Submitted by Endorkend t3_10wxhnh in askscience
CrustalTrudger t1_j7pye07 wrote
Reply to comment by Endorkend in What would happen to a person standing on the edge of a faultline when it moves? by Endorkend
The interaction of seismic waves and the surface of the Earth can produce measurable pressure waves in the atmosphere (e.g., Donn & Posmentier, 1964), but generally nothing that's going to be damaging. This of course depends on what the fluid in contact with the solid earth surface is though as a tsunami effectively represents a displacement wave from surface deformation (from actual vertical change in the ocean bottom as opposed to seismic waves specifically), but here, it's not the pressure wave that's dangerous per se, but the resulting inundation when this approaches shore.
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