Using Googlemaps To Simulate Tsunamis

flemster writes "Tsunami mapper is a new site which uses the googlemaps elevation service and the flood fill algorithm to predict which areas near a coast are likely to be affected by a tsunami. You can search for your local beach, set a wave heading and height and then double click the tsunami starting point off the coast, after which the tsunami range will be drawn. Naturally, predicting a tsunami is far more complicated than this and this application is a general guide and not a true predictor. However the simulations of the recent Japanese simulation are interesting. Compare the tsunami mapper simulation with this aerial photo of Ishinomaki after the March tsunami."

Comments

Actually sortof works

[MickLinux]

Okay, it appears after looking at the simulation and then the actual flooding, that the program works best on mountainous islands.

The bright blue is the "flooding" area.

That said, the program appears to ignore wave height: the flooding area is the same for 10m and 5000m. Or more likely, it only checks the nearest surrounding kilometer.

Likewise, even if it shows the land flooding in (say) the Elizabeth River, it says that the tsunami didn't reach land: I guess that stuff that registers as "zero elevation" is not considered land, regardless.