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News and Science Phuket to Get Weather, Tsunami Radar System Phucet Wan - March 10, 2010 - WEATHER warnings for offshore sailing could soon be improved for Phuket and the Andaman coast with the installation of a new 200 million baht radar system, a seminar was told this week.
The radar set-up could also help to warn of future tsunamis. The radar can read the height and speed of the waves.[...] The radar would give at least 15 minutes' warning of a tsunami, (...).
| To top Quake Finds Tsunami Forecasts Still Limited The New York Times - March 02, 2010 - [...] There were direct historical precedents. In 1960, a magnitude 9.5 earthquake off Chile, the largest earthquake ever recorded, generated a tsunami that killed 61 people in Hawaii and more than 100 in Japan.[...] But not all magnitude 8.8 earthquakes generate equally large tsunamis. If the earthquake occurs in shallower water, the uplift of the sea floor would displace less water, setting off a smaller tsunami.
| To top Why Bigger Quake Sows Less Damage The Wall Street Journal - March 01, 2010 - Scientists Say Recent Temblors Are Unrelated; Underwater Topography May Explain Where Tsunami Wreaked Havoc.[...] The Chilean tsunami spared Hawaii, Japan, and almost every other location across the Pacific, but it did devastate some coastal towns in Chile, such as Pellehue, population 1,000. Why that town was hit while most other areas were spared is as yet unknown but may be due to the topography under water. Experts say irregular coastlines and those with sudden drop-offs and changes in water depth are the most likely to generate large, destructive tsunami waves.
| To top Japan Breathes Sigh of Relief as Tsunami Passes NYTimes - February 28, 2010 - (...) Nearly a half million people in Japan were ordered to higher ground on Sunday, as coastal areas across the vast Pacific region braced for lethal tsunami waves. But only small waves appeared, and there were no reports of damage.(...) The Asia-Pacific region waited in suspense for almost 24 hours, the time that scientists predicted it would take shock waves from the powerful earthquake to race across the ocean in the form of massive waves.
| To top TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 007 PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER/NOAA/NWS - February 27, 2010 - ... A WIDESPREAD TSUNAMI WARNING IS IN EFFECT ...
A TSUNAMI WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR CHILE / PERU / ECUADOR / COLOMBIA / ANTARCTICA / PANAMA / COSTA RICA / NICARAGUA / PITCAIRN / HONDURAS / EL SALVADOR / GUATEMALA / FR. POLYNESIA / MEXICO / COOK ISLANDS / KIRIBATI / KERMADEC IS / NIUE / NEW ZEALAND / TONGA / AMERICAN SAMOA / SAMOA / JARVIS IS. / WALLIS-FUTUNA / TOKELAU / FIJI / AUSTRALIA / HAWAII / PALMYRA IS. / TUVALU / VANUATU / HOWLAND-BAKER / NEW CALEDONIA / JOHNSTON IS. / SOLOMON IS. / NAURU / MARSHALL IS. / MIDWAY IS. / KOSRAE / PAPUA NEW GUINEA / POHNPEI / WAKE IS. / CHUUK / RUSSIA / MARCUS IS. / INDONESIA / N. MARIANAS / GUAM / YAP / BELAU / JAPAN / PHILIPPINES / CHINESE TAIPEI
| To top To top After the Tsunami came a flood of developers guardian.co.uk - February 22, 2010 - The southern Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala were devastated by the 2004 tsunami. Their recovery has been hindered by a tourist boom which has led to further displacement, loss of livelihoods and environmental degradation.
The rapid spread of hotels and beachfront developments means that fishermen are increasingly being forced to relocate inland. (-> 8 pictures)
| To top Big quake inevitable sonomanews - February 22, 2010 - The horrible devastation caused by the earthquake in Haiti is a reminder that California and the rest of the West Coast of North America is one of the world's most vulnerable targets of major earthquakes and, often, an accompanying tsunami - (...).[...] Studies by experts from the United States, Japan and Canada have found evidence that such major earthquakes in the West have occurred approximately every 500 years, thus relieving the accumulated pressure. That pressure has now been building up for 310 years.
| To top Current induced by submarine cables may provide tsunami warning The Hindu - February 19, 2010 - Scientists have found ways to monitor tsunamis through underwater network of communication cables, says a new study. [...] The scientists used computer models to estimate the size of an electric field created by the force of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami as it travelled over major submarine cables. Salty seawater, a good conductor of electricity, generates an electric field as it moves through earth's geomagnetic field.
| To top Ask AP: Earthquake predictions, commander-in-chief www.sanluisobispo.com - February 12, 2010 -
By The Associated Press : [...] While predicting earthquakes isn't currently possible, advances in the past decade using global positioning system measurements to reveal subtle changes in the Earth's crust have aided science's ability to forecast the probabilities of strong quakes along many fault zones.[...] That data, along with a fault's past history of strong quakes and the time that's elapsed since the last such temblor, help scientists calculate the amount of stress faults can take before their plates suddenly slip, causing a quake.
| To top USGS & Quakes: Worldwide Earthquake 'Tsunami' Keeps Scientists Busy The Post Chronicle - February 11, 2010 - While the world continues to clean up after the last, worst earthquake in Haiti, U.S. Geological Survey scientists are trying to manage the information being generated by several earthquakes in the past few months.
Here are some recent headlines demonstrating an uptick in earthquakes, starting today, from the last six months:(=> long list)
| To top Earthquake strikes off Japanese coast InsideJapan News Network - February 08, 2010 - An earthquake struck off the coast of the southern coast of Japan yesterday (February 7th). The quake, which also triggered a small tsunami, registered between 6.4 and 6.6 on the Richter scale and hit around 70 miles off the southern coast of the Japanese island of Miyakojima, which is 1,120 miles away from the capital city, Tokyo.[...] Japan is hit by an estimated 1,500 earthquakes every year and is one of the world's most prone countries to quakes, due to its tectonic plate position.
| To top Destination Tsunami: Stories and Struggles from India's southern coast guardian.co.uk - February 02, 2010 - An exclusive photography exhibition exploring tourism's impacts on tsunami-affected communities __ It is five years since the December 2004 tsunami devastated the southern Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. This exhibition tells the stories and conveys the hardships endured by coastal communities as they now attempt to withstand the multiple pressures of rapid tourism development. This includes the threat of displacement from their land, environmental degradation, loss of livelihoods and alienation from traditional ways of life.
| To top Tsunami Warning System: Can it Save Indonesia? DiscoveryNews - February 02, 2010 - [...] There is a bright spot: a high-tech tsunami warning system that's been partly operational is set to go fully live next month.[...] It worked as planned after two large quakes shock the region in September 2007, issuing a tsunami warning within five minutes after the shaking stopped. [...] Researchers write in the latest issue of Nature Geoscience: "Forecasts have indicated that the next Mentawai earthquake will produce strong shaking along the Sumatran coast and will probably be tsunamigenic.
| To top Researchers theorize giant wave created Yellowstone crater complex in blast www.missoulian.com - January 29, 2010 - [...] While the park's supervolcano and seismic activity may draw researchers' attention and the public's interest, the hydrothermal processes at work in Yellowstone are no less fascinating, especially the Mary Bay explosion. According to the researchers, the tsunami-like wave could have been triggered by the shifting of a fault underneath the lake, much the same way that a tsunami in the Indian Ocean was caused by a 2004 underwater earthquake.
| To top Jan26, 1700: Northwest quake unleashes Trans-Pacific Tsunami www.wired.com - January 26, 2010 - [...] Scientists were able to pinpoint the precise date of the 1700 earthquake using tree rings in ghost forests along the coast. The quake caused ground along the coast to permanently drop around 5 feet, lowering coastal forests into salt water. These dead trees were eventually buried, as the lowered ground was filled in. Scientists unearthed some of the dead stumps and studied their growth rings.
| To top Killer Tsunami Wrecked Haitian 'Little Paradise' DiscoveryNews - January 26, 2010 - Out west from the destroyed city of Port-au-Prince, the small village of Petis Paradis (which translates to "Little Paradise" in English) is reeling from a tsunami that struck following the magnitude 7.0 earthquake on January 12. Most reports missed this, because the damage was concentrated in a small area, but footage from the beach community and satellite images confirm that the coastline was violently rearranged after the quake, probably because of a landslide and tsunami.
| To top A Deadly Quake in a Seismic Hot Zone The New York Times - January 25, 2010 - [...] The recent quake on the Enriquillo fault and the forecast for the Septentrional are bleak reminders that the Caribbean is an active seismic zone, one with many hazards. Major earthquakes have regularly devastated the region’s cities, including the Jamaican capital, Kingston, which was destroyed twice in three centuries.[...] Earthquakes and landslides along the Puerto Rico Trench, an undersea fault zone, have the potential to cause tsunamis.
| To top Heightened Earthquake Risk in Indonesia ScienceDaily - January 19, 2010 - The earthquake which rocked Padang, western Sumatra in September last year killing more than 1000 people was not the 'great earthquake' which earth scientists are waiting for. In fact, it may have made the next massive earthquake more likely. That is the key conclusion of a paper published January 18 in the journal Nature Geoscience.[...] Professor McCloskey and his group rapidly analysed the M9.2 earthquake that triggered the Indian Ocean 2004 Boxing Day tsunami and alerted the world to the threat of another large quake in the Sumatra region of the Indian Ocean 10 days before it struck. He is head of the Geophysics Research Group at Ulster's Environmental Sciences Research Institute.
| To top Undersea Internet Cables Could Detect Electromagnetic Tsunami Signals Wired Science - January 19, 2010 -
Tsunamis may be detectable with underwater fiber-optic cables, according to a new detailed model of the electrical fields the moving water generates. The charged particles in the ocean water interact with Earth’s magnetic field to induce voltage of up to 500 millivolts in the cables that ferry internet traffic around. With relatively simple technology, those voltage spikes could serve as a tsunami-warning system for nations that can’t afford large arrays of other types of sensors. “What we argue is that this is such a simple system to set up and start measuring,” said Manoj Nair, a geomagnetist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who led the research. “We have a system of submarine cables already existing. The only thing we probably need is a voltmeter, in theory.” [...] It’s a major step towards turning this speculative idea into a real system, and he stressed that other groups would have to confirm the results of their model through observations.
| To top Tsunami-generating quake possible off Indonesia, say scientists Asia Pacific News - January 17, 2010 - PARIS: A huge wave-generating quake capable of killing as many people as in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami could strike off the Indonesian island of Sumatra, and the city of Padang is in the firing line, a team of seismologists said on Sunday. The group - led by a prominent scientist who predicted a 2005 Sumatran quake with uncanny accuracy - issued the warning in a letter to the journal Nature Geoscience. The peril comes from a relentless buildup of pressure over the last two centuries on a section of the Sunda Trench, one of the world's most notorious earthquake zones, which runs parallel to the western Sumatra coast, they said.
| To top The world's deadliest quakes since 1970 The Associated Press - January 14, 2010 -
-- Here is a list of the world's 10 most deadly quakes over the last 40 years. The list does not include Haiti's magnitude 7.0 earthquake Tuesday where officials estimate the death toll at more than 45,000. [--> list] Source: U.S. Geological Survey and WHO's International Disaster Database
| To top Haiti earthquake feared to have killed hundreds BBC_News - January 13, 2010 -
A 7.0-magnitude quake which hit south of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince is feared to have killed hundreds of people across the Caribbean country. In the space of a minute, Haiti's worst quake in two centuries wrecked the HQ of the UN mission, the presidential palace and numerous other buildings. [...] The quake, which struck about 15km (10 miles) south-west of Port-au-Prince, was quickly followed by two strong aftershocks of 5.9 and 5.5 magnitude. [...] Mike Blanpied of the US Geological Survey said that, based on the location and size of the quake, about three million people would have been severely shaken by its impact. "This quake occurred under land as opposed to offshore, so a lot of people were directly exposed to the shaking coming off that earthquake fault, which was quite shallow," he told the BBC. [...] In the immediate aftermath of the quake, a tsunami watch was put out for Haiti, Cuba and the Bahamas, but this was later lifted.
| To top IIIT-A’s latest invention: A system to detect tsunami IndianExpress.com - January 11, 2010 - The Indian Institute of Information Technology-Allahabad (IIIT-A) is working on developing sensors to help detect tsunamis and issue subsequent warnings of the same. The project comprises two important components — a network of sensors to detect tsunamis and a communications infrastructure to issue timely alarms to facilitate evacuation of coastal areas. “We are working on two distinct types of tsunami warning systems: international and regional. Both work on one fact — while tsunamis travel at between 500 and 1,000 km/hour in open water, earthquakes can be detected almost at once as seismic waves travel with a typical speed of around 14,400 km/hour. This gives time to predict the occurrence of a tsunami and issue warnings to threatened areas,” said Dr MD Tiwari, institute director.
| To top South Seas Quake-Tsunami Wrecks Villages Earthweek.com - January 08, 2010 - The strongest in a series of powerful South Pacific earthquakes just offshore from the Solomon Islands unleashed a tsunami on Monday that struck several coastal villages. [...] It’s believe the lack of fatalities this time is due to the population learning two years ago to head to higher ground immediately upon feeling a quake.
| To top Earthquakes Cause over 1700 Deaths in 2009 USGS - January 08, 2010 -
At least 1783 deaths worldwide resulted from earthquake activity in 2009. The deadliest earthquake of the year was a magnitude 7.5 event that killed approximately 1117 people in southern Sumatra, Indonesia on Sept. 30, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and confirmed by the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). [...] The past year also marked the five-year anniversary of the magnitude 9.1 Sumatra-Andaman Island earthquake and subsequent tsunami on Dec. 26, 2004. That quake and tsunami killed 227,898 people, which is the fourth largest casualty toll for earthquakes and the largest toll for a tsunami in recorded history. As a consequence of that earthquake, the USGS has significantly improved its earthquake notification and response capabilities. Improvements include the addition of nine real-time seismic stations across the Caribbean basin, a seismic and tsunami prone region near the U.S. southern border, implementation of a 24x7 earthquake operations center at the USGS National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC), and development of innovative tools for rapid evaluation of population exposure and damage to potentially damaging earthquakes.
| To top Quake, tsunami destroyed 200 homes in Solomon Islands, official says The Associated Press - January 05, 2010 - HONIARA, Solomon Islands - A disaster management official said today that an earthquake and a tsunami destroyed 200 homes on one of the Solomon Islands, leaving about one-third of the island's population homeless.
Disaster management office director Loti Yates says visual assessments from the air show extensive damage after a 7.2-magnitude temblor struck Monday.
| To top Planting trees along coastline no protection against Tsunami Thaindian News - January 04, 2010 -
Sydney, Jan 4 (IANS) Coastal vegetation can slow down wind waves but it cannot stop a Tsunami, warns a team of international scientists. The team also warns against planting alien tree species along exposed coastlines, that would only destroy local ecosystems and displace people. In the wake of the Indian Ocean Tsunami that struck in December 2004, many conservation organisations and some scientists claimed that coastal vegetation could reduce the damage caused by Tsunamis. [...] However, after reviewing over 30 papers on the subject, researchers from Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, France, Guam, India, Sri Lanka and the US conclude that most of the original claims were false.
| To top 2004 tsunami spurred development of NOAA warning system GCN-Government Computer News - December 28, 2009 - When a tsunami killed more than 200,000 people in the Indian Ocean on Dec. 26, 2004, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s warning system was in its infancy. In the five years since then it has matured into an international network of nearly 50 sensors feeding near-real-time data to sophisticated computer models to produce detailed forecasts and warnings.
