Real-time experimental forecast of the Peruvian tsunami of August 2007 for US coastlines

Wei Y., Bernard E. N., Tang L., Weiss R., Titov V. V., Moore C., ...More

GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, vol.35, no.4, 2008 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 35 Issue: 4
  • Publication Date: 2008
  • Doi Number: 10.1029/2007gl032250
  • Journal Name: GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Middle East Technical University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

At 23: 41 UTC on 15 August 2007, an offshore earthquake of magnitude 8.0 severely damaged central Peru and generated a tsunami. Severe shaking by the earthquake collapsed buildings throughout the region and caused 514 fatalities. The tsunami resulted in three casualties and a representative maximum runup height of similar to 7 m in the near field. The first real-time tsunami data available came from a deep-ocean tsunami detection buoy within 1 hour of tsunami generation. These tsunami data were used to produce initial experimental forecasts within 2 hours of tsunami generation. The far-field forecasts indicated that the tsunami would not flood any of the 14 U. S. communities. Comparison with real-time tide gage data showed very accurate forecasts.