Find out what were some of the biggest waves ever recorded

Winds at sea generate waves that average 1.5 to 3 meters high. During storms and sea "hangovers", this number may rise a little higher. We know that earthquakes also create gigantic waves. But what creates building-size waves that some experienced surfers covet so much?

According to a Smithsonian article, what causes these huge waves is simply the earth. A wave approaching a shoreline meets increasingly shallow waters and needs to slow down.

As a result, most of the energy that had propelled the wave forward (and which is stored below the surface) has nowhere to go except upwards, so that the wave becomes higher and higher. The rate of intensity of energy transferred to wave growth depends on how fast the seabed rises.

For example, if the ocean floor becomes abruptly shallow from a depth, this will have a more dramatic effect on wave height than if there were a gradual increase. And it is in this type of topography that the giant waves are most observed. Check below the records of some of them.

7 - Teahupo'o (Tahiti) - 7.6 meters

Teahupo'o's waves in Tahiti are even modest in height, but surfers regard them as the heaviest. There, basically, there are waves thickened by great energy that break in the very shallow end. Because they form quickly and have this strength, they create perfect tubes for surfing.

On August 25th, Brazilian Gabriel Medina won the Samsung Galaxy ASP World Championship Tour in Teahupoo, defeating the famous surfer Kelly Slater and riding waves about four meters high.

6 - Hangzhou (China) - 8.8 meters

When the tide over in Hangzhou, China, a wave called the Silver Dragon travels to the Qiantang River, opposing the direction of river flow and generating large waves. The largest ever recorded there was 8.8 meters. It is a type of pororoca that becomes more intense during the month of September.

5 - Oahu (Hawaii) - 9.1 meters

The Banzai Pipeline on Oahu, Hawaii may not even harbor the highest but perhaps the most dangerous waves. These formations are known to hurl surfers into a shallow coral reef. For this reason, at least ten people may have died that way there.

4 - Indian Ocean Tsunami (2004) - 15.2 meters

Ten years ago, the Indian Ocean tsunami caused the most unprecedented damage in Indonesia, followed by Sri Lanka, India and Thailand, traveling at speeds of about 800 km / h and invading about two kilometers off the coast. The quake phenomenon killed about 230, 000 people, making it the best-known deadly wave.

3 - Nazareth (Portugal) - 23.7 meters

In 2011, Hawaiian surfer Garrett McNamara (then 44) reached the record for the biggest wave ever surfed at Praia do Norte in Nazaré, Portugal. The record of the 23.7 meter wave was recognized by Guinness.

2 - Norwegian Coast - 25.6 meters

Until 1995, on New Year's Day, the monitoring platform off the coast of Norway recorded a single 25.6 meter wave. The simplest explanation for this monster is that two or more waves met in alignment and their ridges combined into one much larger one.

1 - Lituya Bay (Alaska) - 30.4 meters

In 1958, an earthquake followed by a landslide in Lituya Bay, Alaska, generated a wave of 30.4 meters, the highest tsunami ever documented. When the wave ran ashore, it devastated huge trees in a large upward curve. Five deaths were reported, but material damage was minimal because there were still few cities in the region.

Honorable mention:

Nazaré (Portugal) - 30.4 meters

On October 28, 2013, the experienced Brazilian surfer Carlos Burle, 46, surfed a wave of about 30.4 meters, also at Praia do Norte, in Nazaré, Portugal. Burle competed for the highest surfing wave prize at the Billabong XXl Global Big Wave Awards 2014 and the Ride of the Year, but the award did not fully consider his achievement because he did not finish surfing completely.

However, however, the Brazilian faced the wave hours after experiencing a tense situation. He saved his fellow surfer Maya Gabeira after she broke her ankle during a big wave maneuver and drowned in the same spot. Maya was rescued from the sea by Carlos and fully recovered.