Today - March 11 - is the first anniversary of the Japan earthquake and
subsequent tsunami.
A tsunami is a series of ocean waves generated by sudden displacements
in the sea floor, landslides or volcanic activity. In the deep ocean, the tsunami wave may only
be a few inches high. The tsunami wave
may come gently ashore or may increase in height to become a fast moving wall
of turbulent water several meters high.
In Hawaii, tsunamis have accounted for more lost lives than the total
of all other local disasters. In the
20th century, an estimated 221 people have been killed by tsunamis. Most of these deaths occurred on the Big
Island during the tsunamis of 1946 and 1960, two of the largest tsunamis to
strike in the Pacific.
Here is a brief summary of some recent tsunami and their impacts in
Hawai‘i:
1946
The tsunami of 1946 was generated by a magnitude 7.1 earthquake in the
Aleutian Islands. This tsunami struck
the Big Island of Hawaii on April 1st.
The tsunami flooded the downtown area of Hilo killing 159 people and
causing more than $26-million in damages.
1952
On November 4, 1952 a tsunami was generated by a magnitude 8.2
earthquake on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the USSR. In Hawaii, property damage from these waves
was estimated at $800,000-$1,000,000 (1952 dollars); no lives were lost. The waves beached boats, caused houses to
collide, destroyed piers, scoured beaches and moved road pavement.
1957
On March 9, 1957 a tsunami was generated by a magnitude 8.3 earthquake
in the Aleutian Islands. It generated a
24-foot tsunami that did great damage on Adak Island, especially to the fuel
and oil docks. The Hawaiian Islands
incurred about $5,000,000 of damage in 1957 dollars. The highest wave in Hawaii was 12-feet.
1960
The tsunami of May 23, 1960 was generated by a magnitude 8.3 earthquake
in Chile. The 35-foot tsunami struck
Hilo, Hawaii causing severe damage.
61-deaths were recorded and $23-million in damage occurred. In the area of maximum destruction, only
buildings of reinforced concrete or structural steel and a few others sheltered
by these buildings, remained standing - and even these were generally
gutted. Frame buildings were either
crushed or floated nearly to the limits of the flooding.
1975
On November 29, 1975, an earthquake occurred off the coast of the Big
Island of Hawaii. When the
quake-generated tsunami struck, 32 campers were at Halape Beach Park. The sound of falling rocks from a nearby
cliff, along with earth movement caused the campers to flee toward the ocean. They were then forced back to the cliff by
rising ocean waters. The first wave was
5-feet high, but the second wave was 26-feet high and carried the unfortunate
campers into a ditch near the base of the cliff, where they remained until the
ordeal ended. Two campers died and 19
suffered injuries.
2011
An earthquake measured at 9.0 magnitude, the sixth biggest since 1900,
struck Japan on March 11, 2011. The
first tsunami waves reached Kaua‘i shortly after 3 a.m. and took about 30
minutes to sweep through the island chain.
Waves above 6-feet were recorded at Kahului on Maui and 3-feet at
Haleiwa on the north shore of Oahu. Lost
homes, sunken boats, Kona Village Resort damage, and damaged piers and roads
caused tsunami damage into the tens of millions of dollars; no one was killed
or injured during the tsunami.
I have added some photos of tsunami impacts in Hawai‘i for several of
the prior events (1946 - 2011) to a folder of like name in my Facebook Photos
section.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Peter-T-Young/1332665638
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