PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTEREwa Beach, Hawaii

US Department of Commerce

National Weather Service

PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTEREwa Beach, Hawaii

US Department of Commerce / National Weather Service

PTWC

Left: Conceptual drawing of assumed convection cells in the mantle. Below a depth of about 700 km, the descending slab begins to soften and flow, losing its form. Right: Sketch showing convection cells commonly seen in boiling water or soup. This analogy, however, does not take into account the huge differences in the size and the flow rates of these cells.

TSUNAMI GENERATED BY EARTHQUAKE

Pacific Teletsunami Problem:

1-Hr Isochrons

HILO, HIHILO, HI

Arica, ChileArica, Chile

Peru Tsunami 23 JUN 2001 2033 UTC

16.2S 73.4W 8.0Ms

NOAA Proposed Siting of Real-TimeTsunami Detectors

Design for Tsunami Real-TimeReporting System

First wave may be a receding wave.

Steel roofing material wrapped easily

around a tree. Sissano Village.

Steel roofing material wrapped easily

around a tree. Sissano Village.

A debris line 150 m inland. Aitape, east of the pier.

House supports laid over in liquified sediments by the force of the wave. East bank of Arnold River.

A giant wave engulfs the pier at Hilo, Hawaii, during the 1946 tsunami, which killed 159 people. The arrow points to a man who was swept away seconds later. (Photograph courtesy of NOAA/EDIS.)

A giant wave engulfs the pier at Hilo, Hawaii, during the 1946 tsunami, which killed 159 people. The arrow points to a man who was swept away seconds later. (Photograph courtesy of NOAA/EDIS.)

This image shows Lituya Bay, Alaska, after a huge, landslide-generated tsunami occurred on July 9, 1958. The earthquake-induced rockslide, shown in upper right-hand corner of this image, generated a 525 m splash-up immediately across the bay, and razed trees along the bay and across LaChausse Spit before leaving the bay and dissipating in the open waters of the Gulf of Alaska. Source: Lander, and P. Lockridge

Tsunami Safety TipsTsunami Safety Tips

• If you feel strong shaking,move quickly away from shore to high ground.Don’t wait for a warning!

• If the sea recedes unusually,don’t investigate - get to highground.

• You can’t outrun a tsunami.

• A tsunami is a series of waves -- the first is often notthe largest.

• The danger can last for manyhours.

Tsunami Safety TipsTsunami Safety Tips

• Tsunamis wrap aroundislands and are sometimes largest on the shoreline awayfrom the source.

• Even a small tsunami canproduce strong and unusualcurrents that are a hazard toswimmers and boaters.

• Tsunamis can be very large.Runups as high as 50 feethave been measured in Hawaii. Inundation mayextend several hundred feetfrom the coast.

Tsunami Safety TipsTsunami Safety Tips

• Tsunamis can travel greatdistances up low lying valleys and in the channelsof rivers and streams.

• The moving water of atsunami has tremendous force, and it can carryobjects weighing many tons.

• The debris carried by atsunami can be more destructive than the water.

• Never think you can surfa tsunami!