Friday, March 11, 2011

Tsunami Warning U.S. West Coast

The watch has been upgraded to a warning for the North Coast, but from what I'm hearing on TV, the greater danger will be south, except perhaps for Crescent City, which topographically is more prone to damage.

Estimated time of arrival of the first tsunami wave to Humboldt County's North Coast is 7:22 am. The last estimate I heard of amplitude was downgraded to 40 cm which is about 15 inches or a little more than one foot.

However, the NOAA site offers these amplitude predictions: Crescent City 2.50, Trinidad 1.43, Humboldt Bay 1.13. Unfortunately, I have no idea what those numbers mean, and the site offers no key or explanation.

The latest (2:18 am.) warning offers no amplitude update, and only states that the tsunami is "expected to cause damage" to the northern CA coast. It also warns that the ETA is for the first wave, but that subsequent waves could continue for several hours--and the first wave is not always the most damaging.

The imminent danger is to low-lying Pacific islands and to coastal areas of the Hawaiian islands.

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