why does the tide recede before the tsunami hits land?

Answer 1

It is a called a shase, it is when the land buckles, the bottom of the ocean quakes, the water levels move out and then it pushes it back of to shore afterward.

Answer 2

The tsunami was created by a shift in the sea floor which causes a ripple effect on a giant scale. The rising height of the tsunami essentially pulls water into itself as it moves forward. If you can imagine a cloth laying on a flat surface, and then placing your hand under it to raise it up, all the sides come closer to the middle. You are essentially pulling back the same way the tsunami wave does. It relates to negative pressure in fornt of the wave.

Answer 3

I won't put this in big words, like SOME other peoples, but the only way I know how to explain it is; think of this; When you're in a bathtub and scoot forward, backward, or get in or out, a little tidel wave forms. In order for the little "tsunami" to move, it has to gather up somehow, thus creating the tsnami.