Tsunamis are powerful ocean waves produced by a major oceanic landslide or earthquake beneath the ocean floor. Tsunamis can be very dangerous, but they rarely come ashore and cause extensive loss of life. Tsunamis can occur at any time of the year, day or night. They may take only a few minutes to travel to the shore or—when produced far out in the ocean—a tsunami may take several hours to reach land.
Tsunamis strike with little or no warning and can cause massive loss of life or injury and significant destruction to property and infrastructure. Survivors may face extensive post-disaster adversities—medical, economic, and psychological—disrupting daily routines and expectations for the future. While it is possible that a tsunami could strike anywhere along the entire coastline of the U.S., the most damaging tsunamis have hit the coasts of Hawaii, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and California.
The National Disaster Education Coalition has a section on tsunamis in its publication, Talking about Disasters (PDF).
