Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Global tsunami deposits database

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Natural Hazards Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The National Geophysical Data Center and co-located World Data Center for Geophysics and Marine Geology provide integrated access to historical tsunami event, deposit, and proxy data. Historical events are important for understanding the frequency and intensity of relatively recent tsunamis. Deposit data collected during post-tsunami field surveys provide information on tsunami erosion, sedimentation, flow depths, inundation, and run-up. Deposit data from prehistoric tsunami events extend the record to pre-recorded times, constrain tsunami recurrence intervals, and estimate the minimum magnitude of tsunami inundation. Proxies indicate that an event capable of producing a tsunami occurred, but are not direct evidence of a tsunami. All of these data are used to develop tsunami hazard assessments, provide guidance to warning centers, validate models, inform community preparedness efforts, and educate the public about tsunami risks.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abrantes F, Alt-Epping U, Lebreiro S, Voelker A, Schneider R (2008) Sedimentological record of tsunamis on shallow-shelf areas: the case of the 1969 AD and 1755 AD tsunamis on the Portuguese Shelf off Lisbon. Mar Geol 249:283–293. doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2007.12.004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arenillas I, Arz JA, Grajales-Nishimura JM, Murillo-Muñetón G, Alvarez W, Camargo-Zanoguera A, Molina E, Rosales-Domínguez C (2006) Chicxulub impact event is cretaceous/paleogene boundary in age: new micropaleontological evidence. Earth Planet Sci Lett 249:241–257. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2006.07.020

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Atwater BF, Satoko M-R, Kenji S, Yoshinobu T, Kazue U, Yamaguchi DK (2005) The orphan tsunami of 1700. U.S. Geological Survey, professional paper 1707. http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/pp1707/. Accessed 29 January 2010

  • Benson BE, Clague JJ, Grimm KA (1999) Relative sea-level change inferred from intertidal sediments beneath marshes on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Quat Int 60:49–54. doi:10.1016/S1040-6182(99)00006-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bondevik S, Svendsen JI, Johnsen G, Mangerud J, Kaland PE (1997) The Storegga tsunami along the Norwegian coast, its age and runup. Boreas 26:29–53. doi:10.1111/j.1502-3885.1997.tb00649.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borrero J (2005) Field data and satellite imagery of tsunami effects in Banda Aceh. Science 308(5728):1596. doi:10.1126/science.1110957

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourgeois J (2009) Geologic effects and records of tsunamis. In: Bernard EN, Robinson AR (eds) The sea, volume 15. Tsunamis. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, pp 55–91

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourgeois J, Weiss R (2009) “Chevrons” are not mega-tsunami deposits; a sedimentologic assessment. Geol 37:403–406. doi:10.1130/G25246A.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bruins HJ, MacGillivray JA, Synolakis CE, Benjamini C, Keller J, Kisch HJ, Klügel A, van der Plicht J (2008) Geoarchaeological tsunami deposits at Palaikastro (Crete) and the Late Minoan IA eruption of Santorini. J Archaeol Sci 35:191–212. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2007.08.017

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carey S, Morelli D, Sigurdsson H, Bronto S (2001) Tsunami deposits from major explosive eruptions: an example from the 1883 eruption of Krakatau. Geol 29:347–350. doi:10.1130/0091-7613(2001)029<0347:TDFMEE>2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Choi BH, Ko JS, Chung HF, Kim EB, Oh IS, Choi JI, Sim JS, Pelinovsky E (1994) Tsunami runup survey at east coast of Korea due to the 1993 southwest of the Hokkaido earthquake. J Korean Soc Coast Ocean Eng 6:117–125

    Google Scholar 

  • Cita MB, Aloisi G (2000) Deep-sea tsunami deposits triggered by the explosion of Santorini (3500 y BP), eastern Mediterranean. Sediment Geol 135:181–203. doi:10.1016/S0037-0738(00)00071-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Darienzo ME, Peterson CD (1995) Magnitude and frequency of subduction-zone earthquakes along the northern Oregon coast in the past 3,000 years. Or Geol 57:3–12

