Use an early warning tsunami radar

For the first time, scientists used coastal radar systems to alert tsunamis in Japan and Southeast Asia a few hours before.

Oceanographer John Largier (University of California, USA) and colleagues use a newly installed radar system along the coast of Japan and the US state of California worth 20 million USD to monitor coastal currents.

Radar systems in California can be used to monitor tsunamis. (Photo: vector1media.com)

Largier said that if a new radar system was used, it could be known a few hours before the tsunami occurred in Japan or Southeast Asia. For the state of California, it is only about 20 minutes in advance because the underwater terrain is steeper so that radar cannot record large waves offshore.

Mounted along the California coast with a density of 40km / vehicle, the radar system provides more detailed, localized tsunami information than the current warning buoy system, Largier said.

However, the system each year costs $ 2 million to monitor tsunamis and other coastal changes. The tsunami on March 11 devastated Japan and affected the state of California. Damage in this state is estimated at $ 50 million.