![]() ![]() 15, the National Weather Service issued a tsunami advisory for the entire West Coast because of a volcano that erupted in the Pacific Ocean. These centers alert local authorities when residents may need to evacuate vulnerable areas.Īt 6:09 a.m. Pacific territories, and one covers the rest of the country and Canada. North America has two tsunami warning centers tasked with tracking and sounding the alarm in the event of underwater earthquakes that could cause a tsunami on the West Coast. It was a magnitude 9.1 quake off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. In 2004 a tsunami in the Indian Ocean pummeled multiple nations in Asia and caused at least 225,000 deaths along with massive destruction. Tsunamis can be extremely deadly if sparked by a massive earthquake. “A tsunami is more like storm surge from a hurricane rather than a breaking ocean wave you surf however, icons and visualizations often portray a tsunami as an idealized surf wave - including artwork such as ‘The Great Wave off Kanagawa,’” Snider said. (Metropolitan Museum of Art via WikiCommons) “The Great Wave off Kanagawa,” a 19th century woodblock print by Hokusai. However, they look much different closer to shore. The water rises, sometimes violently, rushing inland, causing flooding and potential disaster.ĭeeper in the ocean, tsunami waves have the ability to travel as fast as jetliners. Tsunamis are caused by underwater disturbances such as earthquakes, landslides or volcanic eruptions that push water upward and outward toward the coast. “Make sure you know where the closest high ground is and the quickest route to get there.” “The ground shaking will be your warning that a tsunami may be on the way,” Dixon said. “Although the chances of this happening in our lifetime is low, it’s important for families to get prepared now,” said Maximilian Dixon, the hazards and outreach program supervisor for the Washington Emergency Management Division. A 7.5 earthquake striking in the area is very unlikely in any given year, but it is possible. According to the National Weather Service, the U.S.’s most damaging tsunami was caused by the Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964, which was a magnitude 9.2. Large earthquakes in these areas can cause the seafloor to rise and spark a tsunami. The West Coast is considered to be at a high to very high risk for these phenomena because of tectonic plates that meet in this part of the country. (Washington State Department of Natural Resources via YouTube) ![]() ![]() The tsunami inundation and strong currents have the potential to continue for more than three hours from the start of the earthquake, according to the simulation.Ī slide from the Washington State Department of Natural Resources’ wave simulation study. While tsunamis big enough to flood North America are rare, the data from the Washington study concludes that tsunami waves could reach the shoreline in fewer than three minutes in many areas of western Seattle, including parts of Bainbridge Island, Elliott Bay and Alki Point. there are over 90 million people living in coastal counties, including more than 30 million on the West Coast. #Tropico 5 building not producing series“Tsunamis are an unusual series of powerful, moving and extensive increases of water that can be expected following a locally felt earthquake - or something as far away as a South Pacific island volcano,” Dave Snider, tsunami warning coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told Yahoo News. “That’s been something that these videos, I hope, help kind of pull the curtain back on and help educate not only the public, but also the emergency managers and anyone who’s interested in tsunamis to understand how they behave geographically over time,” Daniel Eungard, a geologist with the Washington Geological Survey who helped conduct the study, told Yahoo News.Īll it takes is a few feet of water on the mainland to devastate a community, according to experts. The waterfront, the Space Needle and the downtown skyline of Seattle in 2015. ![]()
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