    Google Scholar 

  • de Lange WP, Moon VG (2007) Tsunami washover deposits, Tawharanui, New Zealand. Sediment Geol 200:232–247. doi:10.1016/j.sedgeo.2007.01.006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dominey-Howes D (2004) A re-analysis of the Late Bronze Age eruption and tsunami of Santorini, Greece, and the implications for the volcano-tsunami hazard. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 130:107–132. doi:10.1016/S0377-0273(03)00284-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dominey-Howes D (2007) Geological and historical records of tsunami in Australia. Mar Geol 239:99–123. doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2007.01.010

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fiedorowicz BK (1997) Geologic evidence of historic and prehistoric tsunami inundation at Seaside, Oregon. MS Thesis, Portland State University

  • Gelfenbaum G, Jaffe B (2003) Erosion and sedimentation from the 17 July, 1998 Papua New Guinea tsunami. Pure Appl Geophys 160:1969–1999. doi:10.1007/s00024-003-2416-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kench PS, McLean RF, Brander RW, Nichol SL, Smithers SG, Ford MR, Parnell KE, Aslam M (2006) Geological effects of tsunami on mid-ocean atoll islands: the Maldives before and after the Sumatran tsunami. Geol 34:177–180. doi:10.1130/G21907.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Konno E, Iwai J, Kitamura N, Kotaka T, Mii H, Nakagawa H, Onuki Y, Shibata T, Takayanagi Y (1961) Geological observations of the Sanriku coastal region damaged by the tsunami due to the Chile earthquake in 1960. Contrib Inst Geol Paleontol Tohoku Univ 52:1–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Ludwin RS, Dennis R, Carver D, McMillan AD, Losey R, Clague J, Jonientz-Trisler C, Bowechop J, Wray J, James K (2005) Dating the 1700 Cascadia earthquake: great coastal earthquakes in native stories. Seismol Res Lett 76:140–148. doi:10.1785/gssrl.76.2.140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lynett PJ, Borrero JC, Liu PL-F, Synolakis CE (2003) Field survey and numerical simulations: a review of the 1998 Papua New Guinea Tsunami. Pure Appl Geophys 160:2119–2146. doi:10.1007/s00024-003-2422-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin ME, Weiss R, Bourgeois J, Pinegina TK, Houston H, Titov VV (2008) Combining constraints from tsunami modeling and sedimentology to untangle the 1969 Ozernoi and 1971 Kamchatskii tsunamis. Geophys Res Lett 35:L01610. doi:10.1029/2007GL032349

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matsutomi H, Shuto N, Imamura F, Takahashi T (2001) Field survey of the 1996 Irian Jaya Earthquake Tsunami in Biak Island. Nat Hazard 24:199–212. doi:10.1023/A:1012042222880

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milia A, Molisso F, Raspini A, Sacchi M, Torrente MM (2008) Syneruptive features and sedimentary processes associated with pyroclastic currents entering the sea: the AD 79 eruption of Vesuvius, Bay of Naples, Italy. J Geol Soc Lond 165:839–848. doi:10.1144/0016-76492007-110

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore JG, Normark WR, Holcomb RT (1994) Giant Hawaiian landslides. Ann Rev Earth Planet Sci 22:119–144

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore A, Nishimura Y, Gelfenbaum G, Kamataki T, Triyono R (2006) Sedimentary deposits of the 26 December 2004 tsunami on the northwest coast of Aceh, Indonesia. Earth Planet Space 58:253–258

    Google Scholar 

  • Morton RA, Gelfenbaum G, Jaffe BE (2007) Physical criteria for distinguishing sandy tsunami and storm deposits using modern examples. Sediment Geol 200:184–207. doi:10.1016/j.sedgeo.2007.01.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murari MK, Achyuthan H, Singhvi AK (2007) Luminescence studies on the sediments laid down by the December 2004 tsunami event: prospects for the dating of palaeo tsunamis and for the estimation of sediment fluxes. Curr Sci 92:367–371

    Google Scholar 

  • National Geophysical Data Center/World Data Center (NGDC/WDC) (2010) Historical tsunami database, Boulder, CO, USA. http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazard/tsu_db.shtml. Accessed 15 November 2010

