FY 1983

Feasibility study on mitigating tsunami hazards in the Pacific

Bernard, E.N., J.F. Lander, and G.T. Hebenstreit

NOAA Tech. Memo. ERL PMEL-37, NTIS: PB83-182311, 41 pp (1982)

This study shows that many aspects of existing U.S. technology have potential applications to the problem of providing early tsunami warning information in developing nations of the Pacific which do not have their own regional warning network. A simple conceptual model is developed which shows how these technologies could be integrated into an early warning "system." The basic elements are described for a demonstration program which would confirm the practicality of such a technologically feasible system. Such a demonstration--to which the acronym THRUST (Tsunami Hazard Reduction Utilizing System Technology) is applied--would be a significant step toward achieving the goal of hazard mitigation in the developing areas of the Pacific community. It is recommended that an active program of tsunami hazard reduction in developing nations be established within the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance of the Agency for International Development.