NOAA’s Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis program (DART) has deployed 39 second-generation sensors in three oceans communicating with warning centers via IP satellite links. Data also is gathered from sensors deployed by four other coastal nations. [...] The heart of the DART system is a network of ocean buoys that report sea level changes as measured by water pressure on the ocean floor, as far as 4,000 meters below the surface. This data is transmitted over an IP link through the Iridium satellite network to NOAA tsunami warning centers. [...] DART II, the current generation of technology, has two-way communications to enable on-demand data transmission from the stations. This can allow the identification of tsunamis below the automatic reporting threshold of the sensors, which can provide valuable data.
| To top Tsunami early warning must start at community level REUTERS - December 25, 2009 - LONDON (Reuters) - Five years on from the Indian Ocean tsunami, the region has its own early warning system but experts say the new technology will not save lives unless local communities are more involved in planning how to respond. The 230,000 people killed in Africa and Asia by the 2004 tsunami received no formal warning of the approaching waves. Since then, millions of dollars have gone into building a vast network of seismic and tsunami information centers, setting up sea and coastal instruments and erecting warning towers. But studies show that the closer the warning gets to those it is designed to help, the more it fades out, and much more needs to be done to connect the technology to the people. [...] In a June 2009 report, the Global Network of Civil Society Organisations for Disaster Reduction found community participation in the decision-making process was insufficient. It said the emphasis must shift from international and national policy-making to policy execution on the ground.
| To top Asian tsunami warning system: A last-mile challenge CNN - December 24, 2009 - [...] Twenty nations took part in the October tsunami drill. The Indian Ocean region now has new deep-water buoys -- or tsunami sensors, sirens, tide gauges and a web of communications systems to help forewarn a future catastrophe. But experts said the new instruments and drills are not enough. Educating communities about how to react to signs of a threat like a tsunami -- with or without an official warning -- is what they see as a key challenge. "Technology will improve ... the question is how we go to the last mile," said Costas Synolakis, a professor of civil engineering at the University of South California. [...] Situated in a high-risk zone, Indonesia now has developed the capability to warn of the potential for a tsunami from an undersea earthquake within five minutes of its occurrence.
| To top Run to the nearest tall building to survive a tsunami! Newspost Online - December 20, 2009 -
In a new research, scientists have suggested that fleeing residents would have a better chance of surviving a tsunami if instead of all attempting an evacuation, some could run to the nearest tall building to ride out the wave, which is known as “vertical evacuation”. Vertical evacuation could save thousands of lives, but only if the city’s buildings are reinforced to withstand both earthquakes and tsunamis. “In the event of a tsunami, hundreds of thousands of people would be at risk and could have been killed, all because they couldn’t evacuate fast enough,” said Greg Deierlein, professor of civil and environmental engineering. “Indonesia is at high risk for a large tsunami, and horizontal evacuation strategies alone – by motor vehicle or foot – are clearly not adequate,” he said. [...] Though designing a brand-new building to withstand a tsunami would provide optimal protection from the onslaught of waves, it is often more economical to retrofit. To retrofit buildings, engineers turn to computer models that combine principles of geophysics and structural engineering.
| To top Dec. 26, 2009 Marks Five Years Since Sumatra Indonesia Tsunami Killed 230,000 NOAA.gov - December 17, 2009 -
[...] Since 2004, NOAA has received more than $90 million to expand the nation’s tsunami detection and warning capabilities, and an additional $135 million for research, integrated observing systems, hazard mitigation through education and community preparedness, and for a global tsunami warning and education network and technology transfer program. As a result of this investment, the nation and the world are better prepared for the next big tsunami. Consider:(rem:: few items) - In 2004, NOAA had no high-resolution tsunami models available for forecasting the impact of a tsunami along U.S. coastlines. Today, the two U.S. tsunami warning centers have 43 high-resolution models for real-time inundation forecasts for tsunami threatened coastal communities.
- In 2004, the number of water level stations directly supporting tsunami detection was limited, and high-frequency data were not available. Today, 164 water level stations have been installed or upgraded to fully support tsunami warning operations.
- In 2004, 80 percent of the Global Seismographic Network data was transmitted in real-time. Today, with the support of the U.S. Geological Survey and its partners, the network has been fully upgraded to transmit 100 percent of its seismic data in real-time. In addition, NOAA upgraded its seismic networks in Alaska and Hawaii and developed and implemented new seismic processing capabilities to resolve the nature of seismic events more efficiently, significantly reducing the time to issue tsunami watches and warnings.
| To top Tsunami five-year progress report 2004-2009 ReliefWeb - December 09, 2009 - [...] Over the past five years, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has channelled public donations into recovery programmes that have supported almost 5 million people across the four worst-affected countries - Indonesia, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The enormous scale and scope of the operation has meant that thousands of people are now living in stronger homes supported by a more sustainable economic and social foundation. More than 57,000 houses have been built or are being completed. Over 650,000 people now have clean water to drink. More than 94,000 households have boats, fishing nets, agricultural tools or have used cash grants to help them recover their livelihoods. The finishing touches are being put on 363 hospitals and clinics that are being built or rehabilitated. 161 schools have been constructed with a further 11 under way. [...] As the immense task of rebuilding houses, hospitals, water systems and livelihoods finishes, we can see more clearly the lessons of the tsunami and how this operation has fundamentally changed the way the Red Cross Red Crescent responds to large-scale disasters.
| To top Scientists detail results of Samoa tsunami analysis Pacific.Scoop - December 07, 2009 - Analysis of the ecological, geographical, and communal impact of the Samoa tsunami has been completed by a group of international scientists. [...] This project was unique in that it involved a coordinated team of international scientists who sought to collect evidence across a wide spectrum of the tsunami’s impact on communities, individuals, infrastructure, and the environment. [...] The Samoa tsunami consisted of two to three significant waves; the second wave was said by witnesses to be larger. The delay between the earthquake and the arrival of the first wave was about 10 minutes in Samoa and 20 minutes in American Samoa. [...] Building damage was correlated with water depth, structural strength, shielding, condition of foundations, quality of building materials used, quality of workmanship, and adherence to the building code. It was also very clear that plants, trees, and mangroves reduced flow speeds and depths over land – leading to greater chances of human survival and lower levels of building damage.
| To top Samoa tsunami 'four storeys high' english.aljazeera.net - December 04, 2009 - The deadly tsunami that struck the Samoan islands and other parts of the Pacific in late September towered up to 14 metres high, or about the height of a four-storey building, scientists have found. The findings follow a study by New Zealand scientists that they hope will form the basis for guarding against future similar disasters. According to the group, the terrifying wave was more than twice as high as most of the buildings it slammed into and reached up to 700 metres inland. [...] The scientists said the Samoa tsunami consisted of two to three significant waves, citing eyewitness accounts that the second wave was larger. Their findings showed that the delay between the earthquake and the arrival of the first wave was about 10 minutes in Samoa and 20 minutes in American Samoa.
| To top Coastal belt of Pakistan needs topographical survey to avert a tsunami disaster Daily Times - November 28, 2009 - KARACHI: The absence of topographical models for the cities lying in the coastal belt of Sindh and Balochistan and the sea can result in heavy losses, oceanographic experts and seismologists have warned.
The provinces of Sindh and Balochistan run a high risk for a possible tsunami due to the presence of the Makran Subduction Zone (MSZ) lying in the Balochistan region that has already been a victim of a destructive tsunami in the last century.
Experts claim that for disaster mitigation, it is necessary to conduct a bathymetrical and topographical survey of the Arabian Sea and coastal cities and towns of Sindh and Balochistan both. [...] History reveals that MSZ has generated many tsunamigenic earthquakes in the northern Arabian Sea making the region vulnerable to tsunamis.
| To top New website for tsunami preparation www.dnaindia.com - November 22, 2009 -
Washington: Scientists and Web developers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have created a new educational Web site with crucial tips on how to prepare for and survive a tsunami. Tagged as "an interactive guide that could save your life," the site also features the latest tsunami-related science research and compelling tsunami survivor videos and interviews. [...] The new Web site, http://www.whoi.edu/home/interactive/tsunami/, is intended to be a resource for both residents and visitors to coastal zones of the US and the rest of the world, as well as an educational tool for students from the middle-school level and up.
| To top 60% of RP population vulnerable to tsunamis BusinessMirror - November 18, 2009 - THE Philippines needs to relocate more than half of the people living in coastal areas as they face tsunamis and disasters linked to climate change, according to a marine biologist. Former environment secretary Angel Alcala, a marine biologist, who delivered the keynote address of the launching of the United Nations State of World Population on Wednesday said the Philippines has four tsunami areas where the “Earth’s lithospheric plates are [constantly] interacting. ”He said the tsunami-prone areas include south Negros Island; the Cotabato Trench, where 7,000 people were killed in the tsunami in 1976; the Philippine Deep; and the Manila Trench, which starts from the west side of Mindoro Island. “At least 60 percent of the country’s population live in coastal areas, and they are the most vulnerable to storm surges, strong winds, heavy rainfall and tsunamis,”
| To top Ireland could be hit by a tsunami, claims expert IrishCentral.com - November 11, 2009 - Ireland has the potential to be hit by a tsunami, according to NUI Galway Professor Mike Williams. And it wouldn't be the first time it has happened, either! [...] Williams first noticed Ireland's tsunami history when researching huge boulders on Ireland's West coast. He noticed that many boulders had been lodged on top of cliffs and other unlikely places. Some boulders are perched as high as 25 meters on top of a cliff. They were previously believed to be a result of glacial erratics, but the professor has come to the conclusion that they owe their origin to tidal waves and devastating storms, which have the power to hurl boulders onto cliffs and high land. [...] There have also been recordings of people being washed off cliff edges by massive freak waves. The Lisbon Earthquake on November 1, 1775 also sent a wave to Finland, England, North Africa and Ireland. A large tsunami resulting from the earthquake partially destroyed Galway's Spanish arch and carried many people away with it.
| To top Samoan tsunami was too close to prevent deaths: research PHYSORG.com - November 05, 2009 -
(Provided by UNSW Sydney) -- Samoa's tsunami detection, monitoring and warning system works well and could not have prevented the more than 100 deaths caused by the devastating tsunami that hit the region on September 29, a major international study has found. "The impossible issue here is that the earthquake that caused the tsunami occurred so close to the south coast of Samoa that there was simply not enough time to process the seismic data and issue a warning," says Associate Professor Dale Dominey-Howes, of UNSW's Australian Tsunami Research Centre, who led more than 80 scientists from 20 organisations in the landmark study. [...] The team recorded substantial inundation from the coast and a surprisingly high maximum run-up. Flow depths of the tsunami in some locations were also extremely high. The tsunami had widespread impacts on the natural environment, including erosion and deposition of sediments, damage to coastal plants and trees. Damage to agricultural gardens affected households' capacity to provide food. Building damage was extensive. The team also collected survivor accounts of the tsunami and noted that people are experiencing severe trauma.
| To top Planning Saved Lives in Samoan Tsunami USC News _ Global - November 04, 2009 - Community-based education and awareness programs minimized the death toll from the recent Samoan tsunami, though there are still ways to improve the warning and evacuation process, according to a team of researchers that traveled to Samoa last month. [...] The team’s survey data - especially critical in the immediate aftermath since perishable data would otherwise be lost forever - circled all of the main Samoan islands and spanned 350 kilometers from Ofu in the east to Savai’i in the west. The team learned that the tsunami impact peaked at Poloa near Tutuila’s western tip and Lepa at Upola’s southeast coast. Maximum run-up heights reached 17 meters at Poloa, and inundation distances and damage were recorded at Pago Pago, more than 500 meters inland. The harbor at Pago Pago, normally well-protected from ordinary storm waves, is a classic tsunami trap vulnerable to long-period tsunami waves.
| To top In the Mediterranean, Killer Tsunamis From an Ancient Eruption TheNewYorkTimes - November 02, 2009 - The massive eruption of the Thera volcano in the Aegean Sea more than 3,000 years ago produced killer waves that raced across hundreds of miles of the Eastern Mediterranean to inundate the area that is now Israel and probably other coastal sites, a team of scientists has found. The team, writing in the October issue of Geology, said the new evidence suggested that giant tsunamis from the catastrophic eruption hit “coastal sites across the Eastern Mediterranean littoral. [...] The region at the time was home to rising civilizations in Crete, Cyprus, Egypt, Phoenicia and Turkey. For decades, scholars have suggested that the giant eruption, just 70 miles from Crete, might have brought about the mysterious collapse of Minoan civilization at the peak of its glory.
| To top First Detailed Documentation Of Tsunami Erosion ScienceDaily - October 30, 2009 - [second source]
The Nov. 15, 2006, Kurils earthquake was large enough to raise alarms about the potential for a tsunami throughout the Pacific basin. Only very tiny waves were recorded on the Japanese island of Hokkaido, relatively near the Kurils. However, a tsunami nearly 6 feet high did more than $10 million damage to the harbor at Crescent City, Calif., some 4,500 miles away. The Kurils themselves were hit by tsunami waves more than 70 feet high in some places, and changes in topography were dramatic. The amount of erosion from a tsunami depends somewhat on the topography of the land, but definitely is related to the force of the wave, the scientists found. They noted that an area called South Bay on Matua Island lost about 50 cubic meters, or about 1,765 cubic feet, of sediment per meter of width, while an area called Ainu Bay lost an astounding 200 cubic meters, or about 7,060 cubic feet, of sediment per meter of width because of tsunami-induced erosion. [...] (...) that geologists have long considered erosion to be an important factor in studying tsunamis.
| To top Fortuitous research provides first detailed documentation of tsunami erosion www.physorg.com - October 27, 2009 -
(PhysOrg.com) -- For the first time, a group of scientists working in the Kuril Islands off the east coast of Russia has documented the scope of tsunami-caused erosion and found that a wave can carry away far more sand and dirt than it deposits. [...] When the scientists revisited coastlines they had surveyed in 2006, they found that in some places the amount of sand and soil removed by tsunami erosion was nearly 50 times greater than the amount deposited. [...] The team observed shorelines stripped of vegetation, small hills of soil and volcanic cinders washed away to expose boulders and, in one place, the unearthed rusty remnants of military equipment left behind at the end of World War II.
| To top First U.S. Tsunami Shelter Planned as Earthquake Looms National Geographic News - October 23, 2009 -
[...] The Pacific Northwest is one of the most dangerous earthquake and tsunami zones in the world—capable of producing magnitude 9 earthquakes followed within minutes by deadly, 50-foot (15.2-meter) high waves. [...] One way of improving survival odds is to build tsunami-resistant shelters in what's expected to be the worst danger zones, said Yumei Wang, a geotechnical engineer at the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries in Portland. Such buildings are built on sturdy, pillar-like stilts, with embankments or seawalls to dissipate waves.
| To top Samoa tsunamis obliterate some coral, spare others AP Associated Press - October 18, 2009 -
HONOLULU — Scientists surveying American Samoa's coral reefs say Sept. 29's tsunami obliterated some corals and damaged others to the point that they may not recover. Researchers say more assessments will be needed to get a full sense of how the disaster affected coral in the U.S. territory. But in at least one area, the damage was so severe, and the affected area already in such bad shape before the tsunamis, that the coral may never return. There's an additional threat the surviving coral may suffer secondary damage weeks after the tsunamis if waves drag heavy debris from people's wave-wrecked homes — like refrigerators, tin roofs and other objects — across the reefs. [...] American Samoa's corals were generally fairly healthy before the tsunami, particularly compared to reefs in the Caribbean or those off the Hawaiian island of Oahu.
| To top Pacific Quakes Stir Panic But Tsunamis Tiny The New York Times _ Reuters - October 08, 2009 - Undersea earthquakes caused panic in the South Pacific on Thursday, sending islanders fleeing to higher ground on fears of a second devastating tsunami in as many weeks, but a series of waves proved to be tiny and harmless. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued a tsunami warning for the entire southwest Pacific, which included island resorts and Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia, after the quakes struck beneath the seas between Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands. Hawaii and the Philippines were placed on tsunami watch. The centre cancelled its warning after three tsunamis, measuring up to 10 cm, were recorded in Vanuatu.
[...] Mike Sandiford, at the School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, said the series of large quakes in the region was unusual and that aftershocks could be expected for a few weeks. [...] The Australian Plate is moving north/northeast, shoving over the Pacific Plate at 91 mm a year. The Sumatran quake was caused by a fault near the interface of the Australian Plate and Southeast Asia's Sunda Plate.
| To top Powerful Quakes Upend Lives of Thousands The Washington Post - October 01, 2009 -
Landslides Trap Scores in Indonesia; Tsunami Unleashes Havoc in the Samoas Thousands of people on Wednesday grappled with the devastation caused by two powerful earthquakes, with landslides leaving scores trapped in rubble in Indonesia and a tsunami in the Samoas flattening villages and sweeping some residents out to sea. [...] In sprawling, low-lying Padang, the shaking was so intense that people crouched or sat on the street to avoid falling. [...] The quake occurred a day after a killer tsunami hit islands in the South Pacific. It was along the same fault line that spawned the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed 230,000 people in 11 nations. [...] After the earthquake in Indonesia on Wednesday, a tsunami warning was issued for countries along the Indian Ocean, but it proved unnecessary. There were no reports of giant waves in western Indonesia, but the destruction was vast.
| To top Samoa tsunami toll may exceed 100, hundreds injured www.alertnet.org Source: Reuters - September 30, 2009 -
Source: Reuters *8.0 undersea quake triggers Pacific tsunami alert * Reports people swept out to sea * Villages flattened, search for bodies in sand A series of tsunamis smashed into the Pacific island nations of American and Western Samoa killing possibly more than 100 people, destroying villages and injuring hundreds, officials said on Wednesday. A Pacific-wide tsunami warning was issued after a huge 8.0 magnitude undersea quake off American Samoa, with reports of a small tsunami reaching New Zealand and rising sea levels in several South Pacific island nations. [...] The tsunami caused waves of 1.5 metres above normal sea level off American Samoa, according to the Pacific Western Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii. But there were unconfirmed reports of waves taller than 4 metres. Hundreds of people, including tourists, fled coastal homes and resorts to higher ground in both nations.
| To top Scond phase of National Tsunami Early Warning System ready by year end www.thesundaily.com - September 29, 2009 - PUTRAJAYA (Sept 29, 2009): The second phase of the National Tsunami Early Warning System which was launched in April last year, is progressing on schedule and is expected to be completed in December.
