See printing instructions in the Site Guide if you need help. Click on the icon to hear each word pronounced and used in a sentence. Go to our help page if you need assistance configuring your browser to play sound files. Context - A tsunami is a gigantic wall of water that can stretch as far as the eye can see and can travel thousands of miles before it crashes into land. Context - The giant concrete battlements, or walls, are designed to keep the sea out.
Tsunamis are gigantic sea or ocean waves.
They can wash away entire towns in just a few seconds. Tsunamis are caused by earthquakes, ice that falls off Arctic icebergs, and big space rocks that hit the Earth called meteorites. The waves of a tsunami can travel up to 500 miles per hour. Tsunami-proof buildings are built with breakaway walls on the ground floor. This lets the water pass through the building without destroying it.