UK meteotsunamis: a revision and update on events and their frequency
Thompson, Julian ; Renzi, Emiliano ; Sibley, Andrew ; Tappin, David R.
A tsunami is a series of waves caused by the displacement of water. The displacement may result from 'bottom-up' seabed movement, such as that caused by earthquakes, landslides and volcanic eruptions or 'top-down' movement, from pressure perturbations in the atmosphere. These 'top-down' events are termed meteotsunamis. Meteotsunamis frequently occur in the Mediterranean, the Baltic Sea, the east coast and Great Lakes of North America, and Japan, so they are not exclusive to the United Kingdom (UK). The most recent meteotsunami near the UK coast was in May 2017, when waves around 2m in elevation, generated by a storm passing over the UK, struck the coast of the Netherlands. Historical documents covering the past 150?years describe many meteotsunamis from UK coastal waters (Haslett et al., 2009; Haslett and Bryant, 2009; Tappin et al., 2013; Vilibic et al., 2015; O'Brien et al., 2018). Some of these events have resulted in fatalities, involving beach users who were struck by unexpected sea waves.</p>
Accès à la notice sur le site du portail documentaire de Météo-France