Yesterday we showed you maps of the tsunami created by the February 27th 8.8 magnitude Chilean earthquake.  Today we follow up with a collection of videos of the actual tsunami as it reached shores along the Pacific.  All videos are aggregated by the International Tsunami Information Centre.

An International Post-Tsunami Field Survey is being coordinated by UNESCO Santiago, ITIC, and local scientists.  This Survey will officially start on Monday, March 8.  For more information contact the ITIC Director, Laura Kong (l.kong@unesco.org)

The 27 February 2010 magnitude 8.8 Chilean earthquake and tsunami caused damage and over 700 deaths in the coastal regions of central Chile. Following the earthquake, the NOAA Tsunami Warning Centers issued warnings for locations all over the Pacific from Antarctica to Seward, Alaska. As a result of the warnings, although tsunami waves of between 3-6 feet and strong currents were observed in many locations, no lives were lost outside of the epicentral region.  Unfortunately, lives were lost due to the tsunami in Pelluhue and Dichato in central Chile and on Robinson Crusoe Island located near the epicenter. The highest tsunami amplitudes, of several meters, were observed in the Juan Fernandez Islands and Talcahuano, Chile. Information is still being gathered and assessed.

According to the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC, http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazard/) Global Historical Event databases, this is the largest instrumental earthquake observed in Chile since the 1960 magnitude 9.5 Valdivia earthquake and tsunami that killed over 1,200 people, including 60 deaths in Hawaii.  Globally, this is the 6th largest instrumental earthquake and one of 280 deadly tsunamis.

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Photo by mchaconcr
Is the tsunami a maritime news story? Should gCaptain be providing coverage and at what level? These are some of the questions gCaptain editors have been facing since our founder’s town, Morro Bay California, was partially evacuated last night.

Our decision was to give the matter some time and solicit an article about the effects of tsunami’s on ships, possible including a sea story or two. Until that happens, however, we wanted to share one of our favorite aspects of environmental disaster… infographics.

Wikipedia tells us that “Information graphics or infographics are visual representations of information, data or knowledge. These graphics are used where complex information needs to be explained quickly and clearly[1], such as in signs, maps, journalism, technical writing, and education. They are also used extensively as tools by computer scientists, mathematicians, and statisticians to ease the process of developing and communicating conceptual information.” But more clearly they can be described as the amazing drawings newspapers and magazines use to lure in readers.

So here are the best examples of infographics to help you learn more about tsunami’s and Tidal Waves. Click on the images for the full sized versions. Enjoy!

Yesterday’s Tsunami – Samoa

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A Magnitude 5+ earthquake was just (last 1/2hr) recorded in San Francisco.

Stay tuned for more details and please write any information or links you have in the comments section.

San Francisco Earthquake map:

http://quake.usgs.gov/recenteqs/latest.htm

UPDATES:

2033: NOAA has recorded the event and has a GREEN light posted on their live tsunami warning page:

http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/

Here’s the live (this should update automatically but check the link above to be sure) map:

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