Tsunami mechanism and warning systems
Mecanismo de los tsunamis y sistemas de alerta
- Date
- 1946 / 2004 · confidence high
- Place
- Epicentre of the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake
- Credited to
- 20th-century seismologists; Pacific warning system (1949); 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
Tsunamis are generated by the vertical displacement of the seafloor in subduction earthquakes, not by wind; they travel at 800 km/h in deep water and grow as they reach the coast. The 2004 tsunami, with 230,000 deaths, drove the creation of global warning systems.
Coordinates of the 2004 epicentre, the event that transformed the world's perception of the risk. Scientific knowledge of the mechanism predates it; the Japanese term 'tsunami' was adopted internationally in 1946-1963.
What it led to
- Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System (2006)
- DART buoys and evacuation education
- Recognition of tsunamis in the geological record (Cascadia 1700)
Built on
- Plate tectonics1965-1968
- Lisbon earthquake (1755)
- 1946 Aleutian tsunami and the Pacific warning system
Made possible
- DART pressure buoys
- Tsunami propagation models