Tsunamis are capable of traveling more than 600 miles per hour. A regular wave in the ocean can travel up to about 90 kilometers per hour. An interesting thing about earthquakes and tsunamis is that if an earthquake occurs not too far away, it shouldn't really create a tsunami. Tsunamis are created by underwater earthquakes and closer plate tectonic movement. One thing needed to create a tsunami is a nearby earthquake. The next thing that would be needed to create a tsunami would be a vertical disturbance. A good example of this movement of water is that of a book and a bathtub. “There’s a bathtub full of water and a hardback book. If you immerse the book in the bath water starting at the spine and move it back and forth lengthwise, what do you observe? Not much, except that you ruined your book. Now, if you hold the book with its flat side on the water surface and move it up and down in the water, you should generate large waves because the vertical movement you have imposed on the column d Water is transferred in horizontal movement. as the wave moves away from the source. This is essentially how a tsunami is generated. This explains how tsunamis and earthquakes are affected by vertical motion, not vertical motion.