The SWOT satellite captured the tsunami triggered by Russia’s Kamchatka earthquake on July 30. Disturbances like an earthquake or underwater landslide trigger a tsunami when the event is large enough to displace the entire column of seawater from the ocean floor to the surface. This results in waves that ripple out from the disturbance, much like how dropping a pebble into a pond generates a series of waves. Data from SWOT provided a multidimensional look at the leading edge of the tsunami wave

A tsunami has hit Tonga's largest island, Tongatapu, after an underwater volcano in the South Pacific erupted. | CNN