Alan Foreman
tsunami5@mit.edu
Last Updated 9/23/05
1. Comer, R. P. (1982).
Tsunami Generation By Earthquakes.
Cambridge, USA: MIT
Press.
This dissertation evaluates how
earthquakes can effect tsunami
creation.
Specifically, the paper looks for
earthquake-based source
parameters for
tsunamis (i.e. how tsunami
propagation is related to
earthquakes). It
eventually predicts applications for
this knowledge, including
tsunami
forecasting and tsunami warning
systems
2. Smith, D. (2005).
Tsunami: A Research Perspective. Geology
Today, 21 (2),
64-68.
This article describes both the
seismic causes of tsunamis and the
effects of
tsunamis on coastlines. It
includes in detail past tsunamis
and the changes on
the coastline that each evoked.
3. Gusiakov, V. K. (2005).
Tsunami Generation Potential of Different
Tsunamigenic Regions in the Pacific. Marine Geology, 215 (1-2), 3-9.
Gusiakov provides an insight into
tsunami forecasting by measuring
the fraction
of earthquakes on the ocean floor
that cause tsunamis in the active
tsunamigenic regions of the Pacific
Ocean. This is
accomplished by using
tsunami data ranging from 47 B.C. to
the present.
The article also
identifies the main tsunamegenic
regions of the pacific and
provides a map of
previous tsunamis along the South
American coast. The article
concludes that
there exists a direct correlation
between tsunami generation
efficiency and the
existence of marine sedimentation
zones, and that this should be
taken into
account when estimating tsunami risk.
4. Haugen, K. B., Lovholt,
F., & Harbitz, C.B. (2005).
Fundamental Mechanisms
for Tsunami Generation by Submarine Mass Flows in Idealised
Geometries. Marine
and Petroleum Geology, 22 (1-2), 209-217.
This article provides in extreme
depth a look into tsunami creation
by slide
geometry modeling. The
introduction is useful in describing
tsunami
generation, but for the most part
the mathematics is too complex for
comprehension.
5. Bhattacharjee, Y.
(2005). In Wake of Disaster, Scientists Seek
Out Clues to
Prevention. Science, 307 (5706), 22-23.
This fairly short article includes
methods and costs for tsunami
warning
systems, along with discussion of
actual tsunami prediction. The
author points
to the unpredictability of tsunamis,
even after their creation, as
a major
factor in the destruction of the
Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004.The
author also
explores how ocean floor topography
affects tsunami travel.
6.
Woo, G., & Aspinall, W. (2005). Need For a Risk-Informed
Tsunami Alert
System. Nature, 433, 350-353.
This reference is a brief editorial
calling for a new type of
tsunami alert
system that would be cost-effective
for developing nations.
The authors point
out that systems have already been
developed for tsunami prediction
in the
Pacific but that these need
additional data to prove
accurate. Instead the
authors promote using previous
occurrences of tsunamis in
combination with
logical reasoning to provide a basis
for tsunami alerts.
7. United States Geological
Survey. (2003, July 10). Global
Earthquake History.
Retrieved September 22, 2005 from the World Wide Web:
http://wwwneic.cr.usgs.gov/neis/epic/epic_global.html
A database concerned with previous
earthquake history. It can be
used to
correlate earthquake history with
tsunami creation in recent
history, and
allows the user to search for
earthquake by date, magnitude, depth,
and/or
intensity.
8. Intergovernmental
Oceanographic Commission. (2005, February 21).
Historical
Tsunami Database. Retrieved September 22, 2005 from the World Wide
Web:
http://tsun.sscc.ru/htdbpac/
This is a very useful database
containing almost all tsunamis in
the Pacific
Ocean from around 50 B.C. until the
present time. This data includes
corresponding earthquake data and
wave heights for the tsunamis in
the
database.
9. Kanamori, H. (1972).
Mechanism of Tsunami Earthquakes. Physics
of the Earth
and Planetary Interiors, 6 (5), 346-359.
This paper describes the way in
which tsunamis are created by
earthquakes.
Using examples from the Northern
Pacific, Kanamori demonstrates
both the causes
and the means by which earthquakes
spread along the ocean floor
and, in turn,
the mechanisms of the tsunamis
resulting from this seismic activity.
10.
Watts, P., & Raichlen, F. (1994). Water Waves Generated by
Underwater
Landslides. Seismological Research
Letters, 65 (1), 25.
An abstract of a presentation to the
89th meeting of the
Seismological Society
of America, this paper contains a
synopsis of the mechanism by
which mass
movements of underwater slopes
create tsunamis. Using
examples from the
Northeast Pacific, the authors point
out the methods by which waves
are created
by landslides.
