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Tsunami Earthquakes

  • Reference work entry
Extreme Environmental Events

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Article Outline

Glossary

Definition of the Subject

Introduction

Characteristics of Tsunami Earthquakes

Factors Involved in the Seismogenesis and Tsunamigenesis of Tsunami Earthquakes

A Model for Tsunami Earthquakes

Future Directions

Bibliography

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Abbreviations

\({m_{\text{b}}}\) :

body wave magnitude, based on the amplitude of the direct P wave, period of the measurement: 1.0–5.0 s. Also see: Seismic Magnitude.

\({M_{\text{S}}}\) :

surface wave magnitude, based on the amplitude of surface waves, period of the measurement: 20 s. Also see: Seismic Magnitude.

\({M_{\text{w}}}\) :

moment magnitude, determined from the seismic moment of an earthquake, typical period of the measurement: \({> 200}\) s. Also see: Seismic Magnitude.

Magnitude saturation:

due to the shape of the seismic source spectrum, relatively short period measurements of seismic magnitude will produce similar magnitudes for all earthquakes above a certain size. The value of this threshold earthquake size depends on the period of the measurement: magnitude measurements using shorter period waves will saturate at lower values than magnitude measurements using longer period waves. \({M_{\text{w}}}\) will not saturate.

Run-up height:

difference between the elevation of maximum tsunami penetration (inundation line) and the sea level at the time of the tsunami.

Tsunami earthquake:

an earthquake that directly causes a regional and/or teleseismic tsunami that is greater in amplitude than would be expected from its seismic moment magnitude.

Tsunami magnitude:

a scale for the relative size of tsunamis generated by different earthquakes, \({M_{\text{t}}}\) in particular is calculated from the logarithm of the maximum amplitude of the tsunami wave measured by a tide gauge distant from the tsunami source, corrected for the distance to the source (also see: Satake, this volume).

Seismic magnitude:

a scale for the relative size of earthquakes. Many different scales have been developed, almost all based on the logarithmic amplitude of a particular seismic wave on a particular type of seismometer, with corrections for the distance between source and receiver. These measurements are made for different wave types at different frequencies, and thus may lead to different values for magnitude for any one earthquake.

Seismic moment:

the product of the fault surface area of the earthquake, the rigidity of the rock surrounding the fault and the average slip on the fault.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geological Sciences Department, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, USA

    Jascha Polet

  2. Seismological Laboratory, Caltech, Pasadena, USA

    H. Kanamori

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  1. Jascha Polet
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  1. RAMTECH LIMITED, 122 Escalle Lane, Larkspur, CA, 94939, USA

    Robert A. Meyers Ph. D. (Editor-in-Chief) (Editor-in-Chief)

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Polet, J., Kanamori, H. (2011). Tsunami Earthquakes . In: Meyers, R. (eds) Extreme Environmental Events. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7695-6_51

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