Beautiful graphic to describe tragedy.
This model comes from the Center for Tsunami Research at the NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory,and displays the anticipated wave heights of the tsunami as it travels across the Pacific, after the 8.9 earthquake that struck northern Japan on March 11, 2011.
The largest wave heights are expected near the earthquake epicenter, off Japan. The wave will decrease in height as it travels across the deep Pacific but grow taller as it nears coastal areas. In general, as the energy of the wave decreases with distance, the near shore heights will also decrease (e.g., coastal Hawaii will not expect heights of that encountered in coastal Japan).The second image shows the depth of the Pacific Ocean floor. Notice the similarity between areas of low wave height and deeper areas of the ocean.