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distant tsunami
or teletsunami
A tsunami originating from a distant source, generally more than
1000 km away.
Far less frequent, but potentially much more
hazardous are
Pacific-wide or distant
tsunamis.These occur when the disturbance that generates the tsunami
is sufficiently great. Usually starting as a local tsunami that causes extensive destruction near the source, these waves continue to travel across the entire
ocean basin with sufficient energy to cause additional casualties and destruction on shores more than a thousand km from the source. In the last two hundred years, there have been at least seventeen destructive Pacific-wide tsunamis.
The most destructive Pacific-wide tsunami of
recent history was generated by a massive earthquake
off the coast of Chile on May 22,1960. All Chilean coastal towns between the 36th and 44th parallels were
either destroyed or heavily damaged by the action of
the tsunami and the quake.The combined tsunami and
earthquake toll included 2,000 killed, 3,000 injured, 2,000,000 homeless, and $550 million damage. Off the coastal town of Corral, Chile, the waves were estimated to be 20 meters (67 feet) high.
The tsunami caused 61 deaths in Hawaii, 20 in the Philippines, and 100 or more in Japan. Estimated damages were
US$50 million in Japan, US$24 million in Hawaii and
several more millions along the west coast of the United
States and Canada. Distant wave heights varied from slight oscillations in some areas to 12 meters (40 feet) at Pitcairn Island; 11 meters at Hilo, Hawaii; and 6 meters at some places in Japan. A Pacific-wide tsunami today, similar in size to the May 1960 event, could easily have catastrophic consequences.
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