Tsunami Mapper

About Tsunami Mapper Android App

Tsunami Mapper is the android version of the web site of the same name (tsunami-maps.com) and allows you to simulate tsunamis for any location in the world.

To simulate a tsunami, first locate the starting position (preferable the coast off the target location), configure the range and height of the tsunami and then tap in the direction for the tsunami to travel. Tsunami Mapper will automatically start a simulated tsunami showing potentially flooded areas in blue.

The app also allows you to experiment with the height of the wave to see how different size waves can affect your location.

Tsunami Mapper should only be used as a general guide and does not claim to be scientifically correct. Predicting tsunamis (usually from an earthquake) is a very complex problem involving many variables. In particular the energy or velocity of the wave has a significant bearing on the effect of a tsunami. A fast travelling tsunami will travel up a hill affecting areas with elevation higher than the original wave. On the other hand if a wave with lower energy hits an area with low elevation it is unlikely that the tsunami will have enough energy and volume to continue much more than a few kilometers inland. Tsunami Mapper does not (as yet) include energy (or wave velocity) in its calculations.

Nonetheless, the most accurate results will be obtained for smaller range tsunamis (less than 80km) although larger scale simulations (400km) is also possible.

Tsunami Mapper is built on the google maps service, google elevation service and the flood fill algorithm.

See the attached images for simulations of Phuket Thailand (simulating the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami), Ishinomaki Japan (simulating the 2011 Japanese tsunami), San Francisco bay, London, Tianjin/Beijing China, Sydney.