Tsunami Debris Closing on Hawaii Beaches One of the most iconic
photos to appear after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in
Japan was that of a house, floating alone in the sea. The U.S.
Navy photo illustrates the nature of the tsunami, which not only
damaged buildings ashore but swept debris from the shore out to
sea. Estimates vary on the amount of debris but KITV-4 in Hawaii
quotes experts as saying it may range from five to twenty
million tons. A Russian sail training ship, the STS Pallada, ran
in to the debris field about 700 miles northwest of Midway atoll
in September. Researchers at the International Pacific Research
Center (IPRC), University of Hawaii at Manoa modeling the
anticipated movement of the mass of debris were startled since
the field has moved east much faster than expected. Under the
direction of Nikolai Maximenko, senior researcher on the
project, new estimates are being produced that project the
arrival of tsunami debris at various locations in the Pacific.
Jan Hafner, from the IPRC,