  • Niemi TM, Ben-Avraham Z (1994) Evidence for Jericho earthquakes from slumped sediments of the Jordan River delta in the Dead Sea. Geol 22:395–398. doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1994)022<0395:EFJEFS>2.3.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Okal EA, Fritz HM, Synolakis CE, Borrero JC, Weiss R, Lynett PJ, Titov VV, Foteinis S, Jaffe BE, Liu PL-F, Chan I (2010) Field survey of the Samoa tsunami of 29 September 2009. Seismol Res Lett 81:577–591. doi:10.1785/gssrl.81.4.577

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peters R, Jaffe B, Gelfenbaum G, Peterson C (2003) Cascadia tsunami deposit database. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 03-13. http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS41383. Accessed 15 January 2010

  • Poag CW, Powars DS, Poppe LJ, Mixon RB, Edwards LE, Folger DW, Bruce S (1992) Deep Sea Drilling Project Site 612 bolide event: New evidence of a late Eocene impact-wave deposit and a possible impact site. U.S. east coast. Geol 20:771–774. doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1992)020<0771:DSDPSB>2.3.CO;2

    Google Scholar 

  • Powars DS (2000) The effects of the Chesapeake Bay impact crater on the geologic framework and the correlation of hydrogeologic units of southeastern Virginia, south of the James River. U.S. Geological Survey, Professional Paper 1622. http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS21905. Accessed 29 January 2010

  • Razzhigaeva NG, Ganzei LA, Grebennikova TA, Ivanova ED, Kaistrenko VM (2006) Sedimentation particularities during the tsunami of December 26, 2004, in northern Indonesia: Simelue Island and the Medan coast of Sumatra Island. Oceanol 46:875–890. doi:10.1134/S0001437006060130

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salamon A (2005) Natural seismogenic effects of the 11 February 2004, ML = 5.2, Dead Sea earthquake. Isr J Earth Sci 54:145–169

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shepard FP, Macdonald GA, Cox DC (1949) The tsunami of April 1, 1946. Bull Scripps Inst Oceanogr Univ Calif, 5: 391-528. http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/89040915. Accessed 26 January 2010

  • Spalletta C, Vai GB (1984) Upper Devonian intraclast parabreccias interpreted as seismites. Mar Geol 55:133–144. doi:10.1016/0025-3227(84)90137-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steiner MB, Shoemaker EM (1996) A hypothesized Manson impact tsunami: paleomagnetic and stratigraphic evidence in the Crow Creek Member, Pierre Shale. GSA Special Paper 302:419–432. doi:10.1130/0-8137-2302-7.419

    Google Scholar 

  • Warme JE, Sandberg CA (1995) The catastrophic Alamo Breccia of southern Nevada: record of a late Devonian extraterrestrial impact. Cour Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg 188:31–57

    Google Scholar 

  • Waythomas CF (2000) Reevaluation of tsunami formation by debris avalanche at Augustine Volcano, Alaska. Pure Appl Geophys 157:1145–1188. doi:10.1007/s000240050022

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Witter RC (2008) Prehistoric Cascadia tsunami inundation and runup at Cannon Beach, Oregon. Oregon Department of Geology Mineral Industries Open-File Report O-08-12

  • Witter RC, Kelsey HM, Hemphill-Haley E (2003) Great Cascadia earthquakes and tsunamis of the past 6700 years, Coquille River estuary, southern coastal Oregon. GSA Bull 115:1289–1306. doi:10.1130/B25189.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We want to thank Dr. Barbara Keating and Matt Wanink (University of Hawaii) for providing the citations and article descriptions for the majority of the NGDC/WDC GTD_DB. We also want to thank Vinita Ruth Brocko (former NGDC employee) for the original design and work on the GTD_DB.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Geophysical Data Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO, 80305-3328, USA

    Paula Dunbar & Heather McCullough

Authors
  1. Paula Dunbar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Heather McCullough
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paula Dunbar.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Dunbar, P., McCullough, H. Global tsunami deposits database. Nat Hazards 63, 267–278 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-011-9713-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-011-9713-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation