Coligny wrote:So... like a tsunami in fact (...)
Actually not. Tsunami travel on the seabed while regular swell long or short period produced by wind travels on the sea surface. Waves produced by wind are predictable and will break before the coastline while tsunami will push inward from the coastline. The idiots in charge in France have prepared for large regularly occurring surf while the idiots in charge of in Japan have also done the same while not considering the not so regular occurring freak waves associated with earthquakes.