The following animation shows the Japanese tsunami propagating throughout the Pacific Ocean.

As the tsunami radiates from Japan, it encounters complex topography and bathymetry in form of ridges and volcanoes  that create this complex wave pattern of scattering and reflective waves.

By the eight hour mark, the tsunami had encountered the Hawaiian Islands' populated areas.

After nine and a half hours it was hitting the West Coast of the United States.

Notice how complex this wave pattern is becoming as it encounters more topography and more bathymetry and now you're seeing reflected and refracted waves throughout the entire Pacific.

At the sixteen hour mark, the tsunami now has propagated throughout the Pacific and is entering the Indian Ocean and enveloping the New Zealand Islands.

At twenty-two hour mark, the tsunami had propagated throughout the entire Pacific Ocean.

One way to simplify the interpretation of this complex wave field is to compute the tsunami energy pattern, shown on this map.

The red colors indicate where the maximum force is directed.