Surfing Waves

Tsunami hit from indonesia to south africa

Around over 63,000 people dead, 8 Australians so far, Theres so many surfers in indonesia an sumatra.. maybe even pro's

I wonder how many people were actually surfing when it hit, and if the wave had a face at all or anything.. maybe ross clark jones was riding it

We'll defintly see some survival stories etc in the next surf mags

RIP to all the victims

Yeah absolute tragedy and our hearts go out to all the familys affected obviously .

I did find myself watching all the footage possible to try to get a glimpse of the first actual wave to hit. Think I did see a tiny bit which looked like a bore wave.

There was deffo some footage of a bigger first bit but that was of a different previous tsunami.

I am slightly confused however, as the news has been reporting that after the quake has happened it sends out a wave which is only 1-2 ft high whilst in deep water. But they say it travells 500mph! And then slows as it gets into shallower water and builds in height.
500 mph tho? Do they mean the shock wave or the actual water wave? If its the actual water moving that fast, imagine lying on your board paddling along and suddenly you get hit by a 2ft wave travelling 500mph . You would get thrown up into the air big time and probably die!
I reckon there must be a time when the wave slows down to a more normal speed and has a rideable face just before the water gets too shallow. You get storm chasers....

im wondering who was like, "wow, look at that set" when it hit, and tried to ride it before it closed out and probally pounded them... I wonder if theres any pictures of the wave(s) itself, anyone know?


I read it was 500kmh, not miles per hour, so it slows that down alot...

First, its not a schok wave, it is a displacement wave. When the fualt moves, it pushes water up, that water has no where to go, but outwards. If you've ever held you hand under the water, a foot mabye, and you kinda push up a little, you dont break the surface, but you see the water come up a little right above your hand... its the same thing.

And although the wave is only 1-2 feet at sea, it goes down probably 1000 feet or more. It does race along at somewhere around 500 mph or kph (not sure) And as it reaches land it starts to build and gets to be around 30 feet. It does slow down a looot as its draging across the bottom, but its still going faster then anywave you could ever ride. No one could ever surf a tsunami, its physically impossible. The was doesnt break like a normal wave, im pretty sure it goes until the last few feet before the shoreline then just colaspes.

Also, there are a few warning signs. One is the shoreline receeds, so its kinda like the lowest low tide ever, but about 20 feet of extra beach is showing.

can you imagine how scary it must be, suddenly just to see and hear the sea being sucked back down before the wave hits, and the shore appearing larger and larger,...

not nice

i read on a news site (good sorce) that a 40 year old from pembrokeshire in wales was surfing when it hit and ( im going to not use the word rode here ) layed down on his board and steered his way into a restaurant where he got off just before it sucked back out to sea for the second one, the wave had no face as it came onto land, it was just a big puash of whitewater, like when your surfing and a wave hits (all whitewater) and it goes from 2ft to 5ft deep, but on a bigger scale. im in awe of this guy for having the sense to do that, it must be horrifying. just no idea what to do,i feel awful for them.