Could a large tsunami happen in the United States?
Large tsunamis have occurred in the United States and will undoubtedly occur again.
Significant earthquakes around the Pacific rim have generated tsunamis that struck Hawaii, Alaska, and the U.S. west coast. One of the largest and most devastating tsunamis that Hawaii has experienced was in 1946 from an earthquake along the Aleutian subduction zone. Runup heights reached a maximum of 33 to 55 feet and killed 159 people. The tsunami generated by the 1964 magnitude 9.2 earthquake in the Gulf of Alaska (Prince William Sound) caused damage and loss of life across the Pacific, including Alaska, Hawaii, California, Oregon, and Washington.
Since the only major tsunami-generating subduction zones in the Atlantic Ocean are along the Caribbean Sea, tsunamis in the Atlantic have been relatively infrequent. The most noteworthy tsunami resulted from the 1929 magnitude 7.3 Grand Banks earthquake near Newfoundland. The maximum tsunami runup was 6 to 23 feet, which was concentrated on the coast of Newfoundland, although it was recorded as far south as South Carolina. A couple of tsunamis reported from Caribbean earthquakes had runups of less than 3 feet.
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Science for a risky world—A U.S. Geological Survey plan for risk research and applications
Executive SummaryNatural hazards—including earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, landslides, hurricanes, droughts, floods, wildfires, geomagnetic storms, and pandemics—can wreak havoc on human communities, the economy, and natural resources for years following an initial event. Hazards can claim lives and cause billions of dollars in damage...
Ludwig, K.A.; Ramsey, David W.; Wood, Nathan J.; Pennaz, A.B.; Godt, Jonathan W.; Plant, Nathaniel G.; Luco, Nicolas; Koenig, Todd A.; Hudnut, Kenneth W.; Davis, Donyelle K.; Bright, Patricia R.
Reducing risk where tectonic plates collide
Most of the world’s earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides, and volcanic eruptions are caused by the continuous motions of the many tectonic plates that make up the Earth’s outer shell. The most powerful of these natural hazards occur in subduction zones, where two plates collide and one is thrust beneath another. The U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) “...
Gomberg, Joan S.; Ludwig, K.A.
Community exposure to tsunami hazards in Hawai‘i
Hawai‘i has experienced numerous destructive tsunamis and the potential for future inundation has been described over the years using various historical events and scenarios. To support tsunami preparedness and risk-reduction planning in Hawai‘i, this study documents the variations among 91 coastal communities and 4 counties in the...
Jones, Jamie L.; Jamieson, Matthew R.; Wood, Nathan J.
Getting out of harm's way - evacuation from tsunamis
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The 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake and tsunamis: a modern perspective and enduring legacies
The magnitude 9.2 Great Alaska Earthquake that struck south-central Alaska at 5:36 p.m. on Friday, March 27, 1964, is the largest recorded earthquake in U.S. history and the second-largest earthquake recorded with modern instruments. The earthquake was felt throughout most of mainland Alaska, as far west as Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands...
Brocher, Thomas M.; Filson, John R.; Fuis, Gary S.; Haeussler, Peter J.; Holzer, Thomas L.; Plafker, George; Blair, J. Luke
The SAFRR (Science Application for Risk Reduction) Tsunami Scenario
The Science Application for Risk Reduction (SAFRR) tsunami scenario depicts a hypothetical but plausible tsunami created by an earthquake offshore from the Alaska Peninsula and its impacts on the California coast. The tsunami scenario is a collaboration between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the California Geological Survey (CGS), the...
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The SAFRR tsunami scenario: improving resilience for California
On March 11, 2011, the Tohoku earthquake and the resulting tsunami devastated Japan with a disaster of unfathomable proportions. Five thousand miles away, the waves from Tohoku caused $50 to 100 million in damages in California. Although this pales in comparison to the loss of lives and property in Japan, the U.S. Government must ask whether...
Ross, Stephanie L.; Jones, Lucile M.; Miller, Kevin H.; Porter, Keith A.; Wein, Anne; Wilson, Rick I.; Bahng, Bohyun; Barberopoulou, Aggeliki; Borrero, Jose C.; Brosnan, Deborah M.; Bwarie, John T.; Geist, Eric L.; Johnson, Laurie A.; Kirby, Stephen H.; Knight, William R.; Long, Kate; Lynett, Patrick; Mortensen, Carl E.; Nicolsky, Dmitry J.; Perry, Suzanne C.; Plumlee, Geoffrey S.; Real, Charles R.; Ryan, Kenneth; Suleimani, Elena; Thio, Hong Kie; Titov, Vasily V.; Whitmore, Paul M.; Wood, Nathan J.
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Local tsunami hazards in the Pacific Northwest from Cascadia subduction zone earthquakes
No abstract available.
Geist, Eric L. Seismic and tsunami hazard in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands
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ten Brink, Uri S.; Dillon, William P.; Frankel, Arthur D.; Mueller, Charles S.; Rodriguez, Rafael W.
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California's tsunami threat
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Tsunami-evacuation sign in the city of Nehalem, Oregon
Tsunami-evacuation sign in the city of Nehalem, Oregon
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Map of coastal communities in a tsunami-hazard zone in Washington
Map of coastal communities in a tsunami-hazard zone in the state of Washington. Credit: Nathan Wood, USGS, and Mathew Schmidtlein, Sacramento State University
Animation of Tsunami Scenario in the Pacific Northwest
Animation of what a potential tsunami would look like generated from a large and hypothetical magnitude 9 subduction earthquake in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. The height of the tsunami waves is exaggerated compared to the land surface. Credit: Eric Geist, USGS
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A presentation on "Unusual Sources of Tsunamis From Krakatoa to Monterey Bay" by Eric Geist, USGS Research Geophysicist
- Not all tsunamis are generated by earthquakes.
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Videographers:
PubTalk 12/2014 — Ten Years After the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami
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PubTalk 2/2014 — 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake and Tsunami 50th Anniv.
By George Plafker, USGS Geologist Emeritus
- March 27th, 1964, one of the most violent earthquakes of all time rocked southern Alaska.
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PubTalk — Tsunamis
Lessons and Questions from the Indian Ocean Disaster
By Eric L. Geist, geophysicist, Bruce E. Jaffe, oceanographer, and Brian F. Atwater, geologist
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