North Carolina Tsunami Risks tsunami is a wave train, or series of waves, generated in a body of water by a sudden disturbance that vertically displaces the water column. Earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, explosions, and meteorites impacts, can generate tsunamis. It was generally believed until a few years ago that only earthquakes and shockwave-generating disasters such as nuclear blasts and meteorites could generate a tsunami. However, scientists have uncovered a new culprit: underwater landslides. These can be precipitated by underwater topography and vary according to its shape. As deadly as they are, tsunamis have generally been limited to areas of the Pacific Rim that are susceptible to catastrophic seismic activity. Recent discoveries about the nature of the continental shelf off the coast of Cape Hatteras have lead scientists to re-consider their likelihood.

The last major tsunami to hit the United States occurred in 1964 when an earthquake occurred in Prince...
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