Kathy Kalinoski, age l3, of Quarryville, Pa., for her question:

What is a tsunami?

We borrowed this word from the Japanese who tend to have more tsunamis than we do. This is because the islands of Japan lie in an earthquake prone zone of the Pacific. Shuddering temblores occur in the earth's crust both on land and under the sea. Tsunamis are caused by seaquakes that may occur far out under the ocean.

The crustal upheaval upsets the fluid ocean water above it. Mountainous masses of water rise and fall, and waves spread out far and wide like monstrous ripples on a monstrous pond. At last they reach a coastline and bash ashore in a mighty tidal wave. We call such an invasion of the sea a tsunami to distinguish it from other types of tidal waves caused by tides or storms.