Description – Tōhoku Tsunami
The Tōhoku tsunami resulted from a magnitude 9.0 (Mw) undersea earthquake which occurred off the earth coast of northern Honshu, Japan at 4:46 pm EDT on Friday 11 March, 2011. This animation shows how the tsunami travelled across the Pacific Ocean and its speed. The animation shows a plain, static map of the Pacific Ocean, with land regions in flat grey and the ocean area in white. As the animated sequence begins, a wave pattern in blue and red emerges from the earthquake source in Northeast Japan. The ripples and waveforms become increasingly complex as they spread across the entire Pacific ocean. The animation lasts 25 seconds, with the wave activity moving from the top left to the bottom right.of the video as it progresses.

For information about the Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre which is operated by the Bureau of Meteorology and Geoscience Australia go to http://www.bom.gov.au/tsunami/