Hi Anna;
I'm glad that you are finding the site useful and informative.
As far as tsunamis, yes, there will be more in the future. As long as there are earthquakes or underwater landslides that displace huge volumes of water, there will be tsunami.
The earthquake in Japan was very much like the earthquake in the Indian ocean in 2004 that triggered the tsunami there. Both of the fault lines are subduction faults. See http://oceanworld.tamu.edu/resources/oceanography-book/earthquakes.htm for a good explanation of these faults.
What happened in both cases, is as the subducting plate sank, the overriding plate bent down, kind of like a massive spring. When the earthquake occurred, the overriding plate snapped back up, pushing a massive volume of water upward. That's what caused the tsunami in the indian ocean in 2004 and the pacific ocean in 2011.
Not all earthquakes will cause a tsunami. The big fault running through California is a strike-slip fault, where the plates are moving past each other, instead of one diving under the other. This kind of fault is much less likely to cause a tsunami, because the motion of the earthquakes does not tend to displace as much water.
We live on a geologically active planet. As long as there are earthquakes, there will be tsunamis.
From the page above, look at this image. Notice the red lines. Now take note of where in the world we have had big destructive earthquakes recently: Chile, Japan, and Indonesia. All of them are on subduction zones.
The destruction in Japan is terrible, and as a Californian, I feel a strong kinship with the victims of these earthquakes. But, it is normal geologic activity. To suggest otherwise is ridiculous. You should ignore the people who are saying that the earthquake is a sign of something, and focus on ways to provide aid to the people in Japan, and make sure that you are prepared to take care of yourself and your family in the case of a natural disaster.
Anna (guest) 12 Mar 2011 18:59
