# Tsunami travelling across the Pacific **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 27, 2010, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-travelling-across-the-pacific/530631 "2010-02-27T08:42:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-travelling-across-the-pacific/530631/41 "2010-02-27T19:00:11Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > I’m watching some video from the Hawaiian news, and a geophysicist said Alaska will be hit first, and then Hawaii. How does that work? That doesn’t make too much sense to me, especially looking at the map that \*\*EvilTOJ \*\*linked. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-travelling-across-the-pacific/530631/42 "2010-02-27T19:01:47Z")
> [@pudytat72](#): > > I have just learned that a Tusnami wave is not a “surfable” wave, so the comparison of surfing waves and Tsunami waves is not true. One thought that had been running through my head was if there might be a plane filled with surfers crossing the Pacific trying to meet up with the wave to surf it all the way across the ocean. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-travelling-across-the-pacific/530631/43 "2010-02-27T19:11:47Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > One thought that had been running through my head was if there might be a plane filled with surfers crossing the Pacific trying to meet up with the wave to surf it all the way across the ocean. Also a tsunami out in the deep ocean is only a couple of feet high, and sailors rarely feel them. It’s not until they get close to the coast that they become a massive wall of water. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-travelling-across-the-pacific/530631/44 "2010-02-27T19:19:04Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Also a tsunami out in the deep ocean is only a couple of feet high, and sailors rarely feel them. It’s not until they get close to the coast that they become a massive wall of water. Isn’t that because the water is so deep? The amount of water displaced is small in relation to the deep waters but is magnified exponentially when the water is shallow? ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-travelling-across-the-pacific/530631/45 "2010-02-27T19:19:48Z")
Just heard on CNN: “…they move at 450 to 600 mph”. Holy. Fuck. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-travelling-across-the-pacific/530631/46 "2010-02-27T19:21:17Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > One thought that had been running through my head was if there might be a plane filled with surfers crossing the Pacific trying to meet up with the wave to surf it all the way across the ocean. Even if the wave was “surf-able”, it travels at hundreds of miles per hour. that would be quite a rush to ride a surf board at 500 mph. Talk about X-games. ETA…What **gaffa** just said ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-travelling-across-the-pacific/530631/47 "2010-02-27T19:25:19Z")
Looking at [this map](http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Maps/region/S_America.php) there are some really big after-shocks. Including one that is significantly away from the big one’s epicenter. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-travelling-across-the-pacific/530631/48 "2010-02-27T19:25:28Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > That doesn’t make too much sense to me, especially looking at the map that \*\*EvilTOJ \*\*linked. Could it be that the Tsunami moves faster throught the somewhat shallower coastal areas until it reaches Alaska. TO get to Hawaii it has to move through deep ocean, displacing a lot more water, which means, I would think that it isn’t moving as fast. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-travelling-across-the-pacific/530631/49 "2010-02-27T19:25:59Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > Isn’t that because the water is so deep? The amount of water displaced is small in relation to the deep waters but is magnified exponentially when the water is shallow? Yes.. it’s the energy released by the quake that is travelling radially outward. When the ocean is miles deep, that energy is diffused through the entire thing. (and 8.8 is a real whopper. About 80 times the magnitude of the 7.0 Haiti quake, and ~800 times as much energy released) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-travelling-across-the-pacific/530631/50 "2010-02-27T19:31:23Z")
I just got a Special Weather Statement. My bay isn’t listed, but the one 25 miles down the coast might expect a wave of 0.46 feet. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-travelling-across-the-pacific/530631/51 "2010-02-27T19:58:23Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Probably, but power is out in a lot of places in Chile right now, and even if it’s not they might well have more pressing concerns at the moment. I’m sure they’ll check in over the next few days. Well, yes. I was asking more from the point of view of wondering whether there are any particular Doper friends that we should be worried about. ---
**Author:** ![luv2draw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/46a35a/32.png) [@luv2draw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/luv2draw)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-travelling-across-the-pacific/530631/52 "2010-02-27T20:20:33Z")
I’m trying to follow New Zealand because I have a friend who just arrived there a day or so ago for a vacation… [http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/tsunami-wave-measured-nz-mainland-3384488](http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/tsunami-wave-measured-nz-mainland-3384488) ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-travelling-across-the-pacific/530631/53 "2010-02-27T21:18:55Z")
CNN has a really terrible picture supplied by Skype, while MSNBC, The Weather Channel and Fox News have decent satellite pictures. Has Time-Warner screwed the pooch on this one? ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-travelling-across-the-pacific/530631/54 "2010-02-27T21:23:24Z")
I’m watching CNN, too. They said they’re getting reports of the tsunami hitting an island off of New Zealand, and that that marks the 12-hour point from the earthquake event. Hawaii is more at the 15-hour mark. Better feed on The Weather Channel, eh? I’ll go check. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-travelling-across-the-pacific/530631/55 "2010-02-27T21:28:24Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > I’m watching CNN, too. They said they’re getting reports of the tsunami hitting an island off of New Zealand, and that that marks the 12-hour point from the earthquake event. Hawaii is more at the 15-hour mark. > > Better feed on The Weather Channel, eh? I’ll go check. This is their bread and butter, while I get the feeling the bean counters at Time Warner decided that paying to have an reporter stationed in Hawaii was a waste of money. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-travelling-across-the-pacific/530631/56 "2010-02-27T21:47:44Z")
On MSNBC at the moment, there are **people on the beach**! People, standing on the beach. Waiting for the tsunami. Seriously. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-travelling-across-the-pacific/530631/57 "2010-02-27T22:04:49Z")
FoxNews had a camera shot of some people on cliff overlooking the ocean. It is somewhere in Hawaii but they gave no clue on what island it was on. I could tell my the shadows that the ocean was to the southeast. Cmon Fox tell us where the cameras are at. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-travelling-across-the-pacific/530631/58 "2010-02-27T22:07:12Z")
Feed from Waikiki showed a couple of surfers paddling blithely out into the surf an hour or so ago. ---
**Author:** ![pudytat72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@pudytat72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pudytat72)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-travelling-across-the-pacific/530631/59 "2010-02-27T22:09:14Z")
watching it live on Hawaii TV, water moving in and out. amazing ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-travelling-across-the-pacific/530631/60 "2010-02-27T22:14:48Z")
> [@pudytat72](#): > > watching it live on Hawaii TV, water moving in and out. amazing Link? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-travelling-across-the-pacific/530631.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-travelling-across-the-pacific/530631.md?page=4)