GPS found to enhance tsunami detection

So long as our readers continue to express interest in tsunami prediction systems, we will continue to report on them. The latest seeking to shake things up is a team of scientists from the University of Nevada at Reno that claims that large tsunami-generating earthquakes can be detected within fifteen minutes by complementing seismometers and data from ocean buoys with GPS coordinates. “We’ll always need seismology as the first level of alert for large earthquakes, and we’ll need ocean buoys to actually sense the tsunami waves,” said seismologist Geoffrey Blewitt. “The advantage of including GPS in warning systems is that it quickly tells how much the ocean floor moved, and that information can directly set tsunami models into motion.” The team has received funding from the U.S. Geological Survey’s Natural Hazards Reduction Program to continue their research.