11. Tinti, S., &
Bortolucci, E. (2000). Energy of Water Waves
Induced by
Submarine Landslides. Pure and Applied Geophysics, 157 (3), 281-318.
The paper investigates in detail how
the velocity of an underwater
body with a
large mass corresponds to the
generated waves. The authors point
out that this
correspondence can be used to
predict the shape and movement of the
wave. With
larger underwater bodies, larger and
faster waves will be
generated. With
landslide-causing earthquakes, for
example, tsunamis will likely be
generated.
12. International Tsunami
Information Centre. (2005, March 23). How
do
Earthquakes Generate Tsunamis? Retrieved September 22, 2005 from
the World Wide
Web:
http://www.tsunamiwave.info/
This site demonstrates how
earthquakes along the earth?s fault
lines often
cause tsunamis. The site gives the
minimum magnitude for producing
a tsunami,
and describes how the displacement
of the ocean floor causes
tsunamis to occur.
13. National Weather
Services. (2004, February 9). WSO Pohnpei,
FSM. Retrieved
September 22, 2005 from the World Wide Web:
http://www.prh.noaa.gov/pohnpei/
This site contains a map of the
tsunami monitoring stations across
the Pacific,
including sites in Micronesia.
14. National Oceanographic
and Atmospheric. (2005). The Tsunami
Story. Retrieved
September 22, 2005 from the World Wide Web:
http://www.tsunami.noaa.gov/tsunami_story.html
This site provides animated diagrams
that enable the user to
understand better
the method of tsunami
propagation. The site also contains a
good detailed
summary of the monitoring systems
available for forecasting
tsunamis. In
explaining how the monitoring
methods work, the site gives relevant
details
about sensor placement and
monitoring method necessities.
15. Day, S.J., Watts, P.,
Grilli, S. T., & Kirby, J.T. (2005).
Mechanical Models
of the 1975 Kalapana, Hawaii Earthquake and Tsunami. Marine
Geology, 215 (1-2),
59-92.
The authors of this article try to
make a mechanical model of a
1975 earthquake
that resulted in a tsunami. By
interpreting several sets of
data, the authors
were able to come up with a working
model of the earthquake.
In creating such
a model, the authors show it is
possible to forecast tsunami action
based on
geologic formation and earthquake
magnitude.
16. Felton, E. A., &
Crook, K. A. W. (2003). Evaluation the
Impact of Huge Waves
on Rocky Shorelines; an Essay Review of the Book "Tsunami: the
Underrated
Hazard". Marine Geology, 197 (1-4), 1-12.
The review of the book summarizes
all of the book's main points and
in doing
so brings up points of its
own. It describes the effect of
tsunamis on
different coastlines, relative to
erosion, shoreline composition,
and
geological formations. This is
very important to our own
study in that it
helps to determine which areas of
coastline should be strictly
monitored and
which can be less strictly protected.
17. Schnell, M. L., &
Herd, D.G. (1984). National Earthquake
Hazards Reduction
Program; Report to the United States Congress; Overview. US
Geological Survey
Circular, C0918, 65.
The report to congress describes and
identifies the
earthquake-prone areas of
the United States and describes how
these areas were
determined. This
information can be used to determine
similar earthquake areas in
our area of
study.
18. El Bekraoul, Y. (1993).
How Earthquakes Occur Without Warning.
Seismological
Research Letters, 64 (3-4), 257.
The author describes how earthquakes
can take place with little or
no warning as
seismic activity occurs. The
earthquakes occur along fault
lines and are a
result of the shifting of plates. If
this knowledge is applied to
the current
project, earthquake likelihood can
be mapped and sensors can be
placed along
fault lines.
19. Cluff, L. S. (1967).
Urban Development Within the San Andreas
Fault System.
Stanford University Publications, Geological Sciences, 11, 55-66.
The paper describes the danger of
developing land with no regard
for fault lines
or earthquake danger zones.
The overdevelopment will be even
more pronounced
in developing countries, where
population overflows regardless of
safety.
Applied to developing countries,
this paper indicates the clear
danger
presented by haphazard settlements
along the coast in terms of
tsunami risks.
20. Zhao, D., Ochi, F.,
Hasegawa, A., & Yamamoto, A. (2000)
Evidence for the
Location and Cause of Large Crustal Earthquakes in Japan. Journal of
Geophysical Research, B, Solid Earth and Planets, 105 (6), 13579 ?
13594.
The authors are able to prove the
cause and location of several
large
earthquakes in Japan. It may be
possible to use this information to
help
determine at risk areas in our own
developing countries.