# Tsunami -  Storm Surge: What’s the difference?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-storm-surge-what-s-the-difference/320326>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 6, 2005, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-storm-surge-what-s-the-difference/320326 "2005-09-06T12:41:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![jebert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ec9cab/32.png) [@jebert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jebert)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-storm-surge-what-s-the-difference/320326/1 "2005-09-06T12:41:22Z")

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Yes, the tsunami is a result of an earthquake while the storm surge is the pile up of water from high winds. I think I got that much right.

Otherwise, how are these physically different? Are they both just big walls of water that come crashing ashore, or is that the tsunami while the surge is much more gradual and longer lasting? Does the surge just follow the path of the hurricane, or does it radiate out in all directions and affect areas that are not otherwise affected by the hurricane? Is there any difference in the destructive power?

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**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-storm-surge-what-s-the-difference/320326/2 "2005-09-06T13:19:47Z")

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I wondered about that, too.

> **[Does a hurricane's storm surge look like a tsunami? A wall of water?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=325121)**
>
> I just finished reading a thriller called Presidential Deal by Les Standiford, and in it, he has the hero and heroine stranded on one of those tiny nameless Bahamian cays during a hurricane, and he has the hurricane’s storm surge come up over the...

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**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-storm-surge-what-s-the-difference/320326/3 "2005-09-06T13:27:44Z")

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In a tsunami, the wave is the entire depth of the ocean while a storm surge (and other wind driven waves) are mearly on the oceans surface. The practical difference is that once the wind is no longer driving the storm waves, they rapidly loose energy. A tsunami, on the other hand, is a much bigger wave and thus doesn’t lose its energy.

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**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-storm-surge-what-s-the-difference/320326/4 "2005-09-06T13:31:14Z")

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Storm surge  
[http://www.usatoday.com/graphics/weather/gra/gsurge/flash.htm](http://www.usatoday.com/graphics/weather/gra/gsurge/flash.htm)  
Tsunami

> **[How Tsunamis Work](https://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/natural-disasters/tsunami1.htm)**
>
> Wave structure consists of a trough and a crest. Learn about wave structure and find out how the wave structure of a tsunami differs from a normal wave.

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**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-storm-surge-what-s-the-difference/320326/5 "2005-09-06T14:04:42Z")

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When they approach land, a tsunami is a large wave, while a storm surge is a net rise in the surface of the ocean, somewhat akin to an extreme high tide.