How fast can tsunami waves move after a major earthquake

New maps from the Department of Natural Resources show where, and how fast, tsunami waves can flood the Washington coast after a major earthquake.

OLYMPIA, WA – Maps released recently by the Washington Department of Natural Resources shed light on what the coast of Washington may face in the wake of the 9.0-magnitude earthquake. Experts say a major earthquake is likely within the next 50 years.

Maps show that a tsunami triggered by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake will cover low-lying coastal communities under as much as 30, 40 or 50 feet of water, depending on the region.

However, the maps are evolving in other ways – they also look at how fast this water is moving.

“Understanding the currents and where they are fastest is very important,” said Washington Geological Survey chief hazard geologist Corina Allen.

Water can move at speeds of up to 30 miles per hour, or more than 25 knots.

The last earthquake of magnitude 9.0 on the Richter scale was off the northwest coast on January 26, 1700, off the Cascadia Subregion, a fault that extends from Cape Mendocino in California all the way to British Columbia.

It is called a subduction zone because a layer of Earth’s crust that makes up the ocean floor is pushed and pulled under the North American Plate, which covers the North American continent.

The entire Pacific Rim is surrounded by these types of faults that generate the largest known earthquakes on the planet.

The Cascadia subduction zone has been the quietest the longest, and is seen in the window to rupture again, but that may still be a century or more away. The last major earthquake and tsunami occurred in March 2011 off northeastern Japan.

Meanwhile, Washington remains vulnerable to tsunamis caused by earthquakes or volcanic eruptions under the sea thousands of miles away.

The most damaging damage could come from Alaska, but just last weekend, a tsunami from an underwater volcano erupting in Tonga sent waves around the Pacific Ocean.

In Washington, the highest measurement was 1.1 feet in La Bush, Washington. The Port of St. Louis in California saw 4.3 feet. But again, it’s not just about the depth of the water, as beaches and marinas around Washington and the Northwest have been closed.

“People hear about a one- to three-foot wave, and they think it’s not a big deal, I see big waves all the time,” said Harold Tobin, who has spent decades studying rifts and tsunamis. “It’s not the same. A tsunami is a rush of water…like an oncoming tide. It moves much faster than you can outrun it.” Tobin also serves as a Washington State seismologist and director of the Pacific Northwest Seismological Network at the University of Washington.

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