[trevelyn1015]

Originally Posted by AN-net

Also Bush made a silly comment by saying he plans to help the countries build ways to predict such massive tidal waves. *giggles because you cant predict earthquakes:P *

you can predict the waves coming in after the earthquake happens...

Subject: How do they predict Tsunamis i.e. What type of equipment
do they use?
__________________________________________________ _____________

Dr. Frank Gonzalez, frank.i.gonzalez@noaa.gov:

We predict tsunamis in two ways. The first is to use computers to predict
how high tsunami waves will be along the coast for different kinds of
earthquakes. When put on maps, these predictions give planners an idea of
the best roads for people to take away from the beach if a tsunami happens
in the future.

The second type of prediction is made by the tsunami warning centers
right after an earthquake occurs that might create a dangerous tsunami.
They use seismographs to estimate the strength and location of the
earthquake. Often, they have enough information about past earthquakes
in the same region to tell whether a dangerous tsunami has occurred. They
also use tide gages near the earthquake to see how large the tsunami waves
are. Past experience also tells them which cities along the coast tend
to have the largest tsunami waves. Using computers, they also tell how
long it will take the tsunami waves to reach these cities.

Two new things that are being developed to improve the predictions right
after an earthquake are deep-ocean buoys to measure the tsunami
waves long before they can reach land and better computer programs to
predict the heights of these waves when they reach the coast. This works
for tsunamis that are created at a long distance from a coastal city.
When the tsunamis are created by an earthquake near a city, the best
prediction is the earthquake itself. People in the coastal city should
know that if they feel a strong earthquake, they should go to high
ground because a tsunami may be coming soon.

from: http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tsunami/Faq/x020_predict

we, in the u.s. have people that monitor for tsunamis and warn if one is something worth moving away from...

those other countries don't...