The math of deadly waves

[bananas]

I didn't know this.
I'll need to be more careful when collecting seashells by the seashore.

http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/the_math_of_deadly_waves_10065.html

The math of deadly waves

<snip>

Another widely held belief about tsunamis that gets washed away with mathematical modelling is that the surge is always preceded by the tide going abnormally far out.

"This only happens about half the time," explains Dr. Craig. "It depends on the wavelength and whether it's the trough or crest of the wave that reaches shore first. In half the cases it's the surge that arrives first."

<snip>

[Crayson]

1. Interesting reading

... and when you think about it, it's quite obvious that 50% of any tsunamis hit with crest first and therefor give you no warning in form of a suspicously low tide.

[TreasonousBastard]

2. Not much new here...

that hasn't already been studied to death for a few hundred years. A llittle surprised that the math whiz hadn't known about wave propagation before the tsunami hit.

Anyway, he did finally catch on to what oceanographers, geologists, sailors and such have known for years-- a tsunami in the deep, open ocean may only be 6" high, but it could also be a mile deep. And all that water has to go somewhere when the sea floor isn't a mile deep any more.