THE word sounds normal, without any suggestion of scare. Japanese in origin, “tsunami” means a “wave (nami) that touches a port (tsu)”. But do not ever imagine it as splashes of water on the beach where children play with sand. As they rush ashore, the splashes turn into tidal walls as tall as 10-30 meters, running at high speed and crushing everything in their way.

That’s what happened in Aceh, Malaysia, Thailand,