Images related to Satellites Map Tsunami Wave Height

The Seafloor Focuses and Merges Tsunami Waves
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The Seafloor Focuses and Merges Tsunami Waves

Even at great distances from their source, tsunami waves can grow by being focused and steered by underwater ridges.

Published Mar 12, 2012

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Earthquake Spawns Tsunamis
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Earthquake Spawns Tsunamis

Published Dec 29, 2004

Earthquakes

Tsunami Vulnerability in Camana, Peru
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Tsunami Vulnerability in Camana, Peru

A tsunami washed over the low-lying coastal resort region near Camaná,southern Peru, following a strong earthquake on June 23, 2001. The earthquake was one of the most powerful of the last 35 years and had a magnitude of 8.4. After the initial quake, coastal residents witnessed a sudden draw-down of the ocean and knew a tsunami was imminent. They had less than 20 minutes to reach higher ground before the tsunami hit. Waves as high as 8 meters came in four destructive surges reaching as far as 1.2 kilometers inland. Thousands of buildings were destroyed, and the combined earthquake and tsunami killed as many as 139 people.

Published Mar 17, 2002

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The Specter of a Mega-Tsunami in Alaska
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The Specter of a Mega-Tsunami in Alaska

Landsat images helped convince researchers that a slumping mountainside overlooking Barry Arm fjord could pose a tsunami hazard.

Published Oct 5, 2020

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Antarctic Icebergs Chipped off by Japan Tsunami
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Antarctic Icebergs Chipped off by Japan Tsunami

Scientists observed the calving of several large icebergs from the Sulzberger Ice Shelf in Antarctica as a result of the March 2011 tsunami half a world away in Japan.

Published Aug 9, 2011

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Microfossils
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Microfossils

Published Sep 28, 2005

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Satellites Detect Deep-Ocean Whirlpools
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Satellites Detect Deep-Ocean Whirlpools

Submerged in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Spain and Portugal are giant, salty whirlpools of warm water. These deep-water whirlpools are part of the ocean’s circulatory system, and they help drive the ocean currents that moderate Earth’s climate. Warm water ordinarily sits at the ocean’s surface, but the warm water flowing out of the Mediterranean Sea is so salty (and therefore dense) that when it enters the Atlantic Ocean at the Strait of Gibraltar, it sinks to depths of more than 1,000 meters (one-half mile) along the continental shelf. This underwater river then separates into clockwise-flowing eddies that may continue to spin westward for more than two years, often coalescing with other eddies to form giant, salty whirlpools that may stretch for hundreds of miles. Because the eddies originate from the Mediterranean Sea, scientists call them “Meddies.”

Published Mar 23, 2006

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