Prompt -|- Cause

An earthquake occurred off the eastern coast of Japan today.  Given the large amount of seismic activity in various parts of the Pacific Plate, one wonders whether today's disaster might be related to the earthquake in Christchurch a couple of weeks ago.

While we can only look on recent events around the Pacific Plate with sadness and shock, there is one small occasion for levity in the coverage in the Age:

A massive surge of water has caused swathes of devastation across Japan, after an 8.9-magnitude earthquake struck off shore, prompting a four-metre tsunami.

What an odd choice of word!  Surely the earthquake caused or unleashed (to allow for fourth estate hyperbole) the tsunami?  Or did the water surge pre-exist the shock?

Let's not get too metaphysical about it.  Blunders like this cause me to conclude that some sub-editors and journalists must be a tiny bit illiterate...