Tsunami By Sophie Williams

Tsunamis: The Motion Of The Ocean On December 26, 2004, the worst tsunami ever recorded hit coastal towns all over Southeast Asia and parts of Africa, flattening homes and sweeping people and their belongings out to sea. Here’s what happened: an earthquake in the Indian Ocean started the tsunami. The earthquake thrust up the sea floor, forcing all the water above it up, too. The bulge of water fanned out in a series of huge waves that destroyed everything in their paths, slamming into islands and other land forms. Finally, seven hours after it started, the tsunami hit the coast of Africa. In total, over 200,000 people in more than 10 different countries lost their lives. It was the deadliest natural disaster in years.

A picture of when a tsunami hits land. A tsunami starts with a huge shakeup of the sea floor. An undersea earthquake, volcano or landslide thrusts up the water above it and sends enormous waves spreading outward. The tsunami waves can travel for thousands of miles, but it’s usually only when they hit land that they become deadly.

Stages of a tsunami. These pictures show a building being hit by a tsunami. This is a video of why the Tsunami happened. (Sorry about the advert) http://videos.howstuffworks.com/discovery/27965-assignment-discovery-how-the-2004-tsunami-happened-video.htm