Scientists build unique tsunami generator

LONDON, July 2 (UPI) -- British scientists are designing a machine capable of creating tsunamis in a controlled environment to study their effects on buildings and coastlines.

University College London, in collaboration with HR Wallingford Ltd., a hydraulics engineering research firm, plans to develop an innovative new tsunami generator capable of creating scaled-down versions of the devastating waves.

UCL lecturer Tiziana Rossetto notes a tsunami's processes cannot be simplified using mathematical models because of the complex interaction that takes place with beaches, sediment, coastal defenses and then in and around buildings.

"It is possible for the whole process to be simulated with hydraulic models, but to get meaningful data the tsunami wave has to be accurately generated in the first place," she said. "Conventional wave generators haven't been able to replicate tsunami because of the unusually long wavelength that is required."

The machine under development will control the flow of a large mass of water by using air suction within an inverted tank, creating multiple waves to replicate the three or four peaks experienced during the tsunami that hit the Indian Ocean in 2004.

Construction of the generator is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2008.