Pacific Tsunami Warning Center

Tsunameter and buoys used by DART system

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC), operated by NOAA in Ewa Beach, Hawaii, USA, is one of two tsunami warning centers in the United States. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA) is a scientific agency within the United States Department of Commerce focused on the conditions of the Ewa Beach (ˈεvə in English is a Census-designated place (CDP located in Ewa District and the City & County of Honolulu along the leeward coast of O{{okina}}ahu The United States of America —commonly referred to as the PTWC is part of an international tsunami warning system (TWS) program and serves as the operational center for TWS of the Pacific issuing bulletins and warnings to participating members and other nations in the Pacific Ocean area of responsibility . A tsunami warning system is a system to detect Tsunamis and issue warnings to prevent loss of life and property The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth 's Oceanic divisions It is also the regional (local) warning center for the State of Hawai'i. The State of Hawaii ( or həˈwaɪʔiː Hawaiian: Mokuāina o Hawaii) is a state in the United States located on an Archipelago in the The other tsunami warning center is the West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center (WC/ATWC) in Palmer, Alaska, serving all coastal regions of Canada and the United States except Hawai'i. Palmer is a city in and the borough seat of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough in the U

PTWC was established in 1949, following the 1946 Aleutian Island earthquake and a tsunami that resulted in 165 casualties in Hawaii and Alaska. Year 1949 ( MCMXLIX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1946 ( MCMXLVI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The 1946 Aleutian Islands earthquake was an Earthquake near the Aleutian Islands on April 1, 1946. Alaska ( Аляска Alyaska) is a state in the United States of America, in the northwest of the North American continent After the Indian Ocean tsunami, PTWC has extended its warning guidance to include the Indian Ocean, Caribbean and adjacent regions until regional capability is in place for these areas. The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea Earthquake that occurred at 005853 UTC on December 26 2004 with an Epicentre off the west coast of These regional systems will form a global tsunami warning system once they are in operation.

The Center uses seismic data as its starting point, but then takes into account oceanographic data when calculating possible threats. Oceanography (from the greek words Ωκεανός meaning Ocean and γράφω meaning to write also called oceanology or Tide gauges in the area of the earthquake are checked to establish if a tsunami wave has formed. Characteristics A tide is a repeated cycle of sea level changes in the following stages Over several hours the water rises or advances up a beach in the flood The centre then forecasts the future of the tsunami, issuing warnings to at-risk areas all around the Pacific basin if needed. There are never false alarms — if the PTWC issues a tsunami warning for a particular area, the wave is already on its way and will hit. As it takes more time for tsunamis to travel trans-oceanic distances, the PTWC can afford to take the time to make sure of its forecasts.

Depending on the seismic data, PTWC will issue the following type of bulletins:

Tsunami Information Bulletin- At this time, though a threat exists, there is no evidence that a tsunami is making its way across the Pacific.

Tsunami Watch- PTWC has determined the earthquake may very likely have created a tsunami and is advising parties to be alert as PTWC awaits tide data to support tsunami generation.

Tsunami Warning- PTWC finds conditions serious enough to issue immediate concern to parts of the Pacific. The message will include approximate arrival times for various parts of the Pacific.

Deep ocean tsunami detection

In 1995 the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration began developing the Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART) system. Year 1995 ( MCMXCV) was a Common year starting on Sunday. Events of 1995 The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA) is a scientific agency within the United States Department of Commerce focused on the conditions of the The Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART system is a component of an enhanced Tsunami warning system. By 2001 an array of six stations had been deployed in the Pacific Ocean. Year 2001 ( MMI) was a Common year starting on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar. The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth 's Oceanic divisions ^[1]

Beginning in 2005, as a result of heightened awareness due to the tsunamis caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, plans were announced to add 32 more DART buoys to be operational by mid-2007. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea Earthquake that occurred at 005853 UTC on December 26 2004 with an Epicentre off the west coast of Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ^[2]

These stations give detailed information about tsunamis while they are still far off shore. Each station consists of a sea-bed bottom pressure recorder (at a depth of about 6000 m) which detects the passage of a tsunami and transmits the data to a surface buoy via acoustic modem. The surface buoy then radios the information to the PTWC via the GOES satellite system. The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (or GOES) program is a key element in United States' National Weather Service (NWS operations This article is about artificial satellites For natural satellites also known as moons see Natural satellite. The bottom pressure recorder lasts for two years while the surface buoy is replaced every year. The system has considerably improved the forecasting and warning of tsunamis in the Pacific.

References

External links

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