This supercomputer created by Bay Area scientists can predict tsunamis

Bay Area supercomputer predicts tsunamis in real time

Bay Area supercomputer predicts tsunamis in real time

LIVERMORE, Calif. - A Bay Area laboratory has developed technology that can predict tsunamis in real-time. KTVU got a look at the "world's fastest supercomputer" on Tuesday, coming off the heels of a tsunami advisory last month prompted by an earthquake in Russia.

Many computers operate on just one graphics processing unit, or GPU. 

This supercomputer has more than 40,000 GPUs, according to Tzanio Kolev, a computational mathematician at Lawrence Livermore National Lab.

The Livermore laboratory developed a "digital twin" for predicting tsunamis in real-time.

"We have a system where you can take data from sensors on the ocean floor and turn it into a prediction when waves hit the shore," Kolev said.

The name of the computer is El Capitan. Kolev says this model is much faster than other forecasts, which could take days.

Tsunami wake-up call: How faraway quakes threaten California

Christa von Hillebrandt-Andrade, deputy director at the NOAA International Tsunami Information Center, explains early warnings, coastal vulnerabilities, and what California can learn from the Caribbean's playbook.

Computer named ‘El Capitan’

Dig deeper:

"This is the best model that we know of for predicting waves," Kolev said. "It is called partial differential equation. Lots of computations. They require a machine called El Capitan." 

The computer is faster than one million smartphones, and it does 1.74 quintillion calculations per second.

"That is billion billions. That is what El Capitan can do in one second," he said.

The lab worked with the University of Texas, Austin and UC San Diego on the project. 

Kolev says this was a demonstration and hopes to do more in the future.

"To help inform policy folks. What would be good to implement. What is possible if these sensors are put in place and where to put them in place," he added.

The supercomputer is a finalist for the Gordon Bell Prize, which garners entries from scientists around the world. 

The computer weighs 1.3 million pounds, the same as four blue whales or 100 African elephants.