This is the video I mentioned in my previous post. It claims to be a "new" video of the Japanese tsunami and I had never seen it before, so I think it really is newly available.

It's rather long at 25 minutes, but it perfectly illustrates how deceptive a tsunami can be. I have no idea where this is but the ocean is nowhere to be seen. A low, calm river slowly but inexorably turns into a monstrous, churning destroyer of everything in its path.

DEAD LINK

Works for me. Scary stuff indeed!

I finally found time to watch the video. Very impressive! It illustrates the risk, even if you arn't right on the beach.

One further comment about evacuating due to a warning of a distant tsunami vs a tsunami generated by a nearby earthquake. In the case of a tsunami caused by a distant earthquake you might have several hours of warning. Time enough to grab your evacuation kit, hop in your car, and drive to high ground.

In the case of a tsunami resulting from a local earthquake, you might have only a very few minutes to escape. Roads are likely to be jammed by others trying to get away. The earthquake might have damaged or destroyed bridges or blocked roads. If you feel a strong earthquake it is probably better to escape on foot. Run like hell! Do not stop to grab your kit! Do not try to use your car. Get immediately to the highest ground available!

If there is no high ground nearby, there are other possibilities for safety. As the video shows, big, stoutly constructed buildings might survive and provide refuge. Even really big trees might work, though this would be an absolute last resort. High ground should always be your first choice.

In the video, it looks like fire came after water. A fire started halfway through the video (within 15 minutes of the arrival of the tsunami). Then a big neighborhood across from the river became swallowed up by flames. Fire often accompanies disasters, and in this case you might be left without anywhere to run to.

The people in the video also seemed incredibly calm. Or they just didn't verbalize their panic. "Well, it's a tsunami. Let's take some pictures while the whole neighborhood goes underwater or goes up in smoke." In the US, people would be screaming their heads off.

Japan is probably the most prepared nation on earth for earthquakes and tsunamis. From what I understand, they have a well organized emergency response system, and regularly do drills. You will have noticed the alert sirens and the guys in helmets directing people. I think the authorities in Japan have pre-designated and marked many buildings that are stout enough to serve as a refuge from tsunamis. We in the US have a long way to go to be as prepared as Japan.

If you understand what is happening, and have thought about and practiced your response, you are much more apt to remain calm in an emergency. One of my all time favorite quotes:

"People don’t rise to the occasion. They default to their training." -Attributed to Rick Rescorla, who was a former soldier who had become a coporate security officer. Due to his planning and training drills, all but six of the 2,700 Morgan Stanley employees survived the the attack on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

When something is so beyond your normal day-to-day experience, your brain tends to get overwhelmed. That's essentially what I think happens when people say some event felt so "surreal". That's exactly how I felt on 9/11 walking the streets of Manhattan. I was scared on the inside and also kind of disoriented, but I think I looked like a Zen monk on the outside.

Even with a video clip two years after the fact and basically knowing what to expect after having watched many other tsunami videos, my jaw still hung open the first time I watched the full clip and saw what the power of a tsunami could do.

Yes, that's the best advice. But the Japanese tsunami even inundated areas up in the coastal hills! There was so much force in the tsunami that it forced seawater to flow up rivers and streams to higher elevations. Imagine the shock of residents living in hills to find their fields flooded with saltwater!

Just following up in AKSAR's good advice, in the case of a locally generated tsunami and earthquake,you might be in the grips of the tsunami before you receive the warning, so, if in doubt, think seriously about doing a little climbing.

Historic precedent would be the Santa Barbra 1812 earthquake,whose epicenter was offshore in the Santa Barbara Channel. It generated a tsunami which reached the steps of the Santa Barbara Mission (not the current mission, but an earlier one at a lower elevation). A little while spent perusing your local tsunami hazard map can be time well spent.

Tsunamis can also look like a flash flood. Or for inlanders, a flash flood can resemble a tsunami.

I have a weekend cabin in Central Texas about 200 miles inland. I have a picture from 1992 - before I owned the property - of someone paddling a canoe through the lower field during flooding after heavy rains.

What makes that picture instructive is that a survey when I bought the place shows that the lower field is sixty (60) feet above the river.

You don't need to be on the coast to have a serious water-rise event to deal with.