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Concept
Tsunami earthquake
Summary
In seismology, a tsunami earthquake is an earthquake which triggers a tsunami of significantly greater magnitude, as measured by shorter-period seismic waves. The term was introduced by Japanese seismologist Hiroo Kanamori in 1972. Such events are a result of relatively slow rupture velocities. They are particularly dangerous as a large tsunami may arrive at a coastline with little or no warning.
The distinguishing feature for a tsunami earthquake is that the release of seismic energy occurs at long periods (low frequencies) relative to typical tsunamigenic earthquakes. Earthquakes of this type do not generally show the peaks of seismic wave activity associated with ordinary events. A tsunami earthquake can be defined as an undersea earthquake for which the surface wave magnitude Ms differs markedly from the moment magnitude Mw, because the former is calculated from surface waves with a period of about 20 seconds, whereas the latter is a measure of the total energy release at all frequencies. The displacements associated with tsunami earthquakes are consistently greater than those associated with ordinary tsunamigenic earthquakes of the same moment magnitude, typically more than double. Rupture velocities for tsunami earthquakes are typically about 1.0 km per second, compared to the more normal 2.5–3.5 km per second for other megathrust earthquakes. These slow rupture speeds lead to greater directivity, with the potential to cause higher run-ups on short coastal sections. Tsunami earthquakes mainly occur at subduction zones where there is a large accretionary wedge or where sediments are being subducted, as this weaker material leads to the slower rupture velocities.
Analysis of tsunami earthquakes such as the 1946 Aleutian Islands earthquake shows that the release of seismic moment takes place at an unusually long period. Calculations of the effective moment derived from surface waves show a rapid increase with decrease in the frequency of the seismic waves, whereas for ordinary earthquakes it remains almost constant with frequency.
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