Quake acoustics can predict tsunamis: study

Scientists have developed a new technique that could be applied worldwide to create an early warning system for massive tsunamis triggered by earthquakes.

Scientists have developed a new technique that could be applied worldwide to create an early warning system for massive tsunamis triggered by earthquakes.

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Scientists from Stanford University have identified key acoustic characteristics of the 2011 Japan earthquake that indicated it would cause a large tsunami.

The same technique could be used to create an early warning system for massive tsunamis, they believe.

On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 undersea earthquake occurred 64 kms off the shore of Japan.

The earthquake generated an unexpectedly massive tsunami that washed over eastern Japan roughly 30 minutes later, killing more than 15,800 people and injuring more than 6,100.

Now, computer simulations by Stanford scientists reveal that sound waves in the ocean produced by the earthquake probably reached land tens of minutes before the tsunami.

If correctly interpreted, they could have offered a warning that a large tsunami was on the way.