When the tsunami comes | The Tay

On March 5, off the coast of New Zealand, a chunk of Earth’s crust twice the size of Asia was pushed up, scraped off and slid under a similar giant mass. The sensor recorded movement and plotted the vibrations.

Announcements, events, and more from Tyee and select partners

Thousands of kilometers away, scientists in North America have taken their notes, standing ready to notify authorities of a possible rewrite of maps of flood waters. Hours later, the report came out: There was no risk of a tsunami this time.

Tsunamis, the displacement of water that can submerge entire coastlines, is often caused by earthquakes and landslides that are submerged by submarines. And because the large seismic fault zone is located near coastal British Columbia, the more advanced warning systems recently put in place will likely not give much time to escape for people in the tsunami path, experts say.

“Think of a backyard children’s pool,” says John Cassidy, head of seismology at Natural Resources Canada and assistant professor at Victoria University.

“You put a small piece of plywood in the water and lift it up,” he says. “But instead of a small swimming pool, we’re talking about something 1,000 kilometers long.”

Tyee is supported by readers just like you. Join us and grow independent media in Canada

People often misunderstand a tsunami as a single large tsunami when, in fact, it is a series of waves that last for hours, Cassidy says.

Cassidy has a knack for turning mega-events into simple comparisons. This is, in some ways, the work that scientists do as they grapple with tsunamis and earthquake preparedness: providing information in digestible, understandable and most of all actionable terms for governments and the public, in terms of either immediate or long-term response. Preparedness.

Tsunami is a fact of life for people in coastal areas. Not only did the Good Friday earthquake in 1964 devastate structures and livelihoods in Anchorage, Alaska, it also triggered a tsunami that rewrote the map of Alberni and Port Alberni, British Columbia, eventually resulting in their merging into a single entity.

When the 1964 Alaska earthquake struck, Cassidy says, there was no tsunami warning system.

Today, we have the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, located in Hawaii, and the National Tsunami Warning Center, which is in Alaska. When earthquakes happen in Alaska or Japan, Cassidy says, British Columbia now has the ability to receive an advanced warning about whether or not a tsunami will reach our coasts.

These centers are operated by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The centers analyze earthquake and earthquake data, along with readings from tide gauges and information on sea levels, to identify threats and issue alerts.

They also use the DART system – or ‘Deep Ocean Assessment and Tsunami Recording’.

“These are deep ocean sensors,” says Summer Ullendorf, scientific officer at the National Tsunami Warning Center. “Often these are the first measurements of a wave before it reaches the coast.”

Ohlendorf and fellow scientists at the center are monitoring seismic data and sea level estimates 24 hours a day, along with its sister center in Hawaii. Two scientists are always at the center of the warning, looking for major seismic events that could trigger tsunamis.

The area covered by the National Tsunami Warning Center is huge, stretching the eastern and western coasts of Canada and the United States.

Sometimes, despite the monitoring, coastal communities won’t receive much advance warning about a tsunami. While undersea seismic activity near Japan or New Zealand provides hours of advance time to analyze data for tsunamis hitting the United States or Canada, earthquakes closer to home, as in the Cascadia Subduction region off the coast of Vancouver Island, offer little From prior notification.

“We can give people 20 minutes of warning if an earthquake strikes right off the coast,” says Ullendorf. “If you don’t have your bags packed, plan and know where to go, 20 minutes doesn’t seem like a lot of time all of a sudden.”

One of the earthquake monitoring centers in British Columbia that supplies data to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is the Earthquake Early Warning System operated by Ocean Networks Canada, a nonprofit association funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation through the University of Victoria.

This early warning system was installed in June 2019, with seismic sensors placed across Vancouver Island and the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate.

Map showing the seismic geo-sensors installed on Vancouver Island and the Juan de Fuca Tectonic Plate. This system may provide 60 to 90 seconds of warning before an earthquake. Image courtesy of Ocean Networks Canada.

The purpose of the system is not so much to provide general notification on a large scale as it is to protect critical infrastructure. With earthquakes in close proximity to the capital and economic centers of British Columbia, the early warning system will provide at least 60 to 90 seconds advance notice.

Benoennet Pirenne, Director of User Interaction with Ocean Networks Canada, says those seconds can be vital.

“A typical example is a Skytrain in Vancouver,” says Perini. “If you know there’s a tremor coming and you know there is about a minute of time to act, then it might be enough time to bring the train to the nearest station and not get stuck in the middle of a tunnel.”

An advance warning can also be issued to emergency services, allowing them to ensure that the car compartment doors are open in case they are broken by the vibration of the damage.

However, Perini says the tsunami studies for Ocean Networks Canada do not start and end with an immediate response. Advance planning can also be key.

The data collected by the center, NOAA, and other organizations is used to model geographic problem areas. This can guide urban planning and emergency evacuations for governments.

Scholars also learn from historical information. Native oral history says that the last time a massive tsunami struck the county was around the year 1700, wiping out entire villages on the west coast.

These accounts are further confirmed by contemporary records from Japan which identified this massive earthquake in the Cascadia Subduction until 9 pm on January 26, 1700.

After more than 300 years, scientists at Ocean Networks Canada are testing a prototype of a radar system, recently installed in Tofino, that can detect incoming waves up to 80 kilometers. Pirenne says this system could allow for instant warning in communities like Tofino and Ucluelet, providing a progression of a few short but vital minutes.

Most importantly, it can detect meteorites caused by changes in atmospheric pressure rather than landslides or earthquakes. Scientists are just beginning to understand these specific types of tsunamis and how to predict them.

All this knowledge spanning centuries at the global level contributes to minimizing the damage and loss of life caused by the tsunami waves. But in order to capitalize on the advances made by scientists, governments and the public need to prepare as well by strengthening emergency response systems, maintaining emergency response groups and developing emergency response plans, something that only 13 percent of British Columbia households are currently doing.

Tsunami is inevitable. We know that the “really big guy” is coming.

At the Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver, an exhibit on the 2012 tsunami shows us what’s at stake: a country transformed by an ocean roar forced by the planet’s force to descend to land.

The earthquake near New Zealand on March 5 did not cause a tsunami. It might be the next.

Our scientists will be there to watch, wait and inform us.

.

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos