actually they said the waves were moving at 500 MPH....
That would be closest to the quake. Further away they slow down. But yeah, sixty would be the minimum -- probably much faster.
500 mph???? Oh my.
They move at 500 MPH over the open ocean, as they approach shallow water they slow down considerably, and as a result they get much higher.
They're not moving that fast that close to shore. They only move that fast in the open ocean when they're a few inches high.
The waves move at 500 mph. And they are not 'breakers' as we have them here in LA, but rather huge, long surges where the water just rises and rises. Water is SO STRONG.
Not that close to shore; maybe 30 mph. When is slows down is when the SWELL really bulges.
I think the pressure wave can travel through deep blue water at superfast speeds, but it slows down considerably as the wave is forced up by the shore. It trades off velocity as it becomes tall and visible. But I'm sure it hits fast enough that resistance is futile.
They say the waves were up to 500 mph in the deep ocean...but slow to about 30mph when they reach shallow water.
That's true only in the open sea. The wave is quite modest in height, and even small craft can deal with it.
Only when it approaches shore and trades kinetic energy for height, does it slow down to 50-100 mph, depending on the nature of the last mile of sea floor before reaching shore.