<p>Tsunamis are shallow waves in the sense that the tsunamis have wavelengths that typically exceeds hundreds of kilometers. This is far greater than the depth any of the oceans. This means that tsunamis &quot;feel&quot; the bottom of the ocean, regardless of the depth of ocean water. The velocity of a shallow wave is <span class="math-container">$v\approx\sqrt{g d}$</span> where <span class="math-container">$g$</span> is the local acceleration due to gravitation (including fictitious centrifugal acceleration; <span class="math-container">$9.80665\,\text{m}/\text{s}^2$</span> is a reasonable worldwide approximation) and <span class="math-container">$d$</span> is the local depth.</p>
<p>You will need a model of ocean depth as a function of location, the more detailed the better.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-21T05:59:15.773Z
2023-07-21T05:59:15.773Z
David Hammen
<p>I am trying to understand how can I model the travel time of tsunami waves generated by volcanic explosions? I want to analyze the 2022 Tonga tsunami. I have been using the UNESCO CoMIT software with tsunamis generated by underwater earthquakes but not with volcanic eruptions, so any suggestions would be great.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-20T20:05:33.640Z
I know a couple of studies which have used Volcflow (https://lmv.uca.fr/volcflow/) to model volcanogenic tsunamis. But it's always tsunamis triggered by mass wasting processes (i.e., a flank collapse or a PDC entering the sea), not tsunamis generated by a submarine explosion. But maybe you could adapt the code to cover such case (the software is written in Matlab).
Jean-Marie Prival
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-21T18:37:05.413Z
Thank you much @Jean-MariePrival
Miguel 
<oceanography><earthquakes><volcanic-eruption><tsunami>
How to model the travel time of tsunami waves generated by volcanic explosion?
Miguel 
# How to model the travel time of tsunami waves generated by volcanic explosion?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-07-20)

I am trying to understand how can I model the travel time of tsunami waves generated by volcanic explosions? I want to analyze the 2022 Tonga tsunami. I have been using the UNESCO CoMIT software with tsunamis generated by underwater earthquakes but not with volcanic eruptions, so any suggestions would be great.

**Tags:** oceanography, earthquakes, volcanic-eruption, tsunami

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I know a couple of studies which have used Volcflow (https://lmv.uca.fr/volcflow/) to model volcanogenic tsunamis. But it's always tsunamis triggered by mass wasting processes (i.e., a flank collapse or a PDC entering the sea), not tsunamis generated by a submarine explosion. But maybe you could adapt the code to cover such case (the software is written in Matlab).  
> **username_0**: Thank you much @username_1  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2023-07-21. Score: 0 | Accepted answer

Tsunamis are shallow waves in the sense that the tsunamis have wavelengths that typically exceeds hundreds of kilometers. This is far greater than the depth any of the oceans. This means that tsunamis "feel" the bottom of the ocean, regardless of the depth of ocean water. The velocity of a shallow wave is $v\approx\sqrt{g d}$ where $g$ is the local acceleration due to gravitation (including fictitious centrifugal acceleration; $9.80665\,\text{m}/\text{s}^2$ is a reasonable worldwide approximation) and $d$ is the local depth.

You will need a model of ocean depth as a function of location, the more detailed the better.


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