[WestVirginiaRebel]

I don't know about them, but if I saw something like that coming towards me, I'd have started a-runnin'.

[DC native]

The photo that shows the water having already receded and the folks strolling unconcerned on the beach is very interesting..they don't even appear to be looking out curiously at the lack of sea. I don't mean to be a Monday morning quarterback or to insult the dead, but it does seem as if the sight of that receding water would make people almost involuntarily run for their lives.

[Spktyr]

If you can see the wave coming in at sea level, unless you're really lucky (say, standing next to a tall sturdy hotel building), it's already too late. If I remember my physics right, tsunami waves can move up to *600*mph, depending on the depth of water - the deeper the water, the faster it goes.

Check out http://www.baird.com/baird/en_html/indian_ocean/indianocean.html for the before and after pictures.

Assuming that you're about 6' tall, at sea level, the horizon is about 3.29 miles away. Tsunamis in harbor waters seem to run between 20-60mph. Even assuming the wave is at 20mph, it's upon you in about 9.87 minutes. The average male human sprints at about 15mph. If you start running off the beach the second the wave appears on the horizon (not likely, has to be closer for you to see and parse it), the best case scenario puts you about 2.5 miles by the time the wave makes landfall. However, since most people can't run that fast for that far (IIRC, the "civilian reasonably fit" standard is about 8-9 minutes for a mile), you're probably only going to be about a mile inland or so, and the wave will engulf you within a couple of minutes, even if you keep running.