when i dont have homework.

[@389jn]

Very educational video. Thank you.

[@planetc.s.a4297]

0 : 30 Poseidon?

[@ozzyboysaireznicopior5260]

When nature is too powerful to stop, your best course of action is to TREAD LIGHTLY.

[@maayongaga729]

Great lesson for us that live in these islands prone for Tsunami.

[@pandamilitia129]

Thanks, I needed to do research of tsunamis for homework

[@rsALEX]

thank you for this fifth grade demonstration that will not leave my recommendation box!

[@rubywalsh2931]

Alex Krasikow I’m in 5th grade 🤣

[@harper_wolf0728]

2:18 HOW ARE THE BUILDINGS ON FIRE WHEN THE TSUNAMI HIT?! IT WATER!

[@rubywalsh2931]

Harper_Wolf 07 ik

[@TheDrewgrim]

Awesome u explain those thing so well

[@Tharealgirlyy]

Thank you this helped me with my science essay.

[@GamerKaiden]

Lol

[@serdarcite]

Potidaea reminds me a story about Moses, Paraoh and the Red Sea.

[@coolkida5159]

Who else high as he’ll randomly searching stuff ?

[@shoourya664]

a tsunami has been an irrational (maybe) fear of mine since i was a kid. i'd constantly have dreams of this huge wave ravaging my home and sweeping away my loved ones. to this day i check for tsunami signs whenever i'm at the beach 😭😭

[@juanmarquez6043]

thank you great insight

[@henkwaterlander3038]

The nuclear meltdown didn't kill 18.000 people, the tsunami did.

[@humudu]

Yes? that's what she said..

[@thechosenone0111]

Yeah, that tsunami fucked us here in japan hard

[@markco-x7060]

Wow! It's very informative. I like it.

[@harithas9595]

Nice video it helped me for my experiments thank you very much.....