On 19/03/2011 13:32, Alan wrote:
In message , "Nightjar
\"cpb\"@" wrote

Exactly where it started: A seismologist says that tsunami similar to
this one seem to hit Japan about once in 1,000 years. You seem to have
problems understanding that it is the size and intensity of this
tsunami that makes it a one in 1,000 year event, not simply that it
was a tsunami.


But the point being made here is that it was not a 1 in a 1000 year
event. A few decades before the plant was built a tsunami of greater
height was recorded and the one previous to that was 30metres

Did they happen in exactly the same spot, or simply somewhere in the
general region? The height of a tsunami depends very strongly on the
shape of the sea bed offshore, so unless they hit exactly the same
stretch of shore, the height is not necessarily a measure of intensity.

Colin Bignell