Risk Of Huge Pacific Ocean Tsunami On West Coast Of America Greater Than Previously Thought

I found this article on Sciencedaily.

It makes sobering reading for anyone living on the Western Seaboard.

The potential for a huge Pacific Ocean tsunami on the West Coast of America may be greater than previously thought, according to a new study of geological evidence along the Gulf of Alaska coast.

The new research suggests that future tsunamis could reach a scale far beyond that suffered in the tsunami generated by the great 1964 Alaskan earthquake. Official figures put the number of deaths caused by the earthquake at around 130: 114 in Alaska and 16 in Oregon and California. The tsunami killed 35 people directly and caused extensive damage in Alaska, British Columbia, and the US Pacific region*.

The 1964 Alaskan earthquake – the second biggest recorded in history with a magnitude of 9.2 – triggered a series of massive waves with run up heights of as much as 12.7 metres in the Alaskan Gulf region and 52 metres in the Shoup Bay submarine slide in Valdez Arm.

I wonder if any of you at risk in this area have a tsunami evacuation plan?

Might be a good idea to make one.

All along Oregon and Washington they have signs for tsunami evacuation routes. There is also early warning systems that would trigger ( hopefully) giving around 10 minutes notice of a big wave. Many of these were added a few years ago.

What should have people more worried is not the tsunami but the effects of having a earthquake that big along the juan de fuca plate. Most of Seattle and old parts of Portland are made of brick buildings. A large earthquake would cause those to crumble.

It could also cause some of our volcanoes to let loose that are currently rumbling like Mt st. Helens.

The potential for a huge Pacific Ocean tsunami on the West Coast of America may be greater than previously thought, according to a new study of geological evidence along the Gulf of Alaska coast.

I was born and raised in California and now live in Oregon. Anybody who has driven up PCH can tell simply by looking that the West Coast is heavily scared from past tsunamis. It shouldn't surprise anybody that they may happen again.

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reply to post by kiwifoot


ScienceDaily has said warned of the same thing 4 years ago.

OSU is home to the Tsunami Wave Basin at the Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory, one of the world's leading research facilities to study tsunamis and understand their behavior, catastrophic effects and possible ways to reduce the destruction they can cause.

As the death tolls rises into the tens of thousands in Asia and the number of homeless above one million, OSU experts say many of the same forces that caused this disaster are at work elsewhere on the Pacific Ocean "ring of fire," one of the most active tectonic and volcanic regions of the world.

Link

The threat that a tsunami could hit the west coast has been pretty dominant over the last 5 years as they have become more and more prominant in South East Asia.

Also a lot of Earthquakes have come about in Asia also in the past 5 years, what is more worrying is the fact a lot of them are situated under the sea.

On December 26, 2004, a magnitude 9.0 undersea megathrust earthquake struck off the western coast of Sumatra. Dozens of tsunamis were reported hitting coastal regions all over the indian ocean.

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