Why did it happen?
The Tsunami occurred as the result of an underwater earthquake so in this section, I will explain how this earthquake happened. As with all earthquakes, this earthquake occurred as the result of a build up of pressure between two tectonic plates. These plates were the Pacific and North American plates which form a subduction zone with the Pacific plate being pushed down under the North american plate. However, this process takes a long time and the plates move very slowly as there is friction between them as they are pushed past each other. Sometimes, the two plates get stuck and stop moving, meanwhile, this pressure is constantly increasing. Eventually, the pressure is released as the plates finally become unstuck and the energy is released as shock waves that form an earthquake. The size of the resulting earthquake depends on how long the plates had been stuck. |  |
