# Presentation: 706035

## Florida, Tsunamis, and You

- The word “tsunami” is Japanese meaning “harbor wave”

- soo-NAH-mee

- Daniel Noah
- Warning Coordination Meteorologist
- National Weather Service Forecast Office - Ruskin, FL

## What is a Tsunami?

- A series of long waves created by a disturbance that displaces a large amount of water.
- Primarily associated with earthquakes in oceanic or coastal regions.
- Landslides, volcanic eruptions, nuclear explosions, and even impacts from objects from outer space (such as meteorites, asteroids, and comets)

## Wind Waves vs. Tsunamis

- Wind Generated Waves

- Tsunami Waves

-  5-20 seconds betweenwaves
-  300-600 ft wave length

-  10 minutes to 2 hours between waves
-  Wave length can begreater than 300 miles

## What Happens at the Coastline?

- May appear as a rapidly rising or falling tide, a series of breaking waves, or even a bore
- Strong currents and debris carried by wave add to destructive nature of this inundating flood

## Phuket, Thailand Tsunami

- Photos by German Tourist Hellmut Issels

## Phuket, Thailand Tsunami

- Photos by German Tourist Hellmut Issels

## Phuket, Thailand Tsunami

- Photos by German Tourist Hellmut Issels

## Phuket, Thailand Tsunami

- Photos by German Tourist Hellmut Issels

## Tsunami Safety

## Tsunami SafetyAll Hazards NOAA Weather Radio

- Warns of natural and man made hazards
- Alerts you even when you’re sleeping
- New radios can be programmed just for your county

## Tsunami Safety RulesFor those on the beach

- If you feel the earth shake, move immediately to higher ground, DO NOT wait for a tsunami warning to be announced.
- Stay away from rivers and streams that lead to the ocean if there is a tsunami.

## Tsunami Safety RulesFor those on the water

- Do not return to port when a Tsunami Warning has been issued
- Tsunamis can cause dangerous currents in harbors and ports
- If you have time, move your vessel to deep water
- Contact the harbor authority to verify conditions are safe before returning

## Tsunami Safety RulesFor those on land

- Evacuate your house if you live in a hurricane storm surge zone
- Evacuate vertically if you do not have time to leave the surge zone, move to the highest floor or to the roof
- Follow the advice of local emergency management and law enforcement officials

## For More Information

- http://tsunami.gov

## Causes of Tsunamis

## Causes of Tsunamis

-  Usually by earthquakes
-  Less commonly by landslides (into the water and completely below the water)
-  Infrequently by volcanic eruptions or explosive decompression of underwater methane deposits
-  Very rarely by a large meteorite impact in the ocean

## Earthquake Threat

- Blue = Mid-Ocean Ridges
- Red = Subduction Zone

## Earthquakes

- _[Anthony ](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Aliekens)__[Liekens](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Aliekens)_

- Tsunamis are created when:
-  Seafloor quickly changes shape
-  Water is displaced
-  Waves are formed as the displaced water mass tries to move back

## Tsunami Animation

## Tsunami Animation, 12/26/04Earthquake 9.0 on Richter Scale near Sumatra

- Over 160,000 fatalities

## Earthquake & Volcano Threat

- Active Volcanoes

- Earthquakes

## Tsunami Risk by Region1848-1998

- O’Loughlin & Lander

**# of Tsunamis**
**6           5          2           8**

## Florida’s Risk of Tsunamis

## Tsunami Risk in Florida

-  Florida’s Atlantic Coast
-  Puerto Rico Trench
-  Cumbre Vieja Volcano in Canary Islands
-  1755 Lisbon Earthquake
-  Azores-Gibraltar fracture zone
-  Florida’s Gulf Coast and Keys
-  Puerto Rico Trench (minor effect as
-   wave wraps around islands)
-  Large Meteorite into Gulf of Mexico

## Puerto Rico Trench

- Michael Count

## Regional Plate Tectonics 

- Michael Count

## Slope Failure in the Trench

- Michael Count

## Cause of 1918 Tsunami

- Michael Count

**Earthquake, 7.5 on Richter Scale**

## Tsunami Propagation

- Michael Count

- 0 min               2 min                        6 min               9 min

## Run-up Values

- Michael Count

## Tsunami Devastation

-  Report of large withdrawal of water exposing unseen sediment before tsunami struck the shore
-  Wave run-up of approximately 20 feet
-  116 Deaths
-  Water traveled 100 meters inland in low lying areas, destroying villages and buildings

- Michael Count

## Cumbre Vieja Volcano in Canary Islands

- Benfield Hazard Research Centre of the University College London

- Worst case scenario
- Wave height in
- meters

## 1755 Lisbon Earthquake

## Azores-Gibraltar Fracture Zone

## Lisbon Tsunami Travel Times

- Dr. Charles Mader, http://www.drgeorgepc.com/Tsunami1755Lisbon.html

- Florida’s Atlantic Coast
-  7-8 hour arrival time
-  Estimated 7-10 foot
-  Waves every 90 min