It involves the setting up of three additional seismic stations, 15 tide gauge stations, 10 sirens and 14 coastal cameras.
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili said yesterday the system, developed in 2005, has improved tremendously since it began operations with the first phase in 2006.
“The system has been enhanced in line with current technology development besides ensuring early warning could be sent out to disaster management agencies and the public in high-risk areas in 15 minutes should there be any tsunami threat to the country," he told reporters after opening a forum on Earthquake and Tsunami Risks in Malaysia today.
“The capability of the system was also improved with the implementation of tsunami information dissemination through the Gateway SMS system and the fixed-line alert system.
| To top Global warming may bring tsunami and quakes: scientist REUTERS UK - September 16, 2009 -
LONDON (Reuters) - Quakes, volcanic eruptions, giant landslides and tsunamis may become more frequent as global warming changes the earth's crust, scientists said on Wednesday. [...] The vulcanologists, seismologists, glaciologists, climatologists and landslide experts at the meeting have looked to the past to try to predict future changes, particularly to climate upheaval at the end of the last ice age, some 12,000 years ago. [...] Tony Song of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California warned of the vast power of recently discovered "glacial earthquakes" -- in which glacial ice mass crashes downwards like an enormous landslide. In the West Antarctic, ice piled more than one mile above sea level is being undermined in places by water seeping in underneath. "Our experiments show that glacial earthquakes can generate far more powerful tsunamis than undersea earthquakes with similar magnitude," said Song.
| To top Powerful earthquake kills 34 in Indonesia, dozens feared buried http://edition.cnn.com - September 02, 2009 -
CIANJUR, Indonesia (CNN) -- [...] The 7.0-magnitude tremor jolted the Indonesian island of Java earlier in the day, killing at least 34 people and injuring more than 300, according to Indonesian Health Ministry official Rustam Pakaya. Another 40 are missing and possibly trapped, he said. [...] The quake struck shortly before 3 p.m. (4 a.m. ET). Its epicenter was located offshore about 190 kilometers (120 miles) southeast of Jakarta, according the U.S. Geological Survey. The center was about 50 kilometers (31 miles) deep. A tsunami watch went into effect but quickly expired. [...] About three weeks ago, a series of earthquakes -- ranging in magnitude from 4.7 to 6.7 -- struck off the western coast of Sumatra. At least seven people were injured and one building collapsed.
| To top USVI receives NOAA grant for tsunami preparedness www.caribbeannetnews.com - August 24, 2009 - The US Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency (VITEMA) has received a $42,000 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to begin work on tsunami preparedness in the Virgin Islands.
[...] The tsunami preparedness program will result in a level of territory-wide tsunami awareness that will match the preparedness status of other advanced US communities and in “Tsunami Ready” status for the US Virgin Islands.
Once the program is fully developed, evacuation plans will be published; evacuation routes will be publicized; general tsunami information brochures will be published and distributed to schools, community leaders, staffs of agencies with emergency functions and community centers in at-risk areas.
| To top Active Cloaking Could Counter Radar, Earthquakes, and Tsunamis www.popsci.com - August 19, 2009 -
Electromagnetic fields can cloak objects from passing waves [...] Previous research has only allowed for cloaking very small particles. But Milton and his colleagues ran new calculations that showed how the active cloaking method could hide objects up to 10 times wider than the wavelengths in question. For instance, the method could cloak an object 40 inches wide from radar microwaves that have wavelengths of about four inches. The new calculations suggest that cloaking objects from the smaller end of the electromagnetic spectrum, such as light, remains extremely difficult. But they still leave open the easier possibility of protecting oil rigs from incoming tsunami waves, or using vibrations to cancel incoming seismic waves from earthquakes. Such waves are much larger than those of visible light, which means that scientists would have an easier time creating cloaking devices for the tasks at hand. PopSci previously covered another seismic invisibility cloak concept, which would use concentric rings in building foundations to vibrate at the frequencies of earthquakes and minimize damage.[...] Keep in mind that none of this has been demonstrated yet in actual experiments. And there's a big downside in that scientists must somehow know when the pulse begins, as well as the frequencies and amplitudes of waves they wish to cancel out. Milton proposed that an advance sensor network could perhaps pick up such information for earthquakes or tsunamis.
| To top Big quake hits off India's Andamans, no tsunami www.reuters.com - August 11, 2009 -
PORT BLAIR, India (Reuters) - A major earthquake of magnitude 7.6 struck in the Indian Ocean off India's Andaman Islands early on Tuesday, but a tsunami alert for India, Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand and Bangladesh was later canceled. There were no reports of a tsunami or of any casualties from the tremor, officials said. It coincided with a 6.5 magnitude earthquake that jolted Tokyo and surrounding areas of Japan. There were no reports of major casualties from that quake either. [...] Officials at the tsunami alert center in southern India said there was no chance of a tsunami. "Our analysis of the sea-level gauges and follow-up showed there was no tsunami potential," said Sateesh Shenoy, director of the Indian National Center for Ocean Information Services. A 7.6 magnitude quake is classified by the USGS as a major earthquake and is capable of widespread, heavy damage.
| To top Tsunami warning passes its test www.thenational.ae - August 04, 2009 -
SYDNEY // Australia’s new tsunami warning system has been heralded a success after a major undersea earthquake off southern New Zealand triggered a full-scale alert. The sophisticated network of deep ocean sensors and sea-level gauges was built in response to the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami in December 2004. It estimates the approximate arrival time and size of unusual wave patterns. The recent emergency in July was the first real test for the Australian mechanism, where an alert was issued within 20 minutes of the seismic shocks in the Pacific Ocean near New Zealand. [...] Australia’s defensive shield grades tsunamis in a similar way to earthquakes, where some are more powerful and menacing than others. The quake off New Zealand generated what scientists called a marine threat, where there was no risk of damage to life or property on the coast. A land threat is far more ominous and would indicate that large waves were surging towards the shoreline.
| To top New tsunami buoys on the Phuket horizon www.phuketgazette.net - July 30, 2009 - PHUKET CITY: Phuket could soon get more tsunami direct detection buoys similar to those installed along the Indian coastline earlier this year.
[...] The first tsunami direct detection buoy in the Indian Ocean, funded by the US government's USAID program, was deployed by Thailand in December 2006. [...] The only remaining buoy in the Indian Ocean relaying data to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) system is a drifting buoy that only gives atmospheric data.
Without direct detection, the NDWC(rem:: National Disaster Warning Center) must rely on seismic data alone when deciding whether to issue a tsunami warning though its satellite-based early warning system.
Phuket currently has 19 tsunami warning towers, which will now be tested every week.
| To top Detecting Tsunamis with Side-Radars SOFTPEDIA - July 28, 2009 -
A new tracking method has been devisedThe trickiest thing about tsunamis, the large waves that cause massive devastation when they reach the beaches, is that they can travel very fast, at 500 kilometers per hour, under the ocean surface, and not be visible on the surface until a certain set of conditions is met. Researchers from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) figured out that, at one point, by using radars to measure the turbulences that “undercover” tsunamis caused in the lower atmosphere, they could potentially survey hundreds or even thousands of kilometers, and thus set up an efficient warning grid. [...] Physicist Oleg Godin, from the NOAA Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, in Boulder, Colorado, was the first one to propose in 2004 the method known as “side-looking,” in which radar devices survey the ocean surface from an angle, and are able to cover large distances.
| To top '2004 tsunami could have been more destructive' The Times Of India - July 25, 2009 -
Detailing on various aspects related to the intensity of tsunami earthquake, Jayant Tripathi, head, department of earth and planetary sciences, Allahabad University, who has analysed the data related to the killer tsunami for about a year, said there is a strong possibility of occurrence of a major earthquake in the region of Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the future as the Indian plate is moving northward with a slight tilt in eastern direction. By continuous movement, the energy is getting accumulated and is locked in the subduction zone of Sunda trench near Sumatra region which was the main cause of the tsunami earthquake in 2004, he said. The probability is much higher as this region lies under high stress zone, added Tripathi. About the amount of energy released by the tsunami in 2004, Dr Tripathi said, "If one compares it with the atomic bomb explosion of Hiroshima, the energy released was as much as exploding 1.3 billion bombs of that kind.'' [...] Had the earthquake occurred on the landmass, Tripathi said, perhaps the entire habitat of Indonesia and Sumatra would have vanished.
| To top Quake, tsunami potential high on U.S. west coast Reuters - July 20, 2009 -
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scientists have underestimated the potential for a giant quake and tsunami that could swamp much the U.S. northwest and Canadian west coasts, British and U.S. researchers said on Monday. Geological evidence suggests there have been earthquakes in the past that were even stronger than a magnitude 9.2 quake -- the second-biggest ever recorded -- which caused a 42-foot-high (12-meter-high) tsunami in the Gulf of Alaska in 1964, they said. [...] For their study, the teams at Durham, the University of Utah and Plafker Geohazard Consultants studied subsoil samples and sediments from the Alaskan coast and found evidence of major disasters 900 years ago and 1,500 years ago. Writing in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews, they said the underlying geology of the region shows a very large and widespread quake is possible.
| To top 'India's tsunami warning system one of the most modern' http://ptinews.com - July 18, 2009 -
Gandhigram (TN), July 18 (PTI) India's Tsunami Warning System, using geo spatial system, is one of the most advanced in the world and can sound a warning not only to coastal districts in the country, but also other nations in the Indian Ocean, a top official of the Ministry of Earth Sciences said today. [...] A Tsunami bulletin is generated within 15 minutes of occurrence of an earthquake. Based on decision support rules, the bulletin is released to the authorities for action.
| To top Australia's tsunami system performs well ABC Science - July 16, 2009 -
Last night's tsunami warning for south-eastern Australia, may have come to nothing, but it did demonstrate the worth of the monitoring system, says one expert. [...] The location of the continental shelf and the shape and angle of the sea floor leading up to the beach will also affect how the tsunami waves build before they hit land, says Ryan( rem:: Chief Meteorologist Dr Chris Ryan, of the Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre). [...] After an earthquake has been recorded Australia's Tsunami Warning Centre uses models to predict the severity of a tsunami and issue appropriate warnings. Ryan says the tsunami warning system, which was upgraded after the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, worked efficiently. Since the Boxing Day tsunami Australia's warning system has been upgraded to a two tier system. [...] Although Australia's tsunami warning system is one of the best in the world, Ryan says the system is still pretty new and there is always room to improve the model.
| To top Tsunami Alert Lifted After NZ Earthquake news.sky.com - July 15, 2009 -
New Zealand and Australia have cancelled tsunami warnings issued after an earthquake struck the south of the smaller country. Australia's weather bureau said a small tsunami had been recorded in New Zealand and another was detected in the Tasman Sea heading towards Australia's south east coast.[...] The tsunami was not expected to be a destructive wave, but was a "marine threat" and could cause big seas, strong currents and coastal flooding,(...). [...] New Zealand and Australia eventually cancelled their tsunami warnings, the latter downgrading the threat to a "small boat alert". [...] New Zealand records around 14,000 earthquakes a year. The last fatal earthquake in the geologically active country, caught between the Pacific and Indo-Australian tectonic plates, was in 1968 when an earthquake measuring 7.1 killed three people on the South Island's West Coast.
| To top Highest recorded tsunami hit Lituya Bay, Alaska in 1958 www.examiner.com - July 09, 2009 -
July 10, 1958: Lituya Bay, Alaska is hit with the highest tsunami ever recorded. [...] On this date, an earthquake caused a large landslide in the Crillon inlet located near the head of the bay. The rocks, dirt, and ice hit the bottom of the bay and formed a crater. The displaced water rushed out and formed a mega-tsunami measuring 1,724 feet in height. For comparison, the Empire State Building, the highest skyscraper in the world at the time, is 1,472 feet tall. [...] The wave reached the amazing height on both sides of the bay. The force of the water broke and lifted 1,300 feet of ice across the leading edge of Lituya Glacier, there was extensive damage to the forest and the land below the high water mark was swept completely clean.
| To top Tsunami's impact still felt www.thonline.com - July 03, 2009 -
DYERSVILLE, Iowa -- Residents of Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu, India, still are feeling the social effects of the Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami, and Dyersville native Luke Juran was there to study it. [...] Issues Juran studied included those affecting religion, culture, women, children and the elderly after entire villages were "ravaged and wiped out" by the tsunami. Although many philanthropists have donated money to rebuild homes, Juran said many fisher people were displaced off the coast far away from their work, and many lasting issues arose. "You don't just fix it up and move on. There's growing pains; people who feel slighted from the process," Juran said.
| To top Pakistan: First ever tsunami evacuation drill in Gawadar ReliefWeb - July 02, 2009 - In order to create awareness among the costal communities and test the preparedness of SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) for disaster response, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has planned a Tsunami Evacuation Drill (mock exercise) on 3rd July 2009 in collaboration with District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) of Gawadar.
This exercise is the response to a report by Pakistan Metrological Department On 7th January 2009 which highlighted the Tsunami threat to coastal areas of Balochistan and Sindh on the basis of seismic activities in the area as well as on the basis of historic record of the prospective tsunami threat in the coastal area. In 1945 Tsunami in coastal area of Baluchistan killed approximately 4000 persons.
| To top 3.7 quake under Whidbey Island rattles windows The Seattle Times - July 01, 2009 -
The 3.7 magnitude earthquake under Whidbey Island came about an hour before most alarm clocks were set to go off, but University of Washington scientists say it should serve as a wake-up call that a much bigger quake is likely in the future. [...] The "big one" could come from that plate slipping under the North America plate. That interface has produced quakes of magnitude 8 or 9 about every 500 years. The last one was about 300 years ago.[...] A megathrust quake would involve the breaking of a tectonic plate - a piece of the earth's outer shell - and would likely have a magnitude of about 9. The last "megathrust" quake - commonly referred to as "the big one" - happened in the Northwest in 1700.[...] The "big one" could also bring a tsunami as high as 80 to 100 feet, similar to the one that struck Sumatra in 2004.
| To top A faultline splits quake conference www.hurriyet.com.tr - June 24, 2009 -
The International Earthquake and Tsunami Conference, organized by a variety of engineering councils, began Monday with the aim to prevent losses from earthquakes through improved civil engineering practices. The main focus of the three-day conference in Istanbul is on the Millennium Development Goals. Millennium Development Goals include goals such as seismically safe schools, hospitals and dwellings, which will be discussed following a series of presentations from an international panel of engineers. [...] Tsunamis were another focus of the conference. During a discussion panel, experts pointed out that one-third of tsunamis that have taken place in the past 3,000 years have taken place in the Marmara Sea. The keynote speakers in the panel pointed out that it is important to research the characteristics of nearby failed tsunamis, which are crucial to the research in comprehensive tsunami modeling. Another emphasis of the panel was that it is crucial to determine source points under the Marmara Sea in order to determine potential effects and trends of tsunamis.
| To top Sabah To Have More Tsunami Warning Systems Installed www.bernama.com - June 18, 2009 - TAWAU, June 18 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Meteorology Department (MMD) is expected to install additional Tsunami monitoring and warning systems in Sabah this year, said Sabah MMD director Abd Malik Tussin.
He said a seismic station aimed at increasing the effectiveness of the earthquake detection system in real-time was being build in Sepulut, Sabah as an addition to the five stations in the state.
| To top Millions face tsunami risk across Med warn experts www.herald.ie - June 17, 2009 -
Millions of people living and holidaying along the Mediterranean coast are at risk of being hit with a tsunami, a new report warns. The World Disasters Report, by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said there is no tsunami early-warning alert system for the region, even though it is considered to be more vulnerable than the Indian Ocean. More than 300,000 people were killed when a tsunami struck Indonesia and southern Thailand in December 2004. Disaster expert, Peter Rees-Gildea, said the perception that climate change is a Third World problem is changing since Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and flooding caused chaos Gloucester in Britain.
| To top Critical New Tsunami Reporting System Has Gaping Holes www.commondreams.org - June 11, 2009 -
WASHINGTON - June 11 - A highly-touted new ocean-based tsunami warning system has large dead zones that undercut its effectiveness, according to documents posted today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists also complain that several other stations are reporting sporadic data that is not useable. NOAA completed its Deep Ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART) network of 39 stations covering the Pacific, Atlantic, Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico in March 2008. NOAA claims that the “DART network serves as the cornerstone of the U.S. tsunami warning system” yet a significant portion of the stations are not functioning.
| To top Progress on Caribbean Tsunami Warning Centre www.caribbean360.com - June 08, 2009 - Significant progress has been made towards the establishment of a Caribbean Tsunami Warning Centre (CTWC) and a Caribbean Tsunami Information Centre (CTIC).
