The Sumatra tsunami of 26 December 2004 as observed in the North Pacific and North Atlantic oceans

Abstract

The M w =9.3 megathrust earthquake of December 26, 2004 off the coast of Sumatra in the Indian Ocean generated a catastrophic tsunami that caused widespread damage in coastal areas and left more than 226,000 people dead or missing. The Sumatra tsunami was accurately recorded by a large number of tide gauges throughout the world's oceans. This paper examines the amplitudes, frequencies and wave train structure of tsunami waves recorded by tide gauges located more than 20,000 km from the source area along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of North America.

Structure and performance of a real-time algorithm to detect tsunami or tsunami-like alert conditions based on sea-level records analysis

“…The local tide has a maximum range of about 2 m. The site is frequently windy, which is a factor favourable to the onset of local seiches that are amplified by the resonant effect of local basins (Rabinovich et al, 2006). One should bear in mind that often times, tsunamis and seiches go together because tsunamis can excite local resonances, with the consequence that tsunami spectra may be dominated by resonant peaks masking the source signature (see Honda et al, 1908;Miller et al, 1962;Miller, 1972;Sanchez and Farreras, 1983;Van Dorn, 1984;Rabinovich, 1997;Rabinovich et al, 2006).…”

“…For coastal tide gauges, an automatic detection algorithm was in operation (Mero, 1998) till the DART buoy system was developed and activated. In British Columbia, Canada, tide gauges installed for tsunami recording are provided with a real-time algorithm, whose detections are used to warn responsible personnel in order to further investigate the tsunami event (Rabinovich and Stephenson, 2004). Recently, after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, big efforts have been put worldwide to install new TWSs in the basins that were unprotected (e.g.…”

Locally generated tsunamis recorded on the coast of British Columbia

“…Waves from this event were recorded around the world, revealing the unprecedented global reach of the 2004 tsunami (Titov et al, 2005b;Rabinovich et al, 2006a). Because of international tourism, many countries far removed from the major disaster areas lost citizens, triggering widespread scientific and public interest in this catastrophic event and in tsunamis in general.…”

“…The new precise digital instruments were designed to measure sea level variations continuously with one-minute sampling. During the period 1999-2007, longterm series of high quality one-minute sea level data were collected and nine weak tsunamis were recorded, including the Peru tsunami of 23 June 2001 (Rabinovich and Stephenson, 2004), the Great Sumatra tsunami of 26 December 2004 (Rabinovich et al, 2006a), the California tsunami of 15 June 2005 (Rabinovich et al, 2006b), and the Simushir (Central Kuril Islands) tsunamis of 15 November 2006 and 13 January 2007 (Rabinovich et al, 2008). In particular, the 2004 Sumatra tsunami was identified at six tide gauges located on the outer BC coast.…”

“…In particular, the 2004 Sumatra tsunami was identified at six tide gauges located on the outer BC coast. These sites (and their maximum recorded wave heights) are Victoria (11.7 cm), Bamfield (4.5 cm), Tofino (15.4 cm), Winter Harbour (21.0 cm), Port Hardy (4.5 cm) and Bella Bella (9.0 cm) (Rabinovich et al, 2006a).…”