Last year in August, a surprise tsunami in the South Atlantic Ocean mushroomed to distances over 10,000 kilometers (more than 6,000 miles) away, rippling through the North Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Indian Oceans.
It was the first time a tsunami had been recorded in three different oceans since the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, and scientists have only just now figured out how the waves were triggered.
The epicenter of the August earthquake was measured 47 kilometers (about 30 miles) below the ocean floor, which is much too deep to initiate a significant tsunami, even one with relatively small waves between 15 and 75 centimeters tall (6 to 30 inches).
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