This was announced at the conclusion of the Fourth Session of the Inter-governmental Coordination Group for the Tsunami and other Coastal Hazards Warning System for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions (ICG/CARIBE EWS-IV) in Martinique. The ICG is responsible for coordinating the establishment and operation of a Tsunami Warning System for this region as part of the mandate given to UNESCO's Inter-governmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) to maintain global coverage.
| To top (...)Sleeping giant lurks off the coast The Mercury News - June 06, 2009 -
Pounding El Niño storm waves during the winter of 1997-98 exposed an ancient drowned forest along the central Oregon shoreline. Over 200 tree stumps dating to the time of Jesus became an instant tourist attraction. Through dendrochronology, or the study of tree rings, scientists have been able to confirm that these spruce and cedar trees were submerged during a massive earthquake along the offshore Cascadia subduction zone about 300 years ago. Exposure to saltwater killed but preserved the trees, sand dunes and estuarine mud then buried them for 300 years. Geological observations combined with carbon-14 dating and dendrochronology from sites along the coastlines of Northern California, Oregon and Washington provide clear evidence for a great earthquake in 1700 that ruptured at least 600 miles of the Cascadia subduction zone and produced a large tsunami.
| To top Tsunami expert focuses on Whitianga stuff.co.nz - June 06, 2009 -
Whitianga residents would have only 90 minutes to get out of town if a Pacific Ocean tsunami was headed toward the beachfront town. And the unique shape of the town's inner bays meant the damage caused by the series of waves would be devastating. Coastal scientist Vernon Pickett gave the stark reminder of Whitianga's vulnerability to tsunami at Thursday's Environment Waikato environment committee meeting."What makes Mercury Bay so special is the shape of the bay leading into Buffalo Beach," he said."It's what we call a box within a box. It enhances the risk of damage during a tsunami."[...] The water from a Kermadec tsunami would reach about 1.8km inland and would wipe out much of the developed area of Whitianga.[...] Whitianga had experienced three tsunamis since European settlement in 1808, 1877 and 1960. Part of the computer modelling was based on first-hand experiences in the 1960 event.
| To top Tsunami warning and information centres key to region's state of readiness Caribbean Net News - June 05, 2009 -
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (BGIS) -- It could be catastrophic if Barbados and other Caribbean islands do not pay greater attention to their ability to respond to tsunamis and other coastal hazards.
This is the view of Head of the Barbados Delegation to the fourth Session of the Inter-governmental Coordination Group for the Tsunami and other Coastal Hazards Warning System for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions (ICG/CARIBE EWS -IV), Judy Thomas.[...]"To date, Barbados has been fortunate, but given our topography, population and a concentration of tourism-related infrastructure along our vulnerable coastlines, there is a level of risk which must be anticipated and planned for. This includes not only tsunamis but other coastal hazards," Thomas said. [...]The Head of the local Department of Emergency Management (DEM) also revealed that over the past 500 years, there had been 105 tsunami events reported in the Caribbean and adjacent regions, "with 39 of these occurring within the last 100 years or so." Barbados experienced effects from the tsunami generated by the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, she said.
| To top Report looks at effects of tsunami on Oregon Coast DJC-Daily Journal of Commerce - June 02, 2009 -
[...]A new report studies the issue of what would happen if a tsunami hit the Oregon Coast and what can be done if there is not enough time to run to higher ground.The Cascadia Subduction Zone off the coast of Oregon, Washington and northern California can cause earthquakes and associated tsunamis. Researchers believe the last such event occurred in 1700, causing a tsunami of such magnitude that it hit local shores and swept across the Pacific Ocean to Japan.A subduction zone earthquake could be followed by a major tsunami 10-20 minutes later, forcing locals to making a "vertical evacuation" to the roof of a tall structure. [...]In Oregon, about 100,000 residents are in the tsunami inundation hazard zone every day, officials say, some with long travel distances to higher land. The Cannon Beach report on tsunami evacuation buildings can be obtained on the web at http://www.ci.cannon-beach.or.us/docs/PS/CBTEB%203-20-09%20version.pdf.
| To top Tsunamis possible in Caspian Sea www.presstv.ir - June 01, 2009 - The Caspian Sea, although not connected to the open waters, may give rise to tsunamis, says Iran's National Center for Research and Study of the Caspian Sea.
[...]“Caspian Sea is not as dangerous as the Pacific Ocean in terms of earthquake risks,” said Homayoun Khoshravan, head of the National Center for Research and Study of the Caspian Sea.
“However, the largest enclosed body of water on earth has a geological structure very similar to open seas and has height displacements at the bottom, which are considered dangerous.”
There are considerable differences of depths between the northern, central and southern parts of the Caspian Sea, which is a major factor in determining the heights of waves and the possibility of tsunamis.
| To top Huge undersea mountain found off Indonesia: scientists AFP - May 29, 2009 -
JAKARTA, INDONESIA - A massive underwater mountain discovered off the Indonesian island of Sumatra could be a volcano with potentially catastrophic power, a scientist said Friday. [...] The cone-shaped mountain is 4,600 metres (15,100 feet) high, 50 kilometres in diameter at its base and its summit is 1,300 metres below the surface,(...). [...] The ultra-deep geological survey was conducted with the help of French scientists and international geophysical company CGGVeritas. The scientists hope to gain a clearer picture of the undersea lithospheric plate boundaries and seafloor displacement in the area, the epicentre of the catastrophic Asian quake and tsunami of 2004. The tsunami killed more than 220,000 people across Asia, including 168,000 people in Aceh province on the northern tip of Sumatra.
| To top Deadly Caribbean Quake Rocks Honduras SkyNews - May 28, 2009 -
A powerful 7.1 magnitude earthquake in Honduras has killed at least six people after it shook the country for more than 30 seconds. A tsunami alert was maintained for about 90 minutes for the Central American nation and its neighbours Guatemala and Belize. The 'quake struck at 2:24am, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). Its shallow 10km (six mile) depth added to the power of the tremor.[...] The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued the tsunami watch immediately following the quake, but lifted it later when no reports of giant waves were made. The last major earthquake to rattle the Central American nation was a 6.7 magnitude temblor in July 1999, the USGS said.
| To top Discovery has ties to Japanese tsunami of 1700 www.santacruzsentinel.com - May 23, 2009 -
On the evening of Jan. 26, 1700, residents of several villages along the east coast of Japan recorded a series of tsunami waves washing up on their shoreline. Two hundred and sixty-five years later, as an oceanography graduate student, I made an interesting discovery that would take 20 more years to connect to the Japanese tsunami of 1700. I was studying sediment cores collected from an undersea canyon 150 miles off the Oregon coast. This feature, Cascadia Channel, is much like Monterey Submarine Canyon and begins not far off the mouth of the Columbia River and extends for hundreds of miles across the deep ocean floor. What struck me as I opened up these ancient sediment cores was the very regular appearance of 20 to 30 feet of submarine mud flow deposits that had been left behind in this undersea canyon. Underwater mud flows, called turbidity currents, are very fluid, are driven by their greater density than seawater, and can flow hundreds of miles across the ocean floor. [...]Twenty years after my initial discovery and the birth of plate tectonics, evidence for historic tsunamis and periodic great earthquakes began to be recognized in a number of estuaries and bays along the coast of Washington, Oregon and Northern California
| To top "Ocean of An Old Man" to hit screens this week IBNLive - May 23, 2009 -
Mumbai: The deadly Tsunami hit parts of India and swept across Andaman and Nicobar islands in December 2004. Now filmmaker Rajesh Shera narrates a touching story of struggle from the Tsunami-hit islands, which are used as the backdrop in his film. [...]Ocean of An Old Man has done its festival rounds and has been appreciated by critics. Now the filmmaker is looking forward to its commercial release this week.(-->watch video)
| To top Asean-UN-World Bank Collaborate To Reduce Disaster Risk BERNAMA.COM - May 19, 2009 - The ASEAN Secretariat, United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) and the World Bank announced Monday in Bali a cooperation programme to strengthen disaster risk reduction and disaster management in Southeast Asia.
[...]Surin(remark: Secretary-General of ASEAN) said with 570 million people in the region, it was time for ASEAN to be better prepared for future disasters by empowering itself with better techniques and coordinating mechanisms involving the governments and civil societies of ASEAN. [...]Recent natural disasters in Asia like the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, the Yogyakarta earthquake in 2006 and the cyclone Nargis in Myanmar in 2008 highlight the region's vulnerability.
| To top Maldives set to test adapting to higher seas msnbc - May 18, 2009 -
[...]Scientists have long warned that the Maldives, an archipelago nation of nearly 1,200 islands in the Indian Ocean, will be wiped out by rising sea levels in the coming decades.[...]But some recent data challenge the widespread belief that the islands are destined to disappear — and a few mainstream scientists are even cautiously optimistic about their chances for surviving relatively intact beyond the next century.[...]Kench(remark:University of Auckland in New Zealand)said his studies of the Maldives show the islands can adjust their shape in response to environmental changes, such as the rising seas and warmer temperatures predicted in the next century. Kench suggests the islands might move onto their reefs and build vertically, offsetting the potential threat of sea level rises. Following the devastating 2004 Asian tsunami, many scientists assumed the Maldives would be damaged. But Kench and his colleagues not only found little evidence of island erosion, but also that the tsunami had washed sediment ashore, making some islands taller than they were before the catastrophe.
| To top O.C.’s deadly Newport-Inglewood might have caused 4.7 earthquake SCIENCEDUDE - May 17, 2009 - [...]Scientists estimate that the Newport-Inglewood(remark::a strike-slip fault system), which has a slow slip rate, is capable of producing a 7.4 to 7.5 quake. An event of that size could cause catastrophic damage in Southern California because the fault runs beneath heavily populated areas. [...]The offshore portion of this fault is large enough to produce a tsunami, or ocean waves that can strike land with devastating results.
| To top Disaster risk increasing, says UN BBC News - May 16, 2009 -
The risk of disaster worldwide is increasing, says a new UN report. Climate change, environmental degradation and badly planned urban development are more likely to affect populations around the world. The report warns that millions of lives are in jeopardy because proper risk assessment is rarely carried out, particularly in developing countries. The UN says money spent on risk reduction is a cost-effective way to reduce deaths and injuries. The Asian tsunami of 2004, or last year's earthquake in China are natural phenomenon which can't be prevented.
| To top Study: Tahoe may be overdue for large earthquake AP Associated Press - May 15, 2009 -
Two new studies suggest the Lake Tahoe region has gone longer than usual without a large earthquake and may be due for a magnitude-7 temblor capable of spawning a tsunami that could flood shoreline communities. The research targeting three major faults was conducted by scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California-San Diego. They determined that earthquakes as large as magnitude-7 historically have occurred every 2,000 to 3,000 years in the Tahoe basin. [...]"These studies taken together show that the West Tahoe Fault is capable of a magnitude-7 earthquake — similar to large earthquakes that have occurred on the nearby Genoa Fault — but with the added danger of nearly 500 meters (1,600 feet) of overlying water, which is capable of spawning a large tsunami wave," said Graham Kent, a research geophysicist at Scripps.
| To top Risk from any Eastern Caribbean tsunami may be slight www.caymannetnews.com - May 14, 2009 -
Despite recent wire service reports, and some specialist websites, reporting an unstable volcano on Dominica, and undersea earth tremors off the coast of Grenada, Dr Barbara Carby, Director of Hazard Management Cayman Islands (HMCI) said that these are unlikely to pose any danger to Cayman. According to British geologist Richard Teeuw, one side of the volcano called Morne aux Diables (Devil’s Peak) shows signs that it might collapse sometime in the future, sending million tons of rock into the sea, causing a tsunami. “I can’t say what the precise risks are of an earthquake in the Eastern Caribbean causing problems which might affect Cayman,” Dr Carby said. “But I do believe that the risks would be slight. Distance tends to dissipate the power and height of a tsunami, and Cayman is quite far from Dominica.” [...]The disaster management official added that Cayman has in fact recorded several tremors in the past “because we lie very close to the boundaries of the Caribbean plate, where there is potential for undersea movements, undersea earthquakes and landslides”. But Jamaica had a greater risk, said Dr Carby: “Cayman has several innate advantages compared to Jamaica; firstly because we are further from this undersea boundary than Jamaica; and also because the island of Jamaica actually has some very large faults which are considered ‘active’.”
| To top Tsunami monitor The Engineer Online - May 12, 2009 -
Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) has been awarded a contract by the Thai government to produce and deliver a sea-based system that can warn against the threat of a tsunami. The so-called Tsunami Buoy system will replace the current NOAA Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting Tsunamis (DART) buoy system in the Bay of Bengal, provided to Thailand in 2006. The system itself consists of three subsystems: a surface communications buoy, a buoy mooring and a pressure recorder that sits on the sea floor.
| To top Tsunami 'could annihilate data cables' AUSTRALIAN IT - May 12, 2009 -
AUSTRALIAN tsunami scientists will meet officials from the federal Attorney-General's office next month to discuss research vital for understanding risks to the nation's undersea data links.The scientists, from the nation's leading tsunami authority, believe that 70 per cent of Australia's undersea cable capacity would be destroyed in a single stroke if a tsunami similar to the one that devastated coastal Thailand and Sri Lanka in 2004 were to strike Hawaii. Hawaii is the main thoroughfare for cables linking Australia to the rest of the world.
| To top Tsunami likely at time of earthquake www.hurriyet.com.tr - May 11, 2009 -
ISTANBUL - The second biggest concern after whether or not Istanbul will be hit by another large earthquake is the possibility of a tsunami threatening its immediate shores. Geology Professor Şükrü Ersoy from Yıldız Technical University said Istanbul’s next big earthquake would create a tsunami based on historical findings of an excavation of Yenitepe. And according to Ersoy, because Istanbul’s coastlines are narrow, the tsunami waves are liable to cause serious damage to vehicle traffic and buildings in that corridor. [...]The facts that Istanbul’s topography is not straight and its shores are narrow are disadvantages when it comes to tsunamis, according to Ersoy, recalling that even small waves may be deadly on shores approximately 150 to 200 meters wide. "In the earthquake of 1894, the sea first ebbed by 50 meters than the returning sea waves destroyed the whole Ottoman navy on shore
| To top Tsunamis: Should We Worry? www.mercurynews.com - May 08, 2009 -
The word "tsunami" generates an emotional response, much like earthquake or shark. It's just one of those scary things that is beyond our control and one that we never want to experience. The 225,000 people that died the day after Christmas in 2004 from the Indian Ocean tsunami was a cruel reminder of the forces that lurk offshore around the Pacific rim. While most tsunamis result from subduction zone earthquakes in deep trenches, they can also occur where oceanic volcanoes erupt catastrophically or where large landslides run down steep underwater slopes. The biggest tsunamis that might ever occur come from asteroid impacts, but so far, no large ones have struck since humans have been on the scene.[...] (...)tsunami hazards are something that city planners, public safety officials and structural engineers ought to be aware of and plan for. There have been six tsunamis large enough to cause significant damage along the coast of California over the past 200 years.
| To top Ancient tsunami 'hit New York' news.bbc.co.uk - May 03, 2009 -
A huge wave crashed into the New York City region 2,300 years ago, dumping sediment and shells across Long Island and New Jersey and casting wood debris far up the Hudson River. The scenario, proposed by scientists, is undergoing further examination to verify radiocarbon dates and to rule out other causes of the upheaval. Sedimentary deposits from more than 20 cores in New York and New Jersey indicate that some sort of violent force swept the Northeast coastal region in 300BC. It may have been a large storm, but evidence is increasingly pointing to a rare Atlantic Ocean tsunami.
