“II. Split: Within several minutes of the earthquake, the initial tsunami is split into a tsunami that travels out to the deep ocean (distant tsunami) and another tsunami that travels towards the nearby coast (local tsunami). The height above mean sea level of the two oppositely traveling tsunamis is approximately half that of the original tsunami. (This is somewhat modified in three dimensions, but the same idea holds.) The speed at which both tsunamis travel varies as the square root of the water depth. Therefore the deep-ocean tsunami travels faster than the local tsunami near shore.”

Citation source:http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~esci108/108_EQ_Lec_4.ppt