And there were people who did not have life preservers, were not offshore in
a boat, nor were they diving and they still survived... Basically, when the
sh.t hits the fan, sometimes you can squeeze between the blades...

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen,
Yes scuba gear could have helped the ones that were diving offshore and
offshore really means a few hundred yards from the beach sometimes,
The possibility of survival in such a scenario would be proportional to
the topography of the bottom and your relationship to it and the depth
at which you find yourself at the time,
What a diver would experience and again depending on a particular
scenario:
you are at 60 feet the colon of water is now going over you if the wave
is 10 meter (<> 30feet) your gauge probably would show first that you
are at 30 feet of water for a brief moment and you would feel like a
rapid ascent, your ears would probably hurt should you be congested on
the first place (cold etc)
Than your gauge would show 90 feet for the whole duration of that
particular length of the wave (pulse) and there you probably (anybody
cold or not) hurt since the chance for pain is much greater during a
descent than ascent (generalization)
Than  your gauge would stabilize gradually back towards 60  feet until
the next pulse (wave)
That wave now will pick up amplitude depending again on the bottom of
the ocean, assuming that there is a shoal and depending on how
aggressive that shoal is will determine the amplitude (magnitude)
(height) so the water would slow down but the wall would grow higher.
I was supposed to spend the 24th of December in Phucket in a resort
owned by a Swedish friend, at this time over 2000 Swedes families have
not reported sign of survival back to Sweden and presumed Dead..
Incidentally the scenario above happened to Ken Stotler who was diving
in Alaska during the last major earth quake March 27, 1964.
Ken Stotler has a long history in the professional and commercial
diving communities and I lost touch with him for about 5 years.
Any body who knows him please advise.
a link to Alaska earh quake
http://www.vibrationdata.com/earthquakes/alaska.htm

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Best Regards and Happy Holiday Season
Christian StClaire StClaireUSA@GMail.com