In addition, the U.S. scientists in Hawaii originally had vastly underestimated the size of the underwater earthquake. Initial calculations put the earthquake at a magnitude of 8.0. In fact the earthquake was a magnitude of 9.0 — 10 times more powerful than the original estimate.

Charles McCreery, the director of the center, said “Based on it being an 8.0, we assumed the damage would be confined to Sumatra and would be a local tsunami event, one that strikes shore within minutes of the event,”