Quote:
Originally Posted by wyndslash
well, when it comes to stuff like that, i do want them to be precise. i mean...well, it's sensitive stuff, and had they rounded it up, might have induced more panic? though really, most of japan's locals are already used to earthquakes.
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Unless USGS really meant 0.50+/-0.002m, giving the conversion as 19.6 inches is ridiculous.
In fact checking the predictions, it's given as 0.5m, not 0.50m, so I think the precision is at best 0.5+/-0.05m, which translates to 20+/-2 inches.
As for rounding up or down to the nearest inch in the conversion - are people really going to panic about a 20" tsunami when they're fine with a 19" one?
In addition, in this case, giving the spurious precision may lead to a false sense of security.