Friday, March 11, 2011

Tsunami wave height model from NOAA illustrates the tremedous ferocity of what happened in northern Japan!

Measured in centimeters the wave heights are still pretty sick.

When a tidal wave surges, it is not the height but the momentum as well. A three foot tidal wave with enough surge can take out a pier or a harbor.

Here is a link to the NOAA animation of the beast:
This animation shows the NOAA Center for Tsunami Research's wave height estimation for the March 11, 2011 tsunami that started off the coast of Japan and has placed the entire Pacific basin on alert.

[Link]
Originally found at NOAA

5 comments:

hydroG said...

interesting computer generated image. Weird how the wave heights were particularly larger for a very isolate string reaching for hawaii and a string to oregon and norcal. The west coast is particularly interesting, as all surrounding area are much smaller in the image.
But as we are told, nothing out the ordinary. The two biggest earthquakes and tsunami disasters ever recorded, happen in a three year period, plus major earth quake in Chile ...but not out of ordinary.
I am guessing the fact that we have not been having this kind of event annually or every 6 months is what has been out the ordinary.
Welcome to the new normal.

hydroG said...

the west coast red zone is very strange as it heads near perpendicular to the main trust direction ...with no obvious reason.

Tony Austin said...

It's like it has veins. I am going to post a video of a Tsunami from friday rolling into Emmeryville or deep within the San Francisco bay. It will be up in 5-minutes.

Tony Austin said...

I am going to go to Google maps and look at he ocean floor.

Tony Austin said...

YEP! There is a ridge it followed