Tsunami Warning and Preparedness An Assessment of the U.S. Tsunami Program and the Nation's Preparedness Efforts (2011) / Chapter Skim
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1 Introduction
1 Introduction
Pages 21-36
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From page 21... ...
Earlier tsunamis -- yet to be repeated in modern times -- include tsunami waves of North American origin in the year 1700 that caused flooding and damage as far away as Japan. Paleorecords indicate that the Cascadia subduction zone off the Washington, Oregon, and northern California coasts has repeatedly generated potentially catastrophic tsunamis (Atwater et al., 2005)
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From page 22... ...
To reduce societal risks posed by tsunamis, the nation needs a clear understanding of the nature of the tsunami hazard (e.g., source, inundation area, speed of onset) and the societal characteristics of coastal communities (e.g., the number of people, buildings, infrastructure, and economic activities)
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From page 23... ...
bitmap that make them vulnerable to future tsunamis. With a clear understanding of the tsunami hazards and social vulnerability that comprise tsunami risk, officials and the general public can then prepare for future events and hopefully reduce this risk.2 When assessing tsunami hazard and developing risk reduction measures, it is important to consider the distance between a coastal community and potential tsunami sources as well as the probability of occurrence.
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From page 24... ...
and accordingly focuses on efforts on tsunami detection, forecasting, and warning dissemination. The NAS, in accepting this charge and in consultation with NOAA, broadened the review's scope to include an assessment of progress toward additional preparedness efforts to reduce loss of life and property from tsunamis in the United States as part of the National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program (NTHMP)
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The Range of Options Available for Tsunami Hazard Mitigation As the scope of the study was broadened to include aspects of tsunami hazard mitigation, the committee recognized the need to define the term "mitigation" and set some boundaries for the study, because the full suite of mitigation options exceeds the purview and capacity of this particular study. The definition of hazard mitigation and the actions it includes differ among various hazard communities.
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From page 26... ...
and assess progress made toward improved tsunami warning and preparedness, the committee begins its evaluation with an inventory of the elements of the NTHMP and NOAA's Tsunami Program. National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program The NTHMP has a Coordinating Committee (steering committee)
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Precedent for the NTHMP includes the Joint Tsunami Research Effort (JTRE) , a Hawaii 50 TSUNAMI BUDGETS based response to the tsunamis of 1946, Federal spending 40 1960, and 1964.
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Local officials in turn are responsible for transmitting tsunami alerts throughout their respective jurisdictions, issuing evacuation orders, managing evacuations, and declaring all-clears. NOAA's Tsunami Program In 2006, the Tsunami Warning and Education Act (P.L.
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b USGS: U.S. Geological Survey; FEMA: Federal Emergency Management Agency; DOS: Department of State; USAID: U.S.
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NOS provides state and local coastal emergency managers with hazard-related information such as training and assessment tools, and also operates coastal tide stations and sea level gauges that monitor changes in sea level. OAR comprises a research network involving internal research laboratories, grant programs, and collaborative efforts between NOAA and academic institutions.
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From page 31... ...
Warning management interfaces the threat detection component with the public response component and is responsible for tsunami alerts, warnings, and evacuations; in consultation with the threat detection component it will alert and warn the public. Public response is the ultimate outcome of the integrated warning system, and it integrates public education, threat detection, natural cues from tsunami triggers, and warning management.
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. CHALLENGES TO REDUCING THE NATION'S VULNERABILITY TO TSUNAMIS Reducing the vulnerability of coastal settlements and infrastructure to tsunami risk poses some unique challenges.
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The committee recognizes that the nation's tsunami detection, warning, and preparedness efforts originated in many diverse efforts distributed across several coastal states, and that attempts to integrate these distributed components into a coherent program have only recently begun. In particular, because tsunamis are rapid onset events, there is very little margin for error in the system before failure becomes catastrophic.
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tsunami detection, warning, and preparedness efforts. A particular challenge is that the federal government has responsibility to forecast and warn about potential hazards, yet local governments order evacuations.
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Chapter 3 discusses education and outreach efforts and evaluates preevent community and organizational preparedness and the coordination between the various entities at the local, state, and federal levels. Chapter 4 examines the technical hazard detection system, including the seismic and sea level sensor networks.
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