Project to predict impact of tsunami

Would'nt it be great if it would be possible to predict the impact of future tsunami and better identify high risk areas? This information could help both with the planning of new buildings and evacuation strategies in the event of a future tsunami.

This is what professor Alastari Skelton, at the Stockholm University in Sweden in cooperation with the Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, is aiming to do.

The aim of the project is to use eye-witness reports of the 2004 tsunami to test computer simulations of the tsunamis impact. This project started in May 2007, with a workshop, where 20 survivors met with us in Stockholm. These survivors provided eye-witness reports which we have used to test the results of computer simulations and compared with measurements made using tidal gauges and satellite data. The preliminary results of this project are very promising but at the same time they highlight the need for more eye-witness reports. This is to ensure that our conclusions are statistically meaningful.

To you who where carried by the tsunami:

If you where carried by the tsunami, we would be very grateful if you would participate in our project by answering any of the seven questions on the questionnaire at www.tellus.geo.su.se/tsunami. Please either use the map on this web page to show how you were carried or describe your route in words. If you prefer to e-mail your account of the 2004 tsunami, please feel free to e-mail me or the project leader Alasdair Skelton. Please provide any information you think might be helpful and most important please describe your own
experiences.