What a nightmare.....I wouldn't think you could outrun a tsunami that comes without a warning system in place.
We have a plan of action here in Newport Oregon but if it ever needed to be put in place for real it scares me that the County would screw it up. Past history.
North from us in Tillamook they have sirens to let residents know to head to higher ground.
I live on the Bay at the mouth of the Pacific, literally and we have had two felt quakes off the coast in the last six months.
I have been here 15 yrs and no quakes, left Cali to come up here after the Bay Area quake in '89.
Now we have quakes offshore 200miles + all the time and no bigger than 4.0.
Scary stuff. I was shaken mentally after the two here that were small so I cannot fathom the mental anxiety and suffering of those in the Indian Ocean Christmas quake.
Thing is in Oregon it's a relatively short distance to higher ground.
Even a truly huge tsunami is going to be lower than the altitude a normal person can walk to in a fairly brief period of time.
For the most likely source of a tsunami (Alaska) you're going to have several hours of warning; even if some horrible traffic jam develops you should be able to walk inland far enough to get 100+ feet above sea level.
Of course, a huge Cascadia quake is another problem. The waves will be onshore quite quickly. Still, if you start heading inland when you FEEL a big quake (don't wait for tsunami warning) you still should be able to escape a tsunami by simply walking.
The thing to keep in mind is that if you get stuck in some sort of evacuation traffic jam in a car is to abandon the car and walk if you have to.
Japan has a type of civil defense system just for tsunami watching. They have also built a system of sea walls to help slow waves if tsunamis occur.
The photos I posted merely touch on the damage and chaos.
Praying for the victims and their families.
How high above sea level is your house. I think I asked before but I've forgotten. Sorry.
Basically what the USGS article stated is that the fault moved along a distance of 621 miles; that is, a stretch of seafloor moved relative to the seafloor next to it, upwards, along a length of 621 miles....how far up I don't know, probably on the order of 20+ feet.
Stop and think about how much water a 621 mile long stretch of ocean floor moving upwards 20+ feet would "displace" or move. That's how you get the tsunami energy.