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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."
I also like "It's best to start the tsunami a few kilometers from the shore." This in reference to the tsunami not reaching Aberdeen Washington, no matter where I start them from. Maybe the coders are into Nirvana?
Would help to add a scale so we can figure how much map covers those few kms, too...
OK, after looking at the Gallery I think they meant meters, not kilometers - you doubleclick right offshore to mark where, uh, the news crews will congregate? Wave fronts are a bit more diffuse than that, I believe.
They only simulate it for about 10 km, regardless of how high the wave is. I am severely disappointed in this simulation.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!