The tsunami waves that ripped countries in the Indian Ocean basin was also felt along the United States' east coast, including the Brevard County, Fla., coastline, according to a The New York Times report Friday.

The waves that reached Central Florida were so small that only tide gauges noticed the swells, according to the report.

TSUNAMI Interactive: Earthquakes Archive: Asian Tsunami Map

A tide gauge at Port Canaveral recorded 13.4-inch waves some 32 hours after the earthquake hit off Sumatra's northwest coast on Dec. 26, according to Dr. Alexander B. Rabinovich of the Canadian Institute of Ocean Sciences in Sidney, British Columbia.

The Times said the tsunami was so powerful that it swept around the world over 36 hours, with its last waves affecting tide gauges from Russia's remote northeastern Pacific waters to the North Atlantic.

The tsunami ripples would have been imperceptible to Floridians, mingled among the other sloshing of waters there, but were clearly discernible in the data, Dr. Rabinovich told The Times.

George Maul, a Florida Tech marine expert, said a tsunami warning system is vital for the Atlantic Ocean, Local 6 News partner Florida Today reported.

"I think it’s - one more time - a wake-up call," said Maul, a professor of oceanography and head of the Department of Marine and Environmental Systems at the Melbourne college.

A similar tsunami here could inundate barrier islands along the eastern seaboard, with an untold death toll, according to the report.

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