They are some of the most devastating natural disasters on earth.

They can strike without warning, or sometimes you might have several hours notice.

Their effects can be limited to small areas, or they can devastate communities on opposite sides of the world.

They've killed hundreds of thousands of people

and have been responsible for billions of dollars in damage. Learn more about tsunamis,

what causes them, and how devastating they can be on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Once again, let's start out with definitions to kick off this discussion. A tsunami is a series of large waves which are created

by an underwater displacement of a large volume of water.

Sunamis are almost always caused by earthquakes, which is why 80% of all tsunamis occur in the Pacific Ocean.

The ring of fire surrounding the Pacific is where most earthquakes occur, especially those

near large bodies of water. The word tsunami comes from the Japanese word for harbor wave.

Sioux means harbor and nami means wave.

The term title wave is often used synonymously with the word tsunami.

However, the term has fallen out of favor.

This is because a tsunami really has nothing to do with tides.

There is an event called a tidal boar, which is a wave made by tides that can travel up rivers and estuaries,

and they can even be surfed, but they are regular and they're not tsunamis.

So with that being said, what exactly happens with a tsunami?

If you've ever been next to a body of water you're familiar with waves.

Waves come in and waves go out.

Even if there are very strong winds and waves are very big,

they still go in and out.

There are two major components to a wave, the amplitude, which is the height of the

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