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Tsunami waves are not always the same height. Some are only a few inches tall and you can't even notice them, but a few tsunami waves have been as tall as 100 feet. When a tsunami wave gets near a coastline, it begins to slow down. The bottom of the wave drags on the continental shelf and makes the top of the wave crash onto the land.
   
Tsunamis are dangerous waves that are caused by underwater earthquakes or another disturbance. These waves move very quickly across the ocean in all directions away from the disturbance.
Tsunamis move at about 450 miles per hour if it doesn't hit a continent or an island.
   
NOAA Photograph When the tsunami hits land it pushes everything in front of it; boats, cars, houses, and anything else in its way. Large and powerful tsunamis cause a lot of damage to the land that it strikes.
     

 

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Photographic Citations:
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Movie Citation:
NOAA Tsunami Modeling: http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tsunami/pdctm.html

Text Bibliography:
Fema Factsheet: http://www.fema.gov/library/tsunamif.htm