Tsunami amplitudes from local earthquakes in the pacific northwest region of North America part 1: The outer coast

Abstract

Maximum tsunami amplitudes that will result from major earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest region of North America are considered. The modeled region encompasses the coastlines of British Columbia in Canada, and Washington and Oregon in the United States. Three separate models were developed for the outer coast and one model for the system consisting of the Strait of Georgia, Juan de Fuca Strait, and Puget Sound (GFP model) (Part 2). Three different source areas were considered for the outer coast models and the resulting tsunami was propagated to the entrance of Juan de Fuca Strait. Using the output from the other models, the GFP model was run. The results showed that large tsunami amplitudes can occur on the outer coast, whereas inside the GFP system, unless the earthquake occurs in the system itself, no major tsunami will result (Part 2).