According to Darbyshire and Ishiguro (1957) the traditional term
tsunami means harbour wave (tsu: harbour, nami: wave). The original
Japanese definition includes any form of wave that would be unusually
large inside a harbour, although this may not be quite as simple an explanation
as it sounds (Darbyshire and Ishiguro, 1957). Alternatively,
in the Tsunami Glossary produced by the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization–Intergovernmental Oceanographic
Commission (UNESCO/IOC) (2013), a tsunami is specifically described
as “a series of travellingwaves of extremely long length and period, usually
generated by disturbances associated with earthquakes occurring
below or near the ocean floor… Volcanic eruptions, submarine landslides,
and coastal rock falls can also generate tsunamis, as can a largemeteorite impacting the ocean”. The Tsunami Glossary (UNESCO/IOC,
2013) also mentions that a tsunami has no connection with tides and
that the term ‘tidal wave’ is misleading