GPS is used to predict tsunamis.
The Global Positioning System, more commonly known as GPS, could produce a more accurate tsunami warning than traditional seismological systems, and provide a greater chance of responding to the giant incoming waves.
Satellite based GPS can detect an earthquake and give detailed information within minutes afterwards.
Scientists from the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences think that GPS navigation systems can be useful for tracking the movement of the earth, and calculating the size of an earthquake.
Lead researcher Doctor Andreas Hoechner said they can then use that information to “predict the tsunami and see how high a wave could be expected, with some accuracy."
The 2011 tsunami in Japan killed thousands of people and left hundreds of thousands homeless.
Although there were warnings of a tsunami within three minutes after the earthquake, the size was significantly under estimated, and the 12 hundred GPS stations in Japan that are monitoring movement on the ocean floor are not connected with tsunami warning systems.
Countries like United States and Chile are installing GPS for their coastlines.