Locally generated tsunamis recorded on the coast of British Columbia
Authors:
- 1 September 2008
- journal article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in Atmosphere-Ocean
- Vol. 46 (3) , 343-360
Abstract
This study presents analyses and numerical simulations of local tsunamis generated by two recent earthquakes off the coast of British Columbia. The Queen Charlotte Islands earthquake (Mw = 6.1) on 12 October 2001 generated waves that were recorded by tide gauges at Bamfield, Tofino, Winter Harbour and Port Hardy on the coast of Vancouver Island, with maximum measured wave heights of 11.3, 18.2, 22.7 and 14.5 cm, respectively. The Explorer Plate earthquake off Vancouver Island (Mw = 6.6) on 2 November 2004 generated waves recorded only at Bamfield and Tofino, with lower heights of 7.5 cm and 10.8 cm, respectively. The generation of tsunamis by these moderate, Mw = 6.1–6.6, local earthquakes suggests the possibility of destructive tsunamis from local sources other than the Cascadia Subduction Zone. This, in turn, has implications for tsunami hazards for this seismically active region of coastal North America. Résumé [Traduit par la rédaction] Cette étude présente les analyses et la simulation numérique de tsunamis locaux produits par deux récents tremblements de terre au large des côtes de la Colombie‐Britannique. Le tremblement de terre des îles de la Reine‐Charlotte (Mw = 6,1), le 12 octobre 2001, a produit des vagues qui ont été enregistrées par des marégraphes à Bamfield, Tofino, Winter Harbour et Port Hardy sur la côte de l'île de Vancouver, avec des hauteurs de vagues maximales mesurées de 11,3, 18,2, 22,7 et 14,5 cm, respectivement. Le tremblement de terre de la plaque Explorer au large de l'île de Vancouver (Mw = 6,6), le 2 novembre 2004, a produit des vagues enregistrées seulement à Bamfield et Tofino, avec de plus faibles hauteurs, de 7,5 et 10,8 cm, respectivement. La production de tsunamis par ces tremblements de terre locaux d'intensité modérée (Mw = 6,1–6,6) suggère la possibilité de tsunamis destructeurs de sources locales autres que la zone de subduction Cascadia. Cela en retour donne à entrevo...Keywords
This publication has 27 references indexed in Scilit:
- High-Frequency Tsunami Signals of the Great Indonesian Earthquakes of 26 December 2004 and 28 March 2005Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 2007
- Structure, seismicity, and thermal regime of the Queen Charlotte Transform MarginJournal of Geophysical Research, 2003
- Fault slip and seismic moment of the 1700 Cascadia earthquake inferred from Japanese tsunami descriptionsJournal of Geophysical Research, 2003
- The slump origin of the 1998 Papua New Guinea TsunamiProceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 2002
- Hydroacoustic detection of submarine landslides on Kilauea VolcanoGeophysical Research Letters, 2001
- Spectral analysis of tsunami waves: Separation of source and topography effectsJournal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 1997
- Extreme inundation flows during the Hokkaido‐Nansei‐Oki TsunamiGeophysical Research Letters, 1997
- Time and size of a giant earthquake in Cascadia inferred from Japanese tsunami records of January 1700Nature, 1996
- Tsunami warning system for the pacific coast of CanadaMarine Geodesy, 1987
- Mechanism of tsunami earthquakesPhysics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, 1972