Scientists map potential tsunami flood zones
A computer model that can predict the impact of a tsunami from the San Francisco Bay area to Alaska is helping scientists plot danger zones in coastal cities to guide emergency planning.
The model is being combined with maps to show the detailed effects on the narrow inlets and bays sandwiched between the high cliffs and mountains that make up much of the West Coast.
"We create simulations that show how waves are propagating, and how they would affect the coast, and we do it community by community," said Arun Chawla, an environmental engineer at the OGI School of Science & Engineering, part of the Oregon Health & Science University.
The information could give emergency workers a better idea of where to place vital equipment or facilities, such as fire stations.
The work was under way before an undersea earthquake off the coast of Indonesia generated a tsunami that swept through heavily populated areas of southeast Asia on December 26, killing an estimated 150,000 people.
