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Scientific Inventions Used for Tsunamis

In March 2011, the world witnessed the destructive power of nature when a 23-foot tsunami struck the northeast coast of Japan. As with the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that claimed 200,000 lives, residents had only minutes to prepare for the wave. Though tsunami-warning systems were in place, the enormous loss of life from both events suggests that more warning time is needed. Scientists around the world have been working on new methods and devices to achieve that end.

  1. Tsunami Generator

    • Scientists from University College London's Earthquake and People Interaction Centre and engineers from HR Wallingford have developed a machine that can produce tsunamilike waves. The new invention, which uses wind to generate the wave motion, creates a more realistic wave than the existing piston-based wave simulators, thereby helping to improve emergency response and tsunami-resistant building design. The inventors were able to reproduce the wave action of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

    Electromagnetic Field Detection

    • The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is working on a new type of tsunami detection and warning system for large tsunamis. Tsunamis large enough to create widespread devastation also create tiny but detectable electromagnetic fields when they are forming. Building an underwater system capable of detecting these fields would be too costly, but NOAA researchers believe that submarine communication cables already in place could be used instead. This type of system, they believe, could be used in addition to the deep-ocean pressure sensors currently in use. In January 2010, the scientists ran a computer model of the 2004 tsunami and were able to detect its electric field from background noise.

    Personal Computers

    • IBM Master Inventor Bob Friedlander and partner Jim Kraemer have devised a way to get immediate, detailed information on tsunami-generating seismic events wherever in the world they might occur. The patented invention collects and analyzes information found in vibration sensors that are standard issue in every modern hard drive. Because personal computers are so widely distributed, the information gathered in their MEMS accelerometers can give an accurate picture of the location and size of the event's damage zone, in addition to such information as magnitude and duration.

    Early Warning DART System

    • In use since 2003, NOAA's Deep Ocean Assessment and Reporting (DART) system uses deepwater pressure detectors that can measure changes in water depth as a tsunami wave passes above it. The information is then relayed via buoy and satellite to monitoring stations. Though earthquakes can cause tsunamis, not every earthquake produces a tsunami. Used in conjunction with seismic detection, the DART system's detection of actual tsunamis prevents false alarms.

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