How about a PED (personal elevation device)? A strap-on personal helium balloon to lift you over the initial front of the wave and hold you up until it's safe to land?

I actually saw a take on this in the recent movie, I Spy.

Bear

Here is a quote from

http://www.tsunami.org/faq.htm

"Boats are safer from tsunami damage while in the deep ocean rather than moored in a harbor. U.S. Coast Guard guidelines suggest deployment to water depths of at least 1,200 feet (200 fathoms). However, do NOT risk your life and attempt to get underway if it is too close to the first wave arrival time. Anticipate slowdowns caused by traffic gridlock and hundreds of other boaters heading out to sea."

This tells me that if you have adequate warning your best bet may be to go towards the wave if you have access to a boat.

Any comments?

Absolutely, the shock wave is more "spread out" in the deep ocean. The disturbance at the surface (the wave) is only, say, a foot high (and many miles wide) in the open ocean.

As the shock wave approaches the shore it "piles up" on itself and forms the tsunami. But with only eight hours warning, you'd have to have a fast boat to get far enough off shore to be safe. You'd probably spend half the time just trying to get out of the harbor.

But a boat would be your best option if you've actually got one.

I visited the mentioned tsunami site while stationed in Alaska. My station on Kodiak Island had an archived tape of boats describing the wave from the big Anchorage quake. You can survive one of these, with luck. I believe that same program interviewed a surfer who rode one out. Handling a large wave regardless of vessel size is pretty STRAIGHTFORWARD, bow into the wave and hopefully ride it up and over. The Coast Guard conducts a MLB school on the Columbia River for the West Coast surfmen ( lifeboat coxswains who work the N.W. bar phenomenon.) There is nothing like doing a 360 in a 44' I did it twice. A visiting naval sub commander stopped his interservice boasting when we gave him a 'mild' lesson in our ancient 36' boats glory hole <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

If you were going to use a scuba tank I'd suggest going into a sewer or underground telephone compartment. That way you wouldn't have to deal with the debree. I'd prefer the start of a sewer run VS half way. It'd flood much slower. After the initial blast passed over and the sewer had totally filled with water I'd suspect you'd have to rocket to the surface. You may be under a critical amount of water. Sounds like a James Bond stunt anways....I'd prefer taking off in a powered parachute (ceiling of 5000 ft) plus the incoming wave would likely cause the incoming air to send you higher.
-NIM

Your show sounds like an episode of 'Horizon' made by the BBC. It made me think twice as well. I don't want to panic our cousins in the US but even if you escape the mega-tsunami, you're just running towards that Super Volcano under Yellowstone (another Horizon). I'm glad everything in the States is 'bigger and better' than here in the UK. LOL. <img src="images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />