North Carolina Tsunami Risks

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses tsunamis, wave trains, or series of waves, generated in a body of water by a sudden disturbance that vertically displace the water column. They ravage coastlines and can be deadlier than hurricanes. Whereas a hurricane is identified weeks in advance, a tsunami can often strike without warning. It examines how scientists have attempted to develop a methodology by which to determine areas where the underwater geography might be conducive to tsunami and have shown that outer continental shelf off southern Virginia and North Carolina is particularly susceptible. It concludes with suggestions of how the relevant communities should be prepared and forewarned before tsunamis strike.

From the Paper:

"History has demonstrated to us that these landfall events are rare and usually precipitated by an earthquake. Rather than being constantly subjected to the randomness of geological whim, the Atlantic coast has only produced one tsunami over the course of the last 75 years. Although these tsunamis are deadly, their effects would be indistinguishable from the tidal effects of hurricanes that threaten to strike the eastern seaboard at least once every year. Rather than involve our selves in the costly business of timing tsunamis, the state might consider integrating safeguards into its shoreline infrastructure that would protect the local population against the sea."

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