| To top Preparing for Tsunamis in California www.popsci.com - April 30, 2009 -
New mapping technology plots inundation paths and escape routes [...]The heavily populated coast of California, along with Hawaii and Alaska, faces the greatest risk of tsunami damage in the United States. In 1946, an earthquake in the Aleutian Islands generated a tsunami that struck Hawaii. Wave heights reached an estimated maximum of 55 feet, 36 feet, and 33 feet on the islands of Hawaii, Oahu, and Maui, respectively.[...]Now, boosted by technological advances in computing power, tsunami modeling, GIS, and NOAA's DART (Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis) network, researchers are creating a new set of tsunami inundation maps for coastal California. The maps are based on a computational code that calculates how a tsunami evolves over variable ocean depth and topography (surface shapes and features), and then computes the area that will likely be inundated by the tsunami.
| To top Researchers make big waves at OSU with tsunami simulator www.kgw.com - April 29, 2009 -
CORVALLIS, Ore. -- On Wednesday OSU researchers rolled out the school's biggest man made tsunami ever. The wave easily toppled a six foot concrete wall. Researchers say the wave-maker will allow them to better understand the effects of tsunamis on structures. They say it's only a matter of time before one strikes Oregon. [...]Scientists say the tsunami would result from a massive earthquake about 75 miles off the coast. They believe the Cascadia Subduction zone generated a magnitude 9 earthquake here in the Pacific Northwest 300 years ago, and they say stress is building again. [...]Researchers say in the event of a tsunami off the Oregon coast, it would hit land within 30 minutes. That’s not enough time to get everyone out, but it is enough time to get people up into tsunami-proof high-rise buildings.
| To top New Blow For Dinosaur-killing Asteroid Theory ScienceDaily - April 27, 2009 -
ScienceDaily (Apr. 27, 2009) — The enduringly popular theory that the Chicxulub crater holds the clue to the demise of the dinosaurs, along with some 65 percent of all species 65 million years ago, is challenged in a paper to be published in the Journal of the Geological Society on April 27, 2009. [...]From El Penon and other localities in Mexico, says Keller, "we know that between four and nine meters of sediments were deposited at about two to three centimeters per thousand years after the impact. The mass extinction level can be seen in the sediments above this interval."Advocates of the Chicxulub impact theory suggest that the impact crater and the mass extinction event only appear far apart in the sedimentary record because of earthquake or tsunami disturbance that resulted from the impact of the asteroid."The problem with the tsunami interpretation," says Keller, "is that this sandstone complex was not deposited over hours or days by a tsunami. Deposition occurred over a very long time period."
| To top Unusual Influx Of Squids Not A Tsunami Threat BERNAMA.COM - April 25, 2009 -
KUALA LUMPUR, April 24 (Bernama) -- The presence of a large number of squids along the shores of Pantai Batu Rakit in Terengganu over the past few days is not an indication of a Tsunami threat(...). (...)the migration may have been due to a change in the water temperature in the deep sea compared with warmer conditions along the shores or due to a change in tide. [...]On Sunday, residents along Pantai Batu Rakit were deeply concerned by the presence of squids in large numbers along the shores when some residents had linked their presence to an imminent Tsunami threat.
| To top Panic about tsunami dispelled www.dominicanewsonline.com - April 24, 2009 -
Minister responsible for Disaster Preparedness Charles Savarin has assured that persons should not be alarmed about tsunamis occurring here since there is no scientific indication that they will occur despite what was reported in the local and international media recently. [...]The EOS Journal article stated that lead researcher Richard Teeuw of the University of Portsmouth indicated that if Morne aux Diables here were to collapse, it would result in a major earthquake or volcanic eruption and possibly trigger a tsunami wave which would impact the coast of Guadeloupe.
According to Teeuw, a million-tonne chunk of rock is likely to fall into the sea and would produce tsunami waves up to 10 feet high.[...] Savarin explained that in the study, from which the article was based, was focused on the north of the island, and considered the result of a major landslide with thousands of tonnes of debris triggering a tsunami of a certain size. He explained that Dominica being a volcanic island makes these disasters inevitable but the question of what period of time it can occur is the issue to be concerned about.
| To top Report on tsunami recovery reveals need to involve local communities UNDP - April 24, 2009 -
New York — To better respond to natural disasters, governments should invest more in risk reduction for vulnerable communities and make sure to reflect gender concerns in the recovery processes, says a report presented today at the United Nations. Involving local communities in the recovery process, according to “The Tsunami Legacy: Innovation, Breakthroughs and Change” report, is as instrumental as installing high-tech early warning systems. The report also highlights the need for governments to incorporate disaster risk reduction measures in national development plans.
| To top Quake rumbles can help provide quick tsunami warnings SindhToday.net - April 22, 2009 -
London, April 22 (ANI): A team of seismologists has developed an early-warning system that can gauge how long an earthquake rumbles, thus helping tsunami warnings to reach vulnerable coastlines within minutes. [...]Sure enough, rumbles that produced high-frequency waves for more than 50 seconds had a high probability of generating a damaging tsunami wave. Using this information, they developed an algorithm to filter out quake duration from seismic data. If adopted in an early-warning system, “it could provide a warning within 10 to 15 minutes”, said Lomax.
| To top Devil’s Volcano Is Tsunami Risk to Caribbean Island www.bloomberg.com - April 21, 2009 -
April 21 (Bloomberg) -- An unstable volcano on the Caribbean island of Dominica risks causing a tsunami that could endanger 30,000 people on the nearby island of Guadeloupe, a team of U.K. researchers found. One flank of the volcano, called Morne aux Diables, or Devil’s Peak, shows signs of collapse and could send a million tons of rock into the sea(...) [...] An initial collapse in Dominica could loosen another 3 million tons of rock farther up the slope, causing more landslides and triggering 5-meter waves, Teeuw said. That compares with waves as high as ten meters that occurred in the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, he said. Other volcanoes whose eruption or collapse has triggered tsunamis in the past include Italy’s Stromboli, and Krakatoa and Tambora in Indonesia, Teeuw said. Hawaii is another potential area where the phenomenon could occur, he said.
| To top Volcano 'poses tsunami threat' in Caribbean AFP - April 21, 2009 -
PARIS (AFP) — Tsunami waves unleashed by the collapse of an unstable volcano on the Caribbean island of Dominica would hit the highly populated coast of nearby Guadeloupe within minutes, according to a new study. "It?s not a case of 'if' this landslide and tsunami will happen, but 'when'," lead researcher Richard Teeuw, a geologist at the University of Portsmouth, said in a statement on Tuesday."The trigger will probably be a major earthquake, occurring after the heavy rain and coastal erosion of the hurricane season. It could happen in a hundred years or it could happen next week." [...]A million-tonne chunk of rock from the unstable volcano, called Devil's Peak, is poised to crash into the sea, and would produce tsunami waves up to three metres (10 feet) high, the geologists calculated.
| To top Major Oregon quake believed more likely The Associated Press - April 20, 2009 -
PORTLAND — Geologists now say there is a 10 to 14 percent chance of a major earthquake and tsunami hitting the Oregon Coast within the next 50 years. Further study by scientists of the Cascadia Subduction 50-75 miles off the Oregon Coast, where many quakes begin, has found about 38 quakes of magnitude 8 or more over the past 10,000 years.
| To top Tassie's tsunami action plan www.themercury.com.au - April 19, 2009 -
TASMANIAN authorities are preparing a comprehensive action plan to warn the public about tsunamis. [...]A set of scientific and historical reports about the threat of tsunamis is being collated by state and federal government bodies. Though the reports are yet to be released, the SES(State Emergency Service)has provided the Sunday Tasmanian with preliminary information which shows: • About 16 "large-wave events" have been recorded anecdotally since European settlement in Tasmania 200 years ago. • A scientific study of coastal areas in the South-East indicates two or three "tsunami-type events" may have hit Tasmanian shores in the past 4000-5000 years.
| To top Two other quakes hit West Sumatra The Jakarta Post - April 17, 2009 -
Two earthquakes, both measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale, hit South Pagai in Mentawai Islands, West Sumatra early on Friday morning the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency has reported. (...)The Mentawai Islands lie just of Padang, the capital of the earthquake-prone province. Some experts expert have warned that the area bear the brunt of Indonesia's next major quake. Seismologists have also warned that Padang, which lies near the colliding Indo-Australian and Eurasian tectonic plates, is most at risk as the final segment along the stretch is shifting to unleash a massive amount of energy.
| To top Sandwich Islands quake no picnic for tsunami watchers www.brisbanetimes.com.au - April 17, 2009 -
Australian authorities sent out an alert early this morning to assure Australians there was no threat from possible tsunamis sparked by an undersea earthquake - half way around the world. Despite the 6.8 magnitude earthquake hitting tens of thousands of kilometres away, off the South Sandwich Islands, the Bureau of Meteorology's Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre remained on alert until it became certain there would be no adverse effects for Australia or its territories. "If there's a large earthquake, we can see an effect a long way away," senior forecaster Brett Harrison said.
| To top ‘City faces tsunami risk as mangroves reducing’ www.dailytimes.com.pk - April 15, 2009 - KARACHI: Environmental experts have expressed concern over the reduction of mangrove forests along the Sindh coast, warning that if the mangroves are not protected, the city fears a greater risk of being hit by a tsunami in the future.
| To top Island is put to the tsunami test The Royal Gazette - April 14, 2009 -
Government has reassured the public it will swing into action and ensure people's safety in the event of a tsunami. (...)This, the first international tsunami exercise to be held in the northwest Atlantic, was entitled LANTEX 09, and was organised by the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center, which sends advisories to the US and Canadian coastal regions. (...)"In Bermuda we are talking about a sudden rise in sea level. If this was to happen in the summer, swimmers would be at risk from dangerous rip currents and there would be the potential for damage to the infrastructure, specifically the effect of seawater on electrical systems and generators. (...)"
| To top Mangroves Save Lives In Storms www.physorg.com - April 14, 2009 -
(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study of storm-related deaths from a super cyclone that hit the eastern coast of India in 1999 finds that villages shielded from the storm surge by mangrove forests experienced significantly fewer deaths than villages that were less protected. (...)The study does not assess mangroves’ ability to reduce deaths from tsunamis, Vincent cautions, because of key differences in their wave dynamics. Storm surges have shorter wave lengths than tsunamis, and relatively more of their energy is found near the surface of the water. Mangroves’ ability to protect villages against tsunamis has been a point of controversy in the scientific and policy communities since the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
| To top Signs around LA beaches warn of tsunami threat www.mercurynews.com - April 12, 2009 -
[...]To alert homeowners and beachgoers that they are in tsunami territory, the city of Los Angeles has begun posting blue and white "TSUNAMI HAZARD ZONE" signs with an image of ominous-looking waves.[...] While a tsunami threat to the Golden State is real, the potential for killer waves is far less likely than the earthquakes, wildfires, landslides and floods that plague the nation's most populous state. According to scientists, there's a 99.7 percent chance that California will be struck by a magnitude 6.7 earthquake or larger in the next 30 years. No such calculations exist for the potential of a tsunami.
| To top Earthquake's tsunami risk studied UPI.com - April 09, 2009 -
STATE COLLEGE, Pa., April 9 (UPI) -- U.S. geoscientists say the 2007 Solomon Islands earthquake might point to previously unknown increased earthquake and tsunami risks. Professor Kevin Furlong of Pennsylvania State University and his colleagues studied the unusual tectonic plate geography and the sudden change in direction of the April 1, 2007, tsunami-generating earthquake. (...)"This area has some of the fastest moving plates on Earth," said Furlong. "It also has some of the youngest oceanic crust subducting anywhere."
| To top Supercomputer simulates frightening Northwest megaquake www.nwcn.com - April 09, 2009 -
SEATTLE – Monday’s 6.3 magnitude earthquake that killed nearly 300 people in Italy serves as a reminder that the Pacific Northwest could suffer the same fate at any moment. Now, scientists in California have come up with a number of scenarios that show a mega earthquake could cause high raise buildings in Seattle and other parts of the Northwest to collapse. (...) The last so-called “megathrust” quake to hit the Northwest happened 309 years ago. The Juan de Fuca plate under the Pacific Ocean slipped some 60 feet under the North American plate. It set off a magnitude 9 earthquake that sent tsunamis into the coasts of North America and Japan.
| To top April is National Earthquake and Tsunami Awareness Month www.kcby.com - April 08, 2009 -
COOS BAY, Ore. -April is National Earthquake and Tsunami Awareness Month, and for those living on the coast, it's even more important to be alert and prepared for these events. (...) Tsunamis, which are brought on by an earthquake in the sea-floor, can be either distant or local. The difference is how much time you have until it strikes. And if it's an off-shore Pacific tsunami, likely caused by the Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake, folks could have just minutes to evacuate. According to the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries, Information Officer Jame Roddey, "If we get this big earthquake, that's your warning for the local tsunami, which is basically a wall of water that races toward the Oregon coast at about 500 mph, gets here in about 10-15 minutes after the earthquake and can do incredible, devastating damage."
| To top New math formula might predict tsunamis UPI.com - April 03, 2009 -
British mathematicians say they've created a formula that can be used to predict tsunamis and how destructive the tsunamis might become. [...] Johnson and Professor Adrian Constantin of the University of Vienna, said they discovered that the number and height of the tsunami waves hitting the shoreline depends critically on the shape of the initial surface wave in deep water. [...] it is possible to use the initial wave pattern to work out how the wave will evolve and, importantly, how it might interact with the complicated motions close inshore to produce the tsunamis that we experience,
| To top Almost 60 dead in 'mini tsunami' after dam bursts in Jakarta www.timesonline.co.uk - March 28, 2009 -
Scores of people drowned in their homes yesterday when a decaying dam collapsed, releasing a freshwater tsunami. At least 58 people were killed in Cireundeu, a suburb of Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, when the earthen dam holding back the Situ Gintung lake collapsed and released 2 million cubic metres (70 million cubic feet) of water in a wave 6 metres (20ft) high. [...]The 40ft dam which created the artificial lake was 76 years old and built during the Dutch colonial period. It gave way after a stretch of very heavy rain.
| To top Do not be alarmed -- this is only a test Times-Standard - March 26, 2009 -
It was only a test of your local tsunami alert system. But next time, it could be real. On Wednesday morning, federal, state and local emergency offices issued a live, three-county test of the tsunami warning system in an effort to prepare coastal residents and beach-goers for the next big wave to strike the North Coast. [...]Among other alert mechanisms used in the test was a reverse calling system that dialed the phone numbers of residences within some of Humboldt County's tsunami evacuation zones and left a pre-recorded message.
| To top Strong earthquake hits Papua New Guinea: USGS AFP - March 25, 2009 -
SYDNEY (AFP) — A strong 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck Papua New Guinea on Wednesday morning, the US Geological Survey said, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties on the ground. [...]The quake came just one week after a major 7.9-magnitude tremor rattled the South Pacific nation of Tonga, sending people in low-lying areas of Fiji fleeing for higher ground after a tsunami warning.
| To top Strong quake near Tonga prompts tsunami warning AP The Associated Press - March 20, 2009 -
NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga (AP) — A powerful 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck Friday in the Pacific Ocean, shaking an erupting underwater volcano off Tonga's main island and raising fears of increased lava and ash flows, officials said. There were no immediate reports of injury or damage from the quake, which was felt more than 1,875 miles (3,000 kilometers) away in New Zealand. A tsunami warning for islands within 625 miles (1,000 kilometers) of the epicenter was canceled two hours later. [...]A check of the volcano Thursday from a boat two miles (3.2 kilometers) away from the vent showed about "a 10-meter (33-foot) depth of lava at the vent" standing up out of the ocean.
| To top Magnitude 7.6 - TONGA REGION USGS-Earthquake Hazards Program - March 20, 2009 -
Tectonic SummaryThe broad-scale tectonics of the earthquake region are dominated by the relative convergence of the Pacific and Australia plates. The Pacific plate subducts westward beneath the Australia plate at the Tonga trench.
| To top Tsunami 'trigger' spotted on Google Earth NewScientist - March 19, 2009 - Spotting risky rock formations that are about to collapse and trigger tsunamis could be done with the help of Google Earth, new research suggests. The software could prove a useful tool where other types of survey prove too difficult or expensive.
| To top To top Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issues no warning after earthquake KHNL NBC Honolulu - March 10, 2009 -
[...]When you're talking about tsunami generating earthquakes, size doesn't matter as much as location. In Monday's event, the earthquake was too deep to pose any serious threat."You have to have an earthquake which changes the shape of the ocean bottom too fast for water to flow out of the way and for that to happen in the Hawaiian islands you need a 6.8, 6.9 earthquake," said geophysicist Gerard Fryer.
| To top Tsunami will happen sooner or later: INCO warns Tehran Times Science Desk - March 09, 2009 - TEHRAN -- “Tsunami will happen earlier or later” in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, Iranian National Center for Oceanography (INCO)director said here on Sunday.
