Earthquakes often strike Japan. Some of those earthquakes cause powerful tsunamis. Japan has suffered hundreds of tsunamis over the years. But few were as powerful as the tsunami that struck the country’s northeast in March.

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BOB DOUGHTY: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is a government agency in the United States. NOAA officials use equipment on the floor and surface of the ocean to measure tsunamis. The great waves are difficult to predict.

NOAA spends forty million dollars a year in an effort to protect the United States from tsunamis. The country has operated a tsunami warning system for forty years. It operates two tsunami warning centers – one on the Hawaiian island of Oahu and another in Palmer, Alaska. Jenifer Rhoades supervises NOAA’s Tsunami Program.

JENIFER RHOADES: “What we acquire first is seismic data, and we start acquiring this within about ten seconds of an earthquake. And we use that to generate the initial product. Based on the seismic data alone, we determine the size of the earthquake and the magnitude of the earthquake and the location.”

NOAA's tsunami warning center in Palmer, Alaska

FAITH LAPIDUS: NOAA says tsunamis can move much faster than anyone can run. The agency says people in coastal areas need to recognize signs of a possible tsunami. These include hearing a roaring or sucking noise, seeing the ocean suddenly pull back or rise, or feeling a strong earthquake that lasts more than twenty seconds.