Tsunami Uncertainty

The network morning shows are starting in the U.S. East Coast and boy are they behind the news.

CNN warns that the U.S. West Coast could see several feet of tsunami, more than in a decade, and that amplitude is very uncertain. Still, most of the warnings say stay away from beaches, etc. with nothing directly about danger beyond the immediate shore.

I had a look at the Humboldt tsunami inundation map--I knew where we live is outside the danger zone, but because of a quirk in how the map is divided, I hadn't realized how close we are to it, to our south. In a really bad situation we could end up with beachfront property temporarily. A really bad event could cut Arcata off in both directions (and inundate some of it as well) but this map was drawn with an earthquake off our shore in mind, with a tsunami more like the one that hit northern Japan, with the incredible force I'm seeing on TV. When I first turned on CNN I thought I was seeing a simulation. But nothing like that is expected here. Not even that bad for Hawaii, although it may be quite bad.

There are evacuations in Hawaii, where the tsunami is expected at about 5a. Pacific Coast time, 3 a. Hawaii time.