| To top Locations of strain, slip identified in major earthquake fault www.physorg.com/ - March 04, 2009 -
Deep-sea drilling into one of the most active earthquake zones on the planet is providing the first direct look at the geophysical fault properties underlying some of the world's largest earthquakes and tsunamis. The Nankai Trough Seismogenic Zone Experiment (NanTroSEIZE) is the first geologic study of the underwater subduction zone faults that give rise to the massive earthquakes known to seismologists as mega-thrust earthquakes.
| To top EU is preparing for a tsunami in the Mediterranean FOCUS News Agency - February 24, 2009 - Brussels. The European Commission called upon EU member states to develop a system for early warning of tsunami in the Mediterranean, the 24 chasa Daily informed. Brussels presented a strategy for fight against natural disasters, which states that climate change is among the bloc’s greatest challenges.
| To top Hawaii's tsunami network upgrades face delays AP-Associated Press - February 20, 2009 - HONOLULU - Scientists have upgraded Hawaii's seismic monitors after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami prompted the U.S. government to improve American tsunami warning systems.
| To top New tsunami warning system may save lives Earth & Sky - Austin,TX,USA - February 14, 2009 -
[...] It uses GPS technology to detect the horizontal motion of the sea floor. These scientists say they can use this technology to predict a tsunami before a tsunami even starts. This is a new way of looking at how an earthquake causes a tsunami, says Tony Song.
| To top Dozens injured as major quake hits Indonesia AFP - February 12, 2009 -
JAKARTA (AFP) — At least 42 people were injured and hundreds of homes and buildings damaged when a major earthquake struck off Indonesia's Sulawesi island near the Philippines early Thursday, officials said. The 7.2-magnitude undersea quake struck at 1:34 am local time (1734 GMT Wednesday), prompting Indonesia's geophysics agency to issue a tsunami alert, which was later revoked.
| To top To top Four Years After Tsunami, Indonesian Coral Reefs Recovering AHN-www.allheadlinenews.com - February 03, 2009 - Coral reefs around Indonesia were devastated four years ago by the tsunami that took its toll on coast regions throughout the Indian Ocean, but a team of scientists from the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) gas reported a rapid recovery of coral reefs in areas of Indonesia.
| To top Recent small quakes could signal huge one in future NAMIC dailyLead - February 02, 2009 - A recent series of small earthquakes near the Juan de Fuca and the North American tectonic plates could be indicators of impending magnitude 9 megathrust quakes in the Cascadia subduction zone along the coastal areas of Northern California to southern British Columbia. Slow-slip events are creating pressure on the megathrust zone as the Juan de Fuca plate ducks beneath the North American plate. A major slippage could set off a quake equal to the one that occurred near the Sumatra-Andaman islands, which triggered the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami.
| To top Country's best tsunami warning system in Indian Ocean The Times of India - January 28, 2009 -
SURATHKAL (DK): "We have developed the best tsunami early warning system, making it possible alert people, well before it hits the Indian coastline," said P G Diwakar, head of the regional remote sensing service centre (RRSSC), ISRO, Bangalore.
| To top Caribbean faces tsunami threat Jamaika W.I.-The Cleaner - January 26, 2009 - The Caribbean has a reputation for being ravaged by hurricanes. However, what many do not realise is that a natural-disaster time bomb is slowly ticking in the region.
| To top Tsunami Affected Tourism Projects Granted Extension Financial Times - January 17, 2009 - The Central Bank of Sri Lanka has decided to grant an extension of the repayment period by two years and the grace period by one year for the loans granted to the tsunami affected tourism sector related projects under SUSAHANA and the Small Business Revival Programme (SBRP) loan schemes implemented by the Central Bank.
| To top Powerful quake hits in eastern Russia near Japan AFP_world - January 16, 2009 - MOSCOW : A powerful 7.3-magnitude earthquake has hit east of the Kuril Islands in the Pacific Ocean, which are disputed between Russia and Japan, the United States Geological Survey said Thursday.
| To top Tsunami charity's elusive records BBC Asian Network, Manchester - January 16, 2009 - An entrepreneur who organised a charity event raising tens of thousands of pounds for victims of the Asian tsunami has refused to disclose publicly exactly where the money went, a BBC investigation has revealed.
| To top The Rebirth of Phuket The New York Times - January 11, 2009 - In an indication of how important tourism is to the region, the government of Phuket provided generous aid to stranded visitors (just as many visitors had heroically helped out in the aftermath of the tsunami).
| To top Strong quake rocks Costa Rica, 3 dead uk.reuters.com - January 09, 2009 - SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, Jan 8 (Reuters) - A strong 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck Costa Rica on Thursday, killing a teenager as well as two children selling candy near a national park, stranding hundreds of tourists and damaging buildings in the capital.
| To top Tsunami warning as quake hits off West Papua news.com.au - January 04, 2009 -
A 7.2-magnitude quake struck at sea to the north-west of Manokwari in Indonesia's West Papua province early this morning, the geophysics agency said in a text message alert.
| To top Remembering tsunami tragedy thestar.com - December 27, 2008 - GEORGE TOWN: More than 6,000 mangrove saplings will be planted simultaneously in several parts of the country today in remembrance of the 2004 Asian tsunami tragedy.
| To top To top Four years after tsunami, hunt for missing children continues timesofindia.indiatimes.com - December 22, 2008 -
CHENNAI: "I want to see her at least once,'' says Sergeant Ravi Shankar of the Indian Air Force, breaking down. The sergeant, posted in New Delhi, is visiting Chennai in the hope that he may finally be reunited with his daughter Apurva Kumari who, if alive, would be 12 years old today.
| To top To top Study shows Singapore safe from tsunamis channelnewsasia.com - December 16, 2008 - SINGAPORE: A study commissioned by the National Environment Agency (NEA) has confirmed that there is a low probability of Singapore being affected by a tsunami.
| To top Earthquake strikes off Japanese coast theaustralian.news.com.au - December 15, 2008 - A MODERATE 5.3-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of the Japanese island of Honshu today, the US Geological Survey said.
| To top 55,000 houses by 2009 straitstimes.com - December 15, 2008 - GENEVA - THE Red Cross said on Monday it will have built more than 55,000 houses for people hit by the devastating 2004 South Asian tsunami by the end of 2009, when most major construction work should wind down.
| To top Another 2004-Force Tsunami Likely Within 30 Years, Study Shows bloomberg.com - December 12, 2008 - Dec. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Another tsunami-triggering earthquake off Indonesia is “extremely likely” in the next 30 years and may claim a higher toll than the 2004 surge that killed more than 220,000 people, according to a study in the journal Science.
| To top Huge tidal waves smash into PNG news.bbc.co.uk - December 11, 2008 - More than 400 people have been made homeless by huge tidal waves which hit the northern coastal region of Papua New Guinea, reports say.
| To top Indonesia's Aceh will have tsunami museum news.xinhuanet.com - December 11, 2008 - JAKARTA, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- The building of Museum of tsunami, which features the horrified impact of the catastrophe four years ago in Aceh on the northern tip of Sumatra island and Nias Island of North Sumatra, will be complete this month, a local media said here Thursday.
| To top NOAA Recognizes San Francisco as TsunamiReady™ noaanews.noaa.gov - December 10, 2008 - San Francisco has completed NOAA's National Weather Service TsunamiReady™
recognition program, better equipping the city to prepare and warn its
citizens for tsunamis. San Francisco is now the most populous city in
the United States to achieve TsunamiReady™ recognition and joins more than 60 TsunamiReady™ communities throughout the country, including 14 in California.
| To top Four years on, still the trauma lingers expressbuzz.com - December 09, 2008 - NAGAPATTINAM: Four
years have passed since the tsunami, but the memories of the black day
continue to haunt hundreds of children in tsunami-hit areas who are
suffering several psychological disorders, including post-traumatic
disorders.
| To top Strong quake jolts remote islands off New Zealand channelnewsasia.com - December 09, 2008 - WELLINGTON: A 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck the remote Kermadec
islands north of New Zealand on Tuesday, the US Geological Survey
reported, but experts said there was no risk of a tsunami.
| To top Tsunami four-year progress report reliefweb.int - December 09, 2008 - Four years after the Indian Ocean tsunami, some of the most important aspects of recovery are the least visible. The Red Cross Red Crescent programmes support communities to rebuild their own lives now and to cope with future threats – natural disasters, the effects of climate change, outbreaks of disease, conflict or the rapid rise in the cost of food and fuel. When livelihoods are secure, children are educated, safe water is plentiful, healthcare is accessible and houses are sturdy, then people are less exposed to future shocks. The result is stronger, more resilient communities.
| To top Be on guard barbadosadvocate.com - December 05, 2008 -
THE chances of Barbados being struck by a tsunami are “moderate”, but the island is being warned not to ignore the risks.
| To top To top Risk of tsunami 'remains large' inthenews.co.uk - December 04, 2008 - The risk of another large earthquake off the coast of Sumatra, the area
struck by a 9.2 magnitude quake and tsunami in 2004 resulting in the
death of 225,000 people, remains large, new research claims.
| To top To top TOUCH projects in Sri Lanka, Nepal leinsterleader.ie - December 03, 2008 - LOCAL charity Touch has opened two new projects in Sri Lanka in
response to the children affected by the Tsunami disaster that wiped
thousands of lives on out December 26, 2004.
| To top Tsunami affected coastal village Karimalaiyootu gets model housing scheme sundaytimes.lk - November 30, 2008 - Twenty six families of Karimalaiyootu, a coastal village in the China
Bay area in Trincomalee’s DS division which was destroyed by the
tsunami have been given a new life with newly built houses at a cost of
Rs 30 million and with other infrastructure facilties.
| To top A tsunami of courage deccanherald.com - November 29, 2008 -
Hema Vijay tells the tale of gritty Anjamma, who turned into an
unlikely leader after her village in Cuddalore was swept away by the
killer tsunami. Very little is
left of the original Pillemedu today. A tiny fishing village, falling
under the Killai Special Panchayat of Cuddalore district in Tamil Nadu,
it was literally swallowed up by the sea when the killer tsunami struck
in December 2004.
| To top 5.9-magnitude earthquake near Indonesia upi.com - November 29, 2008 -
JAKARTA, Nov. 29 (UPI) -- A meteorology agency in Indonesia says an
earthquake with a magnitude of 5.9 has occurred off the Sumatra Island
portion of the country.
| To top 5.9-magnitude quake rattles Vanuatu channelnewsasia.com - November 28, 2008 - SYDNEY: A 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck off the south Pacific
island of Vanuatu early Friday, the US Geological Survey said, but
there were no early reports of damage or casualties.
| To top Indonesia quake causes reflection on ministry growth mnnonline.org - November 26, 2008 - A powerful
earthquake and aftershocks struck the waters off western Indonesia just a few
days ago. "The recent earthquake reminded us, even though there wasn't
any notable damage where we serve, of the impact of the tsunami a few years ago
on the island of Aceh," said Lee DeYoung with Words of Hope.
| To top Tsunami warning centre inaugurated dailytimes.com - November 25, 2008 - KARACHI: The state-of-the-art National Seismic Monitoring Network and
Tsunami Warning Centre, was inaugurated at Meteorological Complex, here
on Monday.
| To top To top To top Boulder indicates biggest ever tsunami pledgeco.com - November 24, 2008 -
Aline
of massive boulders, each up to 30 feet high and weighing almost 2,000
tons, on the western shore of Tonga could be evidence of the most
powerful volcano-triggered tsunami ever, dwarfing even the 1883
Krakatau (Krakatoa) tsunami, which is estimated to have been
over 100 feet high. Matthew Hornbach, of the University of Texas
Institute for Geophysics, gave a briefing on the boulders to other
scientists at the Joint Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of
America in Houston, Texas.
| To top Quake Rattles Indonesian Island news.sky.com - November 22, 2008 -
An earthquake measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale has struck the western coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island.
| To top To top Thousands in tents after Sulawesi quake TheJakartaPost.com - November 19, 2008 - Thousands of residents in Buol
regency, Central Sulawesi, were still staying Tuesday in makeshift
shelters on higher ground fearing aftershocks which could trigger a
tsunami.
| To top Australia Tsunami Warning System gets risk management award educationgis.com - November 19, 2008 - The Australian Tsunami Warning System (ATWS) project has been
recognised for excellence in risk management systems. Geoscience
Australia and its partner agencies in the ATWS Project, the Bureau of
Meteorology (Bureau) and Emergency Management Australia (EMA), have
been recognised with a Highly Commended award in the Risk Initiative
category of the Comcover Awards.
| To top Major earthquake hits Indonesia, tsunami warning lifted Jakarta(AFP) - November 17, 2008 - A major 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck off Indonesia's
Sulawesi island early Monday, destroying houses and triggering a
tsunami warning but there were no reports of fatalities, officials said.
| To top New system to give early warning of tsunamis thejakartapost.com - November 12, 2008 - Local administration officials hope a new Tsunami Early Warning System
(TEWS), which was tested successfully on Tuesday, will be able alert
tourists and Balinese of the possibility of a tsunami and help prevent
fatalities.
| To top Australia opens national tsunami warning center ap.google.com - October 31, 2008 - Australia became an integral link in a
network of tsunami warning hubs across the Indian and Pacific oceans
with the official opening of a national monitoring center Friday.
| To top Japan quake triggers tsunami alert www.independent-bangladesh.com - July 20, 2008 - AP, TOKYO -- A strong earthquake with a preliminary 6.6 magnitude struck off of Japan's eastern coast today, the country's meteorological agency said. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
| To top Tsunami warning in northeast Japan after quake www.nationalpost.com - July 18, 2008 - Japan's Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami warning
in northeast Japan on Saturday after an strong earthquake struck off the east coast of Honshu.
| To top To top Tsunami signs to help action plan tvnz.co.nz - May 28, 2008 - Tsunami warning signs will soon be placed around the coastline
as the government prepares for any future tidal wave emergency.
| To top Mangroves Stop Tsunami EcoWorld.com - May 15, 2008 - Back in April 2005 we published the feature “Mangroves Stop Tsunami,” which explained that much of the devastation from the tsunami that struck South
East Asia in December 2004 could have been avoided if the mangrove forests hadn’t been ripped out to make room for aquaculture and timber.
| To top Most of the tsunami victims still live in shacks The Hindu - May 04, 2008 - PORT BLAIR: Over three years after the tsunami nearly flattened
parts of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, rehabilitation work is still on. Its progress seems slower than in other parts of the country.
| To top New tsunami warning system may save lives earthsky.org - March 24, 2008 - In 2004, the Indian Ocean tsunami claimed the lives of tens of thousands of
people, who didn’t have time to evacuate to higher ground. Tony Song and his colleagues at the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, California are developing a new warning system they say would quickly alert coastal dwellers that a tsunami might be coming. It uses GPS technology to detect the horizontal motion of the sea floor.
| To top Undersea tsunami threat The Dominion Post - March 16, 2008 - Evidence of a massive undersea landslide has been found less than 15 kilometres from Wellington airport, raising fears another slip could trigger a devastating tsunami.
| To top The 1,700 feet Tsunami that Struck Alaska Environmental News - March 15, 2008 - On the night of July 7th, 1958 the world’s largest Tsunami struck Lituya bay, located about 250 miles west of Juneau. It was 1,700 feet or 520 meters, almost twice the height of the Eiffel Tower.
The Tsunami happened immediately after a magnitude 8.3 earthquake caused an enormous landslide along the Fairweather Fault. The resulting crash of rock into water, caused the largest wall of water in human history. The deadly wave hurtled at jet speeds and wiped out everything within a four mile radius.
| To top Caribbean Region awaits UNESCO backing for tsunami system Caribbean360.com - March 14, 2008 - PANAMA CITY, Panama,March 14, 2008 - The Caribbean region is hoping to be a step closer to putting an independent tsunami early warning system in place by 2010, as it awaits a United Nations-backed coordination group to give the go-ahead for a regional data-sharing system.
| To top Strong quake hits near Indonesia's Aceh thestar.com.my - February 22, 2008 - JAKARTA (Reuters) - A quake measuring 6.6 on the Richter
scale struck off Indonesia's Aceh province on Wednesday, the meteorology and geophysics agency said, but there were no reports of deaths or casualties and no local tsunami warning was issued.
| To top Mega-tsunami theory disputed Herald Sun - February 03, 2008 - Supposed evidence Australia has been subject to prehistoric tsunamis up to 20m in height over the past 10,000 years could just be the result of Aboriginal occupation, a major conference is set to hear tomorrow. Archaeologists from the Australian National University say the theory about the mega-tsunamis, which has influenced the development of emergency service plans in Western Australia, is not supported by evidence.
