Author Archives: costas

The 25 October 2010 Sumatran Tsunami

On 25 October 2010 at 14:42 GMT, an estimated magnitude 7.5 earthquake stuck off central West Sumatra. Continue reading →

Is Los Angeles at higher risk for tsunamis?

A study just published in Nature Geophysicas by Hornbach et al (2010) reports that the 12 January 2010 strike-slip earthquake that killed over 220,000 people in Haiti also triggered a 3m tsunami. The associated press release (at the end of this item) claims that the study implies that Los Angeles and other metropolitan areas around the world are at higher risk of tsunamis. Continue reading →

National Academies Report on nation’s tsunami preparedness released on 17 September 2010

The National Research Council of the National Academies released a long awaited report on the nation’s ability to detect tsunamis. According to it, while our ability has improved in the last few years, many coastal communities remain at risk because … Continue reading →

Field Survey of the Samoa Tsunami of 29 September 2009

Tsunami Catalogs for the Eastern Mediterranean, Revisited

Chile, 27 February 2010

The 27 February 2010 Chilean earthquake generated a large transpacific tsunami and controversy as to what some have referred to as overly conservative warning issued for Hawaii and Japan. Continue reading →

Haiti, 12 January 2010

The 12 January 2010 Haitian earthquake killed over 220,000 people, but also generated a deadly tsunami. Continue reading →

Solomon Islands, 3 January 2010

An International Tsunami Survey team by Professor Hermann Fritz and Nikos Kalligeris surveyed the impact of the tsunami from Jan 11-17. Continue reading →

Anniversary of the 2004 Megatsunami – goes largely unnoticed

The 5 year anniversary of the 26 December 2004 tsunami came and passed without much fanfare. We were all painfully reminded of tsunamis within the first two months of 2010 with the Solomon Islands, Haitian and Chilean tsunamis, that combined may have killed over 400 people, largely unnecessarily, given that tsunami preparedness works, and forecast technology is now available. Continue reading →

Second Generation of Tsunami Inundation Maps for California

The second generation of tsunami inundation maps for the State of California were released on December 17, 2009 at a press conference at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco, California. The maps are a product of a collaboration … Continue reading →