## Tsunamis vs. Rogue Waves

## Tsunamis vs. Rogue Waves

- Rogue waves are different the Tsunamis but
- the end result is similar.
- Rogue Wave Characteristics

-  Unpredictable nature
-  Little is know about the formation
-  May be caused by regularly-spaced ocean swells that are magnified by currents or the
- atmosphere

## Daytona Beach Rogue WaveJuly 3, 1992 at 11:30 PM EDT

- 50 MPH wind gust at peakof storm

- 10:35 PM EDT

- 11:35 PM EDT

## Daytona Beach Rogue WaveJuly 3, 1992

-  10 ft rise at the beach at 11:30 PM EDT
-  75 minor injuries
-  About 36 vehicles damaged
-  Swamped shoreline for 30 miles, worst wasfive miles of shoreline near Daytona Beach

## Tampa to Naples Rogue WaveMarch 25, 1995

- 00 UTC

- 10 UTC

## Tampa to Naples Rogue WaveMarch 25, 1995

-  Strong outgoing tide at the mouth of TampaBay before an 11 foot rise around 9 AM EST
-  Tide was 1 to 4 feet above normal south of Tampa Bay to Naples (124 miles of shoreline)
-  Carried stingrays and jellyfish on thebeach causing people to flee
-  Wave broke about 1 mile offshore

## How Often Can We Expect Tsunamis & Rogue Waves

- However, Eastern U.S. has had 40 tsunamis/rogue waves in the last 400 years or an average of one coastal flood event every 10 years

- Lockridge, Whiteside, and Lander

-   Only one Atlantic-wide Tsunami documented                                                                  (the 1755 Lisbon earthquake)

- One or two tsunamis each century along the east coast of the U.S.

## Tsunamis Detection & Warning

## How Do We Detect Tsunamis

- Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting on Tsunamis

- DART Buoy

## DART Buoy

## Proposed DART Buoy Locations

## NWS Tsunami Warning Centers

- The West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska
- Alaska south to California
- U.S. Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Coast
- The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Ewa Beach, Hawaii
- Hawaii
- A national/international warning center for tsunamis that pose a Pacific-wide threat.
- Caribbean

## Tsunami Warning ProcessU.S. East Coast & Gulf of Mexico

- Interim Method
-  The Alaska Tsunami Warning Center (ATWC) issues a Tsunami Warning if earthquake 7+ on Richter Scale on/near  a coast

-  NWS office in Melbourne, FL receives warning via fax and phone call from the ATWC.

-  NWS Melbourne disseminates warning to coastal NWS Offices via the dedicated Hurricane Hotline

-  Affected coastal NWS Offices issue a Coastal Flood Warning that triggers
-  All Hazards NOAA Weather Radios
-  Emergency Alert System
-  Statement transmitted over “weather wire” to emergency management officials and the media

## Tsunami Warning Statistics Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, AK

- Warnings are issued within 15 minutes of earthquake and are based solely on seismic data
- The average response time was 6.8 minutes in 2003
- Since 1981, 11 regional tsunami warnings have been issued by the WC/ATWC

## How can I find out if there is a tsunami warning program in my county? 

## StormReady & TsunamiReadyA National Weather Service Program to Protect Lives

- http://www.stormready.noaa.gov

**Notes:**
Thank you!

## What is StormReady?

- A NWS program for our communities to improve communication and hazardous weather preparedness
- Provides community leaders and emergency managers with guidance on how to improve warning and weather preparedness programs

**Notes:**
StormReady started in Tulsa, OK in 1999, to help arm America's communities with the communication and safety skills needed to save lives and property – before and during severe weather events.

StormReady communities are better prepared to save lives from the onslaught of severe weather through better planning, education, and awareness

StormReady helps community leaders and emergency managers strengthen their local safety programs.

No community is storm proof, but StormReady can help communities save lives.

## Why Do We Need StormReady?

- Nearly 90% of all Presidentially declared disasters are weather related
- On average there are 500 weather related deaths each year across America
- Severe weather causes near $14 Billion in property damage each year.  Four hurricanes in 2004 caused $42 Billion!

**Notes:**
StormReady started in Tulsa, OK in 1999, to help arm America's communities with the communication and safety skills needed to save lives and property – before and during severe weather events.

StormReady communities are better prepared to save lives from the onslaught of severe weather through better planning, education, and awareness

StormReady helps community leaders and emergency managers strengthen their local safety programs.

No community is storm proof, but StormReady can help communities save lives.

## What is TsunamiReady?

-  A part of the NWS StormReady Program
-  A collaborative effort between federal, state, and local emergency management, and the public
-  A method to improve public safety during tsunami emergencies

## TsunamiReady Objectives

-  Create minimum standard community guidelines for adequate tsunami readiness
-  Encourage consistency in educational materials and response
-  Recognize communities that have adopted TsunamiReady guidelines
-  Increase public awareness and understanding of the tsunami hazard

## Thank You!

**Notes:**
Thank you!

## Slide 57

**Notes:**
Thank you!