In 2003 Australian geological researchers suggested prehistoric tsunamis over the past 10,000 years were much larger than those recorded since European settlement, including findings of surges up to 20m in height affecting a 2500km stretch of the WA coast. “Our field work would suggest that the shell and coral deposits found high on headlands in WA or further inland are evidence of Aboriginal occupation of the area, and not deposits of mega-tsunamis or other major inundations,” ANU researcher Dr Tony Barham said. ...
| To top Making (accurate predictions of) waves Physorg.com - January 29, 2008 - A new review of tsunami hazards concludes that the 2004 catastrophe was far from the worst possible in many Indian Ocean borderlands - and notes that warning systems to guard at-risk populations are still lagging. ...
| To top Tsunami Linked to Yellowstone Crater Physorg.com - January 22, 2008 - Tsunami-like waves created by an earthquake may have triggered the world's largest known hydrothermal explosion some 13,000 years ago, a federal scientist says.
The explosion created the Mary Bay crater that stretches more than one mile across along the north edge of Yellowstone Lake. Debris from the explosion has been found miles away. Lisa Morgan of the U.S. Geological Survey told a gathering of scientists over the weekend at Mammoth Hot Springs that an earthquake may have displaced more than 77 million cubic feet of water in Yellowstone Lake, creating huge waves that essentially unsealed a capped geothermal system. Though much has been made in recent years of a possible eruption of Yellowstone's "super volcano," geologists studying the park have long said that the likelihood is greater for a large hydrothermal explosion. ...
| To top Did a Tsunami Wipe Out a Cradle of Western Civilization? Discover - January 04, 2008 - The effects of the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004 are only too well known: It knocked the hell out of Aceh Province on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, leveling buildings, scattering palm trees, and wiping out entire villages. It killed more than 160,000 people in Aceh alone and displaced millions more. Similar scenes of destruction were repeated along the coasts of Southeast Asia, India, and as far west as Africa. The magnitude of the disaster shocked the world.
What the world did not know was that the 2004 tsunami—seemingly so unprecedented in scale—would yield specific clues to one of the great mysteries of archaeology: What or who brought down the Minoans, the remarkable Bronze Age civilization that played a central role in the development of Western culture? ...
| To top Southern Taiwan most vulnerable to tsunamis: study Taipei Times - December 07, 2007 - The southwest and northeast coasts of the country are the most vulnerable to tsunamis in the event of a strong underwater earthquake occurring in the South China Sea, according to the results of a study released yesterday. Regions that are considered at high risk include the shoreline between Hengchun (恆春) and Tainan in the south as well as Lotung (羅東) and Suao (蘇澳) in northeastern Iland County, the study shows. [...]
If the South China Sea experiences an undersea earthquake with a magnitude similar to that of the Dec. 26, 2004, Indian Ocean earthquake near the Indonesian island of Sumatra, a tsunami 8m to 10m high is likely to hit Hengchun approximately one hour after the quake, and Lotung and Suao are likely to see a tsunami 6m to 8m high, Wu said. Referring to a report by the US Geological Survey assessing the potential risk a tsunami source along the Pacific subduction zones, Wu noted that the Luzon trench has been identified as a high risk zone, while the Ryukyu trench and the North Sulawesi trench have been identified as medium risk zones. ...
| To top Seabed project reveals earthquake, tsunami clues AFP - November 23, 2007 - An ambitious international project to dig deeper into the Earth's surface than ever before has made a good start with scientists saying they have gained clues about how large earthquakes and tsunami occur. The experiment, using the Japanese government's 57,500-tonne, 60-billion-yen (550-million-dollar) deep-sea drilling vessel Chikyu, is probing a trench in waters off the Pacific coast of Japan where two tectonic plates meet. [...]
Tobin said the project, known as the Nankai Trough Seismogenic Zone Experiment, could help explain huge earthquakes caused by "subduction," when two plates move towards each other with one sliding under the other. "What we'll learn here about earthquake mechanics is of interest to all of us from the USA from Europe to around the world," Tobin said after he returned to land by helicopter from the giant ship. "It will apply to subduction-zone earthquakes everywhere -- whether it's Sumatra, South America, the northwestern part of North America and anywhere else," he added. The drilling area off Japan's Kii Peninsula is one of the most active quake zones on the planet and seismologists expect massive tremors within the next several decades. ...
| To top Can you hear me ? Tsunami siren test results are mixed Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader - November 14, 2007 - If Tuesday's tsunami warning siren test was anything like what would occur if a tidal wave was imminent, potential death and destruction would be forecasted by a pleasant eight-beat tone akin to London's Big Ben clocktower. [...]
Jim Tolpin, a Port Townsend resident who was on a rowboat about 800 feet from shore when the test was conducted, said he heard the chimes but found the voice message announcing the test "completely unintelligible." "I bet it's very, very unlikely there would be a tsunami within the operational range of that very vulnerable piece of equipment, which apparently doesn't work very well anyway," Tolpin said. ...
| To top Indonesia lifts tsunami warning after Sumatra quake Reuters - October 24, 2007 - A powerful magnitude 7.1 earthquake jolted the Indian Ocean off Indonesia's Sumatra island early on Thursday, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties and a brief tsunami alert was lifted. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake, which hit at 4:02 a.m. (2102 GMT), was quite shallow at only 30 km (18.6 miles) deep and struck 135 km west of Bengkulu. [...]
An official at the Honolulu-based U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said his agency had told the Indonesian government of a possible small and localized tsunami. [...] The Indonesian meteorological agency, which put the quake at a depth of 10 km, issued a tsunami warning immediately after the tremor but lifted it later. ... Note: According to the hazard analysis of the Tsunami Alarm System there was a concrete tsunami hazard for coastal areas in the vicinity of the epicentre. Therefore, the subscribers of the Tsunami Alarm System were informed of the possibility of a tsunami in the region immediately after the earthquake. When it became clear that a destructive tsunami was no longer expected, an All-Clear signal was sent to the subscribers of the Tsunami Alarm System.
| To top When the big wave struck stuff.co.nz - October 15, 2007 - Just when we thought we knew all about New Zealand history, along comes Bruce McFadgen with his giant tsunamis. The Wellington archaeologist reckons that a tsunami the height of a seven-storey building hit northern New Zealand about 500 years ago.
The wave swept the coasts of Northland, Auckland and the Bay of Plenty and by the time it hit Cook Strait it was still 10 metres high. This mother-of-all-tsunamis decimated Maori and changed their way of life forever. ...
| To top Giant Wave Experiment Reveals Poorly Understood Behavior Of Tsunamis Science Daily - October 14, 2007 - With the goal of saving lives and preventing environmental and structural damage during real tsunamis, Princeton Engineering researchers created experimental mini-tsunamis in Oregon this summer. Existing models for predicting the impact of tsunamis focus on the incoming rush of water while largely ignoring the effect of the powerful forces that a tsunami wave can exert on the earth beneath when it draws back into the ocean.
"This was the first experiment of this kind and it will allow us to develop a realistic model to show us what really happens to the sand during a tsunami," said Yin Lu "Julie" Young, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Princeton University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science. ...
| To top Was 869 Tohoku quake Japan's strongest? Daily Yomiuri - October 12, 2007 - The Jogan Sanriku Earthquake of 869 may have been the strongest seismic disturbance ever to strike Japan, a joint research team of Osaka City University, Tohoku University, Tokyo University and others reported Thursday. The finding, based on evidence that traces of the tsunami following the quake impacted a wider area than previously thought, was revealed at a meeting of the Japan Society of Engineering Geology being held in Osaka. The Jogan Tsunami is believed to have severely damaged the Pacific coast of the Tohoku region during the Heian period (794-1192). According to a previous study, traces of the damage were found from Miyagi Prefecture to Fukushima Prefecture. However, in the most recent study, the researchers found evidence of damage in Iwate Prefecture, leading them to believe the earthquake that caused the tsunami might have measured around a magnitude of 9, stronger than the magnitude 8.6 Hoei Earthquake of 1707, which was previously believed to have been the country's strongest quake. [...]
In Sendai Plain, the tsunami breached the coast by more than 3 kilometers. About 1,000 people are thought to have died in the tsunami, according to documents. ...
| To top Tsunami researchers build tiny town Earthtimes.org - October 07, 2007 - Researchers in Oregon plan to drown a tiny town of their creation to measure the effects of a tsunami on real seaside communities. Oregon State University in Corvallis has the nation's most sophisticated tsunami research center with a 50-yard-long Tsunami Wave Basin completed with $5 million from the National Science Foundation, The Oregonian reported Sunday.
The $170,000 Seaside project has recreated the town of Seaside, Ore., complete with homes, businesses, streets and schools. The miniature model will be flooded repeatedly this fall and winter to determine what would happen if a 35-foot-high tsunami hit Seaside, the newspaper reported. Researchers want to know how water channels through the town and how much force it has to move debris and damage cars and buildings. The study also could determine evacuation routes. Evidence suggests major quakes have occurred about 20 times along the Oregon coastline in the last 10,000 years, the last one striking 300 years ago. ...
| To top Tsunami in a Tank Popular Science Magazine - October 05, 2007 - Three years after a series of tsunamis killed more than 200,000 people and devastated hundreds of communities bordering the Indian Ocean, a team of engineers has figured out how to re-create smaller versions of the killer waves in a lab. Their first-of-its-kind flume, set for completion next year, could better reveal how tsunamis work and help in designing buildings that can withstand their power.
After traveling undetected for thousands of miles, the ocean's most dangerous waves rear up as high as 100 feet as they approach the shore. This initial rush can pummel homes and break protective barriers, but the rest of the wave—the mile-long mass of water that follows the crest to shore and then drags land and buildings back into the ocean—can be just as devastating. Geoengineer Tiziana Rossetto of University College London first documented this effect while observing the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The waves, she explains, swept away a huge volume of sand and soil as they receded, and the erosion left buildings unstable. "It's like pulling the roots out of a plant," she says. ...
| To top Tsunamis after next Cascadia earthquake might be more damaging than ground shaking Canadian Underwriter - October 05, 2007 - Ground shaking caused by the next predicted Cascadia earthquake off the western coast of British Columbia is expected to result in losses of between US$40 and US$60 billion — and damage losses resulting from the accompanying tsunami waves could be even larger than that, according to the Hazard & Risk Science Review 2007. The review, a joint publication of Benfield and PartnerRe, surveys hazard and risk science papers published in the past 12 months that are relevant to the reinsurance and insurance markets.[...]
In California, economic loss estimates as a result of a tsunami are on the order of US$270 billion, the review notes. ...
| To top Team studying Tasman mega-tsunamis Sidney Morning Herald - October 04, 2007 - A study is underway to determine if Australia and New Zealand were hit by mega-tsunamis many times the size of the 2004 Boxing Day disaster and what risk there is of any repeat. Scientists from both sides of the Tasman are looking for geological evidence that both countries were hit by super waves in the past 10,000 years. Controversial data has suggested three or four huge tsunamis may have hit south eastern Australia during that period, although scientists are divided about how severe the events were. [...]
Dr Dale Dominey-Howes, from the University of NSW, is heading the new three-year study, which aims to establish how real the risk is of a catastrophic tsunami in the future. Researchers say more than 300,000 lives and property worth more than $A150 billion on the NSW coast could be vulnerable if a big tsunami hit. Dominey-Howes is sceptical about some of the tsunami claims, but says the possibility that huge waves had hit Australia must be properly investigated. ...
| To top Tsunami Alert Lifted After Sumatra Quake AP - October 03, 2007 - A strong earthquake hit the western coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island Tuesday, prompting authorities to temporarily issue a tsunami alert. The quake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 struck nearly 100 miles off the coast of the town of Bengkulu, the Meteorological and Geophysics Agency said.
There was no sign of large waves reaching the coast and authorities lifted the tsunami alert after one hour. ... Note: According to the hazard analysis of the Tsunami Alarm System there was no danger of a destructive tsunami, therefore no warning was sent to its subscribers.
| To top 'Luck' stopped devastating tsunami Sidney Morning Herald - September 13, 2007 - An Australian expert says it is a matter of luck that Indonesia's powerful earthquake did not generate a devastating tsunami. Central Queensland University seismologist Mike Turnbull said the 8.4 magnitude tremor which struck in the ocean off southern Sumatra at 9.10pm (AEST) yesterday was equivalent in energy to more than 800,000 atomic bombs being exploded.
But the huge force of water displaced by the ocean earthquake was pushed out to sea, rather than towards land, he said. "It was very fortunate in fact that the plate mechanisms that caused the earthquake caused the tsunami to go to the south west, out into the Indian Ocean and then the Southern Ocean," Turnbull said. ...
| To top Tsunami prediction for Hong Kong and Macao New Scientist - August 27, 2007 - Hong Kong and Macao are enormous, sprawling economic
centres perched on the coast. And both stand a 10 per cent chance of
being hit by a serious tsunami in the next century, warn geophysicists.
The warning follows a new assessment of how earthquakes along the nearby
Manila trench could radiate tsunami waves across the South China Sea.
Although Chinese records of tsunamis date back to AD 171, the hazard
was largely ignored until the cataclysmic Sumatra tsunami in 2004.
However, the structure of the complex plate boundary on the eastern
side of the South China Sea, running from Taiwan to the Manila trench,
makes shallow subduction-related quakes particularly likely. This problem
was highlighted by the quake in December 2006 that hobbled internet
traffic in the region when it ripped through subsea data cables. Such
earthquakes could also trigger tsunamis.
...
| To top Geologists fear undersea mud mountain may trigger tsunami Bangkok Post - August 16, 2007 - A giant mountain of mud found under the Indian Ocean's Nicobar Islands
is being closely monitored by geologists who fear a tsunami could be
triggered by a massive landslide. Smith Dharmasarojana, chairman of the
National Disaster Warning Centre Committee, said the geologists from
India recently discovered the giant mud mountain, and some parts of it
measured more than seven kilometres high.
The mud mountain is only
400 km from Phuket, he said. "If a tsunami happens, it will definitely
affect Thailand," said Mr Smith, adding that mud-triggered tsunamis had
occurred in Canada and Australia. ...
| To top Estimating Local Tsunami Wave Height From Great Earthquakes ScienceDaily - August 15, 2007 - The massive 9.2-magnitude Sumatra-Andaman earthquake on 26 December
2004 generated a tsunami that propagated throughout the Indian Ocean,
killing more than 250,000 people. By contrast, the nearby 8.7-magnitude
Simeulue-Nias earthquake on 28 March 2005 generated a small tsunami
that caused only a few casualties. Though these earthquakes occurred in
similar tectonic settings, their tsunami were markedly different,
highlighting the need for reliably determining tsunami hazards from
earthquake geometry. ...
Editor's note: The original abstract and paper can be found at: http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2007/2007GL030494.shtml.
| To top Mini-Seaside becomes Oregon test model for tsunami effects OregonLive - August 13, 2007 - A tsunami is headed for a miniature version of the city of Seaside in
an Oregon State University research lab. Scientists at the O.H.
Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory have built a small model of downtown
Seaside to study the effects of a tsunami in a project that is likely
to continue for years. It will encompass everything from numerical
models to wave heights, to the amount of water that will remain after a
significant event, to possible places of safety.
"The characteristics of Seaside are similar to Thailand," said
Kijewski-Correa, who led a group of researchers to Thailand after their
visit to the Oregon coast. "Clearly, I think, we need to realize we're
at risk and we need to get over the 'it's them, not us' mentality,"
said Kijewski-Correa. ...
| To top Powerful quake rocks eastern Indonesia Houston Chronicle - July 26, 2007 - A powerful earthquake rocked eastern Indonesia on
Thursday, sending residents fleeing from swaying homes and hospitals,
authorities and witnesses said. There were no immediate reports of
damage.
The quake, which had a preliminary magnitude of 7, triggered a tsunami
warning but the alert was quickly lifted after it became clear no destructive
waves had been generated, the country's geophysics agency said. ...
Note: According to the initial hazard analysis of the Tsunami Alarm
System there was a concrete tsunami hazard for coastal areas in the
vicinity of the epicentre. Therefore, the subscribers of the Tsunami
Alarm System were informed of the possibility of a tsunami in the region
immediately after the earthquake. After 30 minutes, additional data
was available that allowed for sending an All-Clear signal.
| To top Major Quake, Tsunami Likely in Middle East, Study Finds National Geographic News - July 26, 2007 - In A.D. 551, a massive earthquake spawned huge tsunamis that devastated
the coast of Phoenicia, now Lebanon. Now a new underwater survey has
finally uncovered the fault likely responsible for the catastrophe and
shown that it rumbles approximately every 1,500 years—which means a
disaster is due any day now. "It is just a matter of time before a
destructive tsunami hits this region again," said Iain Stewart, an
earthquake expert at the University of Plymouth in the United Kingdom
not involved in the underwater survey.
