TWO DECADES OF GLOBAL TSUNAMIS - 1982-2002

• Main Authors: Patricia A. Lockridge, Lowell S. Whiteside, James F. Lander
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Tsunami Society International 2003
• Subjects: http://tsunamisociety.org/STHVol21N1Y2003.pdf; Oceanography; GC1-1581; Newfoundland; Canada; Pacific; Indian; Iceland; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://doaj.org/article/b701c4038bcd4b4f852bd382cbeeae71

The principal purpose of this catalog is to extend the cataloging of tsunami occurrences and effects begun in 1988 by Soloviev, Go, and Kim (Catalog of Tsunamis in the Pacific 1969 to 1982) to the period extending from 1982 through 2001, and to provide a convenient source of tsunami data and a reference list for tsunamis in this period. While the earlier catalogs by Soloviev were restricted to the Pacific region including Indonesia, this catalog reports on known tsunamis worldwide. The year 1982 was included in this catalog because the data in the Soloviev and Go catalog for that year was incomplete.The Pacific is by far the most active zone for tsunami generation but tsunamis have been generated in many other bodies of water including the Caribbean and Mediterranean Seas, and Indian and Atlantic Oceans and other bodies of water. There were no known tsunamis generated in the Atlantic Ocean in the period from 1982 to 2001 but they have occurred there historically. North Atlantic tsunamis include the tsunami associated with the 1755 Lisbon earthquake that caused up to 60,000 fatalities in Portugal, Spain, and North Africa. This tsunami generated waves of up to seven meters in height into the Caribbean. Since 1498 the Caribbean has had 37 verified tsunamis (local and remote sourced) plus an additional 52 events that may have resulted in tsunamis. The death toll from these events is about 9,500 fatalities. In 1929, the Grand Banks tsunami off the coast of Labrador generated waves of up to 15 meters in Newfoundland, Canada, killing 26 people, and the waves were recorded along the New Jersey coast. Smaller Atlantic coast tsunamis have been generated in the Norwegian fjords, Iceland, and off the coast of the New England states of the United States. Major tsunamis have also occurred in the Marmara Sea in Turkey associated with the Izmit earthquake of August 17, 1999.