Innovative technology promises to detect tsunamis while still offshore, before they reach the coast

Detecting a tsunami while it is still in deep waters has always been a major challenge. However, an event in the summer of 2025 showed that this is about to change.

That year, a powerful 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck the eastern coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia — the strongest seismic event in nearly 15 years. The released energy generated a tsunami with waves racing at astonishing speeds, surpassing 400 mph (640 km/h). In moments, warning sirens sounded throughout the Pacific, and millions of people were instructed to evacuate coastal zones — around 2 million in Japan alone.

While the waves crossed the ocean silently, another phenomenon was taking place above them: the atmosphere was also being disturbed. The massive upward and downward movement of the sea surface created disruptions in the air, affecting signals sent by global satellite navigation systems. And it was precisely this disturbance that allowed researchers to monitor the tsunami’s movement in near real-time.

Coincidentally, one day before the disaster, NASA had updated its emergency monitoring system — named Guardian — by adding advanced artificial intelligence features. This upgrade enabled major events to be automatically detected and flagged to specialists.

Thanks to this technology, about 20 minutes after the earthquake, scientists already knew that Hawaii was in the path of the incoming waves — providing a warning 30 to 40 minutes before the tsunami’s arrival.

About The Author

Editorial

See author's posts