geochemistry australia said the 5 . 3 earthquake did not spawn a tsunami . the 2004 southern ocean quake , which had a magnitude of 9 . 0 , triggered a chain of lethal tsunamis on december 26 , 2004 that kill over 270 , 000 persons , considering it the deadliest tsunami in recorded history .
A tsunami is a series of waves created when a body of water rapidly displaced on a massive scale.