Tsunami waves hit British Columbian Coast

[HEyHEY]

THE DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES AND OCEANS SAYS SMALL TSUNAMI WAVES HAVE MADE THEIR WAY FROM SOUTH ASIA TO THE B-C COAST.
SCIENTIST ALEXANDER RABINOVITCH SAYS THE WAVES WERE ABOUT SIX OR SEVEN CENTIMETRES IN HEIGHT-- AND NOTES THEY TRAVELLED ABOUT 35-THOUSAND KILOMETRES TO GET HERE, WHICH IS EXTREMELY UNUSUAL.
THE B.C. GOVERNMENT IS MAKING A CONTRIBUTION TO THE AID EFFORT IN SOUTH ASIA, FOLLOWING THE DEVASTATING EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI WAVES THAT KILLED THOUSANDS.
PREMIER GORDON CAMPBELL CALLS IT A TRAGEDY SO PROFOUND, IT TOUCHES ALL OF US-- ESPECIALLY THOSE BRITISH COLUMBIANS WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS IN THE AFFECTED
COUNTRIES.
THAT'S WHY THE PROVINCE IS LENDING AID TO THE VICTIMS ABROAD.

[Cadence]

1. Six or seven centimeters?

How'd they even know they were waves at that height?

[HEyHEY]

2. not sure but they're asking people who filmed it to call them

I suppose maybe the speed at which they travelled has somethign to do with it.

[barb162]

3. I thought tsunami waves don't "degrade" over thousands of miless

that they are sort of very small until they hit shores.

[HEyHEY]

4. No clue - I suck at science

[barb162]

5. here's from BBC news

Wave goodbye

Tsunamis aren't like wind-generated waves that rhythmically roll onto a beach. A tsunami can have a wavelength (ie distance between wave crests) in excess of 60 miles (100km) and there may be an hour between them. They travel at great speeds across an ocean with hardly any energy losses and are barely noticeable out at sea.

Over the deep Pacific Ocean, a tsunami travels at about 500mph (800kph). If an earthquake happened in Los Angeles, a tsunami could hit Tokyo quicker than you could fly between the cities by jet.

Shallow water slows the tsunami and its height grows. Tsunamis batter the coast with tremendous amounts of energy. They can strip sand from beaches, tearing up trees, and even obliterating whole towns. Some have been known to reach as much as 30m above sea level. Hardly the perfect conditions for paddling.