Question: japans the last month tsunami affected almost evrey person in south japan did your machinary help predict it or did it crumble under the magnetic strain of the wave?

David Ingram answered on 15 Jun 2011:

Actually the tsunami affected the northern coast of the eastern side of the main Island (Honshu) though the tsunami also hit the coast of Hokkaido (the northern island) but did little damage there.

Because the earthquake was very close to land there was not a lot of time to predict the wave, but the national centres for tsunami hazards around the pacific did issue warnings.

To make model predictions of where the wave travelled as it crosses the land is very complex and needs a large computer. We would now like to develop a prediction system and I am hopeful that the Japanese government will support Dr Watanabe in doing this.

By the way tsunami waves are many things but they are not magnetic! Our computers are safe and dry in Edinburgh and Sapporo, but several research groups near Sendai (on the north east coast) were affected by the floods.