Hilmar,
there was a tsunami warning issued from hawaii, but the procedures were not in place in the region to effectly deal with them. satelites cannot really pick up tsunami's in open watch but buoys and under water sensors can. the waves were not actually that big in general ocean terms, the largest waves that hit, 10 metre last i heard, are often recorded in hawaii in the normal course of events, i even saw a program about a band of a few surfers that ride them!
Slán
~M

>I was wondering - the tsunami was said to advance at a speed of ca. 500 km/h. Wouldn't that give enough time to warn people in coastal regions to move to higher areas? I think it should be possible to observe such a monster from sattelites or something - or perhaps suspect that something might happen, as soon as the earthquake is detected.