Japan

[teej]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42023385/ns/world_news-asiapacific/?gt1=43001

An 8.9 magnitude earthquake (5th largest since 1900) and a tsunami have hit Japan, and has registered tremors as far away as Beijing.

I know we have some members in Japan and surrounding areas, hope you all are ok. Thoughts and prayers to everyone.

[BlockParty]

And Hawaii with the Tsunami...which travels the speed of a Jumbo Jet (500mph) and should hit around 8:00 a.m. EST this morning..which is 3:00 a.m. in Hawaii (hard to escape when you are on an island).

[Chef]

And Hawaii with the Tsunami...which travels the speed of a Jumbo Jet (500mph) and should hit around 8:00 a.m. EST this morning..which is 3:00 a.m. in Hawaii (hard to escape when you are on an island).

anyone know anything about tsunami's. the news was saying it was a 3 foot wave that was produced from the earthquake. i understand that tsunami's are walls of water and not a breaking normal wave, but is that 3 foot measurement how big it is at the shoreline or in the open ocean. it seems the damage is huge for a 3 foot wall of water or was it more like a 20-40 foot wave at the shoreline?

[JamieMcNeill]

Tsunamis are actually nearly invisible in open water as they are more energy then wave. A tsunami could pass you be with little more than turbulence. As the energy moves toward the coast, the increasingly shallow water forces the energy into much larger waves. Generally the height of the wave is less important than it's force/speed. Tsunamis are all about storm surge (how far inland the beach water goes)