Tsunamis

Close-up of blue and white tsunami warning sign on coast in Monterey, California on gloomy day.

Washington State Requests Federal Funding for Tsunami Preparedness

The state’s Department of Natural Resources says it needs continued funding to map coastal areas at risk for tsunami impacts and prepare mitigation and evacuation plans.

February 27, 2024 - King 5 News

A sign, with the blue ocean int he background, reads "Tsunami Hazard Zone: In Case of Earthquake Go to Higher Ground or Inland"

Tsunami Defenses a Tough Sell in the Pacific Northwest

The experience of communities and school districts attempting to build elevated structures for residents to wait out the high water of a tsunami, an inevitable threat in the Pacific Northwest, has been challenging and impossible to differing degrees.

May 29, 2022 - Crosscut

Earthquake damage

When the Earth Turns to Liquid

A 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck the Indonesian island of Sulawesi on Sept. 25, followed by a massive tsunami. Soil liquefaction caused by the tremor resulted in 1,700 homes being "swallowed" as the soil shifted. Deaths exceeded 1,400 on Oct. 3.

October 5, 2018 - The Independent

California North Coast

Trump Budget Would Nix Tsunami Warning System

The difference in lives saved between tsunamis that hit Crescent City, California in 1964 and 2011 was an early detection and warning system. Now it's up to Congress to save the $12 million system from the proposed cuts in Trump's budget.

July 14, 2017 - Los Angeles Times

The Scary, Likely Event of the 'Really Big One' in the Pacific Northwest

Forget Hollywood's proclivity for destroying Los Angeles and San Francisco in movies like San Andreas—the greatest seismic threat in North America is in the Pacific Northwest.

July 16, 2015 - The New Yorker

Prepared for Disaster, But not to Respond

Japan is typically associated with strong disaster preparedness plans, but the devastation following the March tsunami highlights some of the nation's shortcomings in adapting and reacting, according to this piece from Citiwire.

June 19, 2011 - Citiwire

Rebuilding Tsunami-Wrecked Japan As Smart Towns

Panasonic and a group of companies are planning on building a new demonstration "smart town" in Kanagawa Prefecture on a site the tsunami destroyed.

June 6, 2011 - Popular Science

The Transcendent Urbanism of Japan

Architect Vishaan Chakrabarti writes that Japan's urbanism should serve as a model to the rest of the world for its density and the "urbane society" it creates.

April 17, 2011 - Urban Omnibus

Coastal Areas Prepare For The Other 'Big One'

California has just completed a landmark effort to assess the state's worst-case tsunami danger. Now emergency response officials, and even some planners, are considering how to keep the state's coastal populations safe.

March 13, 2010 - California Planning & Development Report

Worst-Case Tsunami Scenario Mapped

The event of a huge earthquake off the Aleutian Islands could send a devastating tsunami towards the West coast of the U.S. Researchers have released maps of what a worst-case scenario might look like for coastal communities.

December 20, 2009 - San Francisco Chronicle

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