This week’s incident photo is of the M/V Laurel, a 26,800-deadweight-ton bulk carrier, which was in a dry dock undergoing routine maintenance in Talcahuano, Chile in February when an 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck the country.

The quake generated two tsunamis, which lifted the M/V Laurel up and out of the dock, thrusting it forward onto the pier bulkhead. The ship’s engine and steering rooms, as well as its No. 5 cargo hold, flooded because the vessel’s sea valves and manholes were open.

Just recently, TITAN Salvage and the Chilean based tug and salvage company Remolcadores Ultratug, partnered to patch the hull, discharge the remaining heavy fuel oil and shift some ballast to obtain the correct trim. The team also fabricated a custom built 17-ton jacking plate on site and placed it under the bow, along with four, 14-meter rubber air bags to serve as jacks when inflated.

With several hundred tons of ground reaction on the bow, the Laurel‘s bow was lifted off the dry dock wall and the vessel was gently eased back into the water. The Laurel, the dry dock and a 380-ton caisson door, which was precariously positioned beneath the Laurel’s bow, suffered no damages.

More info at TITAN Salvage HERE

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.

Above video:

UH-Hilo professional tripod footage, edited. Wailoa Pond ducks riding waves at 3:13. Time-lapse of (1)Breakwall (2)Wailuku River (3)Coconut Island (4)Wailoa Pond. Covering 11:00 am until 6:30 pm, scenes include Civil Defense, Ponahawai onlookers, logs being carried upriver, & Honolii deserted. Note high-water lines at Bayfront & Suisan. Videographer: Darcy Bevens. For more information about tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes, visit our web site at
http://www.uhh.hawaii.edu/~nat_haz/

Click here to view the embedded video.

Above:  Tributary Quickly Reverses Direction After Hilo “Tsunami” Surge

Click here to view the embedded video.

Above: The fifth small wave to pass through the Heathcote & Avon estuary at Christchurch NZ Occurred at 1750 (local time) 28.02.2010 more than 5 thousand miles from the coast of Chile.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Above:  Video of first 3 hours of tsunami inundation at small boat basin entrance of Crescent City harbor (CA). Tsunami produced by M8.8 offshore Chile earthquake.

Note, the tsunami is not a wall of water but a series of long period waves, seen here as strong shifting currents in and out of the small boat basin. The surging and waning portions of the tsunami are about 15 minutes apart. This small boat basin typically has little or no current across the entrance.

A complete list of resources, including additional videos, photos and graphics can be found at the ITIC’s website HERE.

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

The Threat Of Tsunami Waves To San Francisco, California

The Asian Tsunami Explained – NYTimes

What Causes A Tsunami

How A Tsunami Wave Forms

How High Is A Tsunami Wave?

USAToday’s Natural Disaster Map

International Tsunami Graphics

NOAA’s DART Tsunami Warning Buoy System

*Ugly But Effective Infographics

Indonesia’s Tsunami Warning System

Towering Tidal Waves

*Infographic Tsunami Videos

Tsunami Infographic – The Movie

Click here to view the embedded video.

Related Tsunami Links:

• BBC – Asia Tsunami Disaster Explained
• Indonesian Tsunami Animated PIC
• Asian Tsunami Impact Zones
• How The Wave Spreads – The Guardian
• The Tsunami That Hit New York City
• Deep Ocean Assessment and Reporting Of Tsunamis (DART) Infographic
• List Of Tsunami Infographics
• Tsunami Models – NOAA
• Discovery Channel Tsunami Videos

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Frequently passing under bridges for a living and over them in the family sedan we, like most mariners, have a fascination with bridge design and basically all things we can drive our ships over, under or through.  Here’s a video on building the World’s Largest Suspension Bridge…. in an earthquake zone.

The AP tells of an earthquake at 18:05GMT today located at 125 miles north of London England:

An earthquake struck Britain early Wednesday and was felt across large parts of the country. No injuries or damage were immediately reported.

The 4.7-magnitude quake struck at about 1 a.m. and was centered about 125 miles north of London, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

“It was like a huge freight train outside the front door,” Sky News reporter Lukwesa Burak reported from Leicestershire in central England. “The entire house seemed to shake.”

Live Earthquake Maps:

Google Earth – Past 2 Weeks Data
Live Earthquake data – past 2 weeks

If your looking for the latest information try these links:

• gCaptain’s Live Earthquake Data and Maps
• Live Seismic Monitor Europe
• Now Public | Earthquakes – Live User Generated News
• Live Seismogram readings

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:

RSS FEEDS:

Twitter SFQuake
Pacific Coast Tsunami Warnings
USGS ShakeMaps

Mapping Links:

Google Earth Earthquake KML File

San Francisco Earthquake – Live Map

USGS Earthquake Mashup

EMSC Live Earthquake Mashup.

Updates from local citizens:

Did you feel it? USGS community quake map:

Tools and Links:

Sign-up for Earthquake ALERTS via email

SMS / TEXT Alerts for San Francisco

Links from USCG’s Earquake Hazard Program:

Google Earth KML

Display real-time earthquakes and plate boundaries in Google Earth (requires version 4+). To display earