Answer
$v = 220~m/s$
$v = 800~km/h$
Since the wave speed was very fast, we can see that the waves carried a large amount of energy, which would be very destructive when the waves crashed onto the land.
Work Step by Step
Each wave crest traveled 800 km in 1.0 hour. We can find the speed of the wave in m/s.
$v = \frac{distance}{time}$
$v = \frac{8\times 10^5~m}{3600~s}$
$v = 220~m/s$
Each wave crest traveled 800 km in 1.0 hour. We can find the speed of the wave in km/h.
$v = \frac{distance}{time}$
$v = \frac{800~km}{1.0~h}$
$v = 800~km/h$
Calculating the speed helps us to understand why the waves caused such devastation. Since the wave speed was very fast, we can see that the waves carried a large amount of energy, which would be very destructive when the waves crashed onto the land.