The ample archaeological and historical evidence from the A.D. 551
earthquake indicate that it was truly a catastrophic event. The
resulting tsunami damaged all major coastal cities between Tripoli and
Tyr, and Tripoli was reported to have "drowned." ...
| To top Earthquake Hits Central Japan; Seven Killed, NHK Says Bloomberg - July 16, 2007 - An earthquake struck central Japan near Niigata,
toppling houses, causing a fire at a nuclear power plant and suspending
bullet train services. Seven people were killed and more than 800 were
injured, NHK television reported. The magnitude 6.8 quake, centered
off the Japan Sea coast, triggered a tsunami warning that was later
lifted, the country's meteorological agency said on its Web site.
According to the hazard analysis of the Tsunami Alarm System there
was no danger of a destructive tsunami, therefore no warning was sent
to its subscribers.
...
| To top New method of tsunami forecasting found earthtimes.org - July 16, 2007 - University of Hawaii and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
researchers note giant earthquakes -- those that rupture slowly or
those with large fault areas -- can pose serious tsunami hazards that
can be difficult to immediately deduce from real-time analyses of seismic
networks.
However, the scientists found existing networks of tide gauges and
deep-ocean pressure sensors can provide important information for tsunami
detection. ...
Editor's note: The original abstract and paper can be found
at: http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2007/2007GL030158.shtml.
| To top Making Waves: New Research Could Minimize Impact Of Future Tsunami Science Daily - July 03, 2007 - For the first time, a team of experts is preparing
to create tsunami in a controlled environment in order to study their
effects on buildings and coastlines - ultimately paving the way for
the design of new structures better able to withstand their impact.
Ahead of today's (Monday 2nd) Coastal Structures 2007 International
Conference Dr Tiziana Rossetto, UCL Department of Civil & Environmental
Engineering, unveiled plans to develop an innovative new tsunami generator
capable of creating scaled-down versions of the devastating waves.
"The main gap in our knowledge is about what happens when the
tsunami wave approaches the nearshore region and then runs inland.
These flow processes cannot be simplified using mathematical models
because of the complex interaction that takes place with beaches, sediment,
coastal defences and then in and around buildings. It is possible for
the whole process to be simulated with hydraulic models, but to get
meaningful data the tsunami wave has to be accurately generated in
the first place. Conventional wave generators haven't been able to
replicate tsunami because of the unusually long wavelength that is
required." ...
| To top 'Stealth' Tsunami That Killed 600 In Java Last Summer Had 65 Foot High Wave Science Daily - June 19, 2007 - Though categorized as magnitude 7.8, the earthquake
could scarcely be felt by beachgoers that afternoon. A low tide and
wind-driven waves disguised the signs of receding water, so when the
tsunami struck, it caught even lifeguards by surprise. That contributed
to the death toll of more than 600 persons in Java, Indonesia.
"This event indicates that there was likely a combination of
both a tectonic tsunami and a submarine landslide or a canyon failure
triggered by the earthquake," said Fritz, whose research is supported
by the U.S. National Science Foundation. "The runup was unusually
high along one portion of the coast, too much for a 7.8 magnitude earthquake.
The only explanation we could think of is that a submarine mass movement
triggered by the earthquake could have added to the effect of the earthquake,
given the essentially straight coastline with little room for large-scale
tsunami focusing." ...
| To top Mangrove forests could have reduced tsunami deaths Daily Yomiuri Online - June 16, 2007 - The death toll in the tsunami catastrophe that devastated
the coastal area of Indonesia's Sumatra Island in December 2004 could
have been halved if natural mangrove forests had not been flattened
by development, according to studies by a group of researchers led
by Tohoku Gakuin University Prof. Toyohiko Miyagi.
He found that while the hypothetical range hit by a tsunami is similar
to the range struck by an actual tsunami, the mangrove forests, if
they had been there, could have served as a breakwater that could have
reduced the height of the tsunami by up to 73 percent. By the time
the tsunami had swept two kilometers inland from the coast, its height
of eight meters could have been reduced by two meters. With a lower
tsunami, about 47 percent of about 42,000 people who died or went missing
in the inland area, where there were mangrove forests in the past,
could have been saved, Miyagi said.
...
| To top Lab to study tsunami preparation efforts Houston Chronicle - June 12, 2007 - Oregon State University's O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research
Laboratory's Tsunami Wave Basin is re-creating a few blocks of Seaside
so researchers can repeatedly slam tidal waves into it.
- Scientists believe a large tsunami — a 35-foot-high wall of
water rushing over the beach in Seaside — could be caused by
a Cascadia subduction zone earthquake just offshore. Researchers know
that one occurred on Jan. 26, 1700. Such an event today would be similar
to the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, which several people survived
through "vertical evacuation" — taking refuge on the
second story of a hotel or bar. "They call it a 500-year event," Cox
said. "There's a chance it could happen sooner." In fact,
experts say, there's a 14 percent or greater chance that it could occur
in the next 50 years. Such a tsunami would take about 15 to 20 minutes
to hit the Oregon coast, according to the Oregon Department of Geology
and Mineral Industries. It would take just about that long to flee
from the beach to higher ground outside the tsunami-flooding area.
...
| To top Tsunami-warning system disabled Independent Online - June 06, 2007 - Angry residents in Indonesia's Aceh province, the
area hardest hit by the 2004 tsunami, disconnected part of a new early
warning system after a false alarm sent panicky residents to the hills,
officials said on Wednesday.
"They took away the fuses without telling us because they are
still panicked and afraid," said Hervina, an official with the
Meteorology and Geophysics Agency in Banda Aceh.
...
| To top Solomons tsunami 'destroyed 6,000 homes' The Sidney Morning Herald - June 04, 2007 - The Solomon Islands earthquake and tsunami on April
2 destroyed or severely damaged more than 6,000 homes, the country's
disaster management office says.
In its latest assessment report following the 8.1 magnitude quake,
the National Disaster Management Office said 52 people were confirmed
dead, 40 people were seriously injured and more than 36,000 were directly
affected by the disaster. ...
| To top Tonga's Workshop On Tsunami Disasters Strategies TongaNOW! - May 30, 2007 - Government officials from the national and district levels; and
representatives of NGOs convened in Nuku’alofa this week to discuss
lessons learned and best practices related to the national and
international response to past tsunami disasters.
Tonga is most vulnerable to natural disasters: Small pacific nations
like Tonga are vulnerable to natural calamities since the most
disastrous tsunami that claimed thousands of lives a few years ago. It
was recognized at the outset that smaller countries had not been able
to pay so much attention to natural disasters following the Asian
tsunami. ...
| To top Tsunami warning lifted after strong Indonesia quake Reuters - May 23, 2007 - An strong undersea earthquake on Thursday off central
Indonesia's Nusa Tenggara island chain sparked panic and prompted a
brief tsunami warning, but there were no reports of casualties or major
damage. "We have cancelled the warning. The quake had no tsunami
potential," Sri Woro, the head of the agency, told Reuters.
According to the hazard analysis of the Tsunami Alarm System there
was no danger of a destructive tsunami, therefore no warning was sent
to its subscribers. …
| To top Experts differ on tsunami threat - Interview with the Hawaii-based geophysicist and tsunami expert IslandsBusiness.com - May 04, 2007 - "The biggest challenge in tsunami warning (or
any warning for that matter) is getting the message over that last
mile, from the local government office or police station to the people
on the beach. With more and more people carrying mobile phones, pushing
out an SMS message would probably be the most effective means of warning
people."
"In July 2006 there was a tragedy on the south coast of Java.
[...] If our message had been relayed, and if there had been a notification
system set up to get the word to the general public, then most of those
poor people would have had 20 minutes in which to escape. The biggest
challenge is that last step in the chain-getting the word to the public."
…
| To top Are Tourists Prepared In Case A Tsunami Strikes? KHNL.com - April 26, 2007 - Those of us who live in Hawaii are reminded of potential
hazards, like tsunami, every month with siren soundings. But for many
of the visitors in Waikiki, they may not have thought of destructive
waves during their time in paradise.
Thousands are prepared for the sun, sand and surf of our islands.
But not all are prepared for the possibility of a tsunami. …
| To top Big Island Tsunami Survivors Speak KHNL.com - April 26, 2007 - Many around the state have heard the emergency sirens
or been under a tsunami watch or warning. But those who have survived
these deadly waves, say being prepared is the best way to live thru
these disasters. …
| To top Ottawa is failing tsunami risk test Canada.com - April 20, 2007 - Karl Hansen, Tofino's emergency co-ordinator, says
Public Safety Canada has twice turned down his request for a federal
contribution of $75,000 toward the warning sirens.
As it is, Hansen is supposed to run from house to house yelling a
warning in this town of about 2,000 people.Since tsunamis can move
at several hundred kilometres an hour, he doesn't like his, or their,
chances. …
| To top Mediterranean Tsunami Warning System Could Save Lives Deutsche Welle - April 16, 2007 - Underwater earthquakes can trigger tsunamis all over
the world - including the Mediterranean. Experts are investigating
how to set up an early warning system in the Mediterranean, but there
are still many issues.
Ten percent of all tsunamis world-wide occur in the Mediterranean.
In 2003, a two meter (6.6 feet) high tsunami hit the coast of Algeria
and Spain's Balearic Islands causing significant damage, but no loss
of life. And back in 1908, some 75,000 people died when giant waves
swept along the Sicilian coast. …
| To top Time factor is big challenge in tsunami warnings Canberra Times - April 11, 2007 - AN EARTHQUAKE occurred south of the Aleutian Islands
which stretch across the top of the Pacific Ocean like Alaska's tail,
on March 9, 1957. The undersea quake set off tsunamis towards the Alaskan
coast and Hawaii. Official records from 50 years ago said, "Thanks
to a timely alarm from the International Pacific Tsunami Warning Center
at Honolulu, no human lives were lost."
But as last week's quake and tsunami near the Solomon Islands showed,
getting the geology and seismography right is just one part of a successful
tsunami warning system. You also have to get the information and communications
technologies right, not to mention the public information systems and
the social psychology. …
| To top 13 dead following Solomons tsunami CNN.com - April 02, 2007 - At least 13 people died in the Solomon Islands Monday
after two earthquakes and a tsunami hit the western part of the island-chain
nation, the country's chief spokesman said.
Alfred Maesulia, the Solomon Islands' government spokesman, told
CNN that six people were confirmed dead and "a lot of people" were
missing, which he suggested may be in the range of 10 to 20 people.
In the South Choiseul, waves 10 meters high swept through the Sasamunga
village northeast of Gizo, destroying villages, food gardens and a
hospital, the government's Web site reported
| To top Tsunami-worn town wants to know why it wasn't warned San Francisco Chronicle - November 17, 2006 - PST Crescent City, Del Norte
County -- Earl Hensel rushed to the Crescent
City Harbor just in time to see water gushing
in from the sea, sweeping away everything
in its path. The most devastating tidal wave
to hit the California coast in four decades
washed away docks, damaged boats and spread
debris all over the harbor.
"
We were surprised," said harbormaster
Richard Young. "I don't know if it is
our fault or their fault, but we need to
get tied into the warning system better." The
issue is particularly important in this rugged
Northern California fishing port, which has
been hit by more tsunamis over the years
than anywhere else in California. The crescent-shaped
city was nearly wiped out in 1964 when a
21-foot-high wave destroyed most of the town
center, killing 11 people, many of whom had
gone down to the shore to see the waves coming
in. ...
| To top Relief as tsunami fizzles out News24.com - November 16, 2006 - Tokyo - Coastal residents voiced relief
on Thursday as one of the biggest earthquakes in recent
times did little more than flip over boats in a scare
that demonstrated Japan's quick-moving tsunami alert
system. ...
| To top Without Warning TIME - July 28, 2006 - Hundreds died when Indonesia's tsunami-alert
system failed its first real-world test. What went
wrong?
... What came next was a failure to communicate. About 20 minutes after
the quake, the Indonesian Meteorology and Geophysics Agency's technical
department for tsunamis received the e-mail bulletin from PTWC in Honolulu
that included a warning about the risk of a local tsunami, according
to Fauzi, the department's chief. Fauzi told Time his agency subsequently
relayed text messages warning of the quake to about 400 Indonesian
officials in disaster management, but there was little they could do:
there were no alarm bells to ring on the beach, no emergency broadcasts
to transmit over the radio or TV, no way to warn the people on the
coast. ...
| To top Indonesian Quake, Tsunami Toll Reaches 337 on Java (Update5) Bloomberg.com - July 18, 2006 - Indonesia's government declared a
state of emergency in areas on the south coast of Java
struck by yesterday's earthquake and tsunami where
the death toll rose to 337, according to the Health
Ministry. At least seven of the dead were tourists
from countries including Sweden, Japan and the Netherlands,
Rustam S. Pakaya, head of crisis management at the
Health Ministry said by mobile phone. A further 165
people are missing, 510 are injured and 52,400 have
been evacuated. ...
| To top Indonesian tsunami toll hits 300 theage.com.au - July 18, 2006 - The toll from Indonesia's latest tsunami
disaster climbed past 300 dead as survivors, including
a group of Australian surfers, said they received no
warning before at least six massive waves hit. "There
was no siren, just a roar, then everyone was running," said
15-year-old Purama, who had been on Pangandaran's eastern
beach, one of the worst hit spots. Seismologists around
the world declared a tsunami alert after a magnitude
7.7 rocked the seafloor late Monday. But no official
warning was issued to the villages hugging the tragically
exposed shoreline along Java's southern coast. ...
| To top Five dead in Indonesian tsunami BBC News - July 17, 2006 - Five people have been killed in a
tsunami triggered by an earthquake off the island of
Java, the Indonesian president said. One resident,
Teti, said high waves had destroyed hotels in Pangandaran
and thrown boats onto the beach. "Waves suddenly came
and we ran to the hills," she told local radio. "Many
small hotels were destroyed," she said. "Boats have
been thrown into hotels." Indonesian President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono said: "Based on reports I have received,
five people have been killed." "The search is ongoing
for those who are still missing," he told reporters.
| To top UN-backed tsunami early warning system set to become operation in Indian Ocean UN News Centre - June 28, 2006 - “This initial system will be capable
of … improved and faster detection of strong, tsunamogenic
earthquakes, increased precision in the location of
the epi- and hypocentres of earthquakes; [and] confirmation
of the presence of a tsunami wave in the ocean after
a strong earthquake,” UN Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Director-General Koïchiro
Matsuura said. [Remark: The Tsunami Alarm System for
Everybody makes use of these improved data.]
| To top Earthquake hits Tonga during Pacific-wide tsunami warning drill The Star - May 17, 2006 - WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) _ Several
real earthquakes hit the Pacific region as scientists
tested the region's tsunami-warning system through
Wednesday _ including one north of New Zealand, three
off Indonesia and two off the remote islands nation
of Tonga. No damage or injuries were reported in any
of the quakes on Tuesday and Wednesday, although the
one off the coast of New Zealand caused a minor local
tsunami.
| To top Tsunami warning systems prove they're not up to job Herald Tribune - May 04, 2006 - If the giant earthquake Thursday in the South Pacific had spawned a deadly tsunami, many islanders would not have learned about it until a wall of water bore down on them. Nearly 18 months after a tsunami in the Indian Ocean left at least 216,000 people dead or missing, sparking international calls for a better warning system, Pacific islanders got little or no notice of the latest possible tsunami.
But the alert was not received in Tonga, closest to the epicenter, said the center's acting director, Gerard Fryer. "There was a problem in Tonga where there was a power outage and they didn't get our initial message," he said, adding that the center needs to work with Tonga to correct the problem. He said he did not know whether the power failure was caused by the earthquake.
| To top Earthquake hits Tonga, tsunami warning issued Reuters - May 04, 2006 - NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga (Reuters) - A powerful
undersea earthquake rocked the islands of Tonga on
Thursday, generating a small tsunami and sparking fears
across the South Pacific of a major disaster, but there
were no reports of damage.
| To top Strong earthquake in Pacific sparks tsunami alert The Star online - May 04, 2006 - NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga (AP) - A massive
earthquake caused little damage to South Pacific island
nations on Thursday, but exposed alarming cracks in
a tsunami warning system intended to prevent a repeat
of the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean disaster that
left at least 216,000 dead or missing.
| To top New Tsunami alarm AsiaNews.it - March 11, 2006 - A Tsuanmi alarm was sounded this morning in Thailand by the Natural
Disaster Warning Centre. The director, Ploadprasob Surasawadee, said
that from 9 to 11 March, 2006 there were “unusual phenomena” about
500km off Ranong Province.
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