Thousands of surfers check out the waves with services like Surf Check and Surf Line, which monitor hundreds of beaches worldwide.

CNN: To surf the Web or surf the surf?

Storm waves and high winds have washed away thousands of tonnes of beach sand in front of the launching area for a Norfolk lifeboat.

BBC: Lifeboat launch area washed away by tides and storms

Visions of the devastating quake and tsunami that killed thousands in Japan in March 2011 fueled the fright, but the waves proved to be smaller and less powerful than feared.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

The rule tended to favor narrow designs with deep keels and towering masts to carry the thousands of square feet of sail needed to push the heavy boats through the waves.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Extrapolating from Dr Freund's laboratory experiments, the strain in a real-life geological fault such as the San Andreas could, as it shifted, generate hundreds of thousands of amperes per cubic kilometre in a fluctuating pattern that would cause very low frequency radio waves to be emitted, thus disrupting the ionosphere.

ECONOMIST: Predicting earthquakes

Investing in clean British energy from the wind, waves and Sun - along with a major energy-saving drive - would create hundreds of thousands of new jobs, boost energy security and keep the lights on.

BBC: Viewpoints: Fracking's risks and benefits