Tsunamis and earthquakes: What physics is interesting?

In 1960, my elementary school in Wellington, New Zealand, was evacuated for fear of the tsunami from the great Chile earthquake, the largest in the past century. My school was about six feet above sea level, but (to our disappointment) no substantial wave arrived, and the disruption was brief. The tsunami from that earthquake crossed the Pacific Ocean and devastated downtown Hilo on the main island of Hawaii.