Suddenly the sea starts to churn, the waters near the coast quickly retreat as if they were a sudden low tide and then, out of nowhere comes a powerful wave that sweeps across everything in its path, leaving countless victims and terrible damage to the society. Is this a description of a tsunami or is it a tidal wave?
After all, what is the difference between a tsunami and a tsunami?
From the point of view of language, tsunami and tsunami are the same thing, as they are words of different origins used to designate the strong and accelerated movement of ocean waters.
Seaquakecomes from latin tide, which means sea,and motus, which means movement. Tsunamicomes from japanese Tsu, what do you mean Harbor, While nami it is the same as wave.
However, many people, including some experts in the field, often use the term “tidal wave” to make reference to any earthquake or earthquake that happens in oceanic areas and causes the agitation of the waters. On the other hand, “tsunami” would be a term to designate the waves caused by tsunamis, especially when they reach some point on the surface, causing problems for coastal cities.
The word tsunami became popular in Portuguese after the repercussions of the tsunamis that occurred off the coast of Japan. Before that, the most common was the use of the word tidal wave. This case, therefore, shows us how language is dynamic, changing over time.
By Rodolfo Alves Pena
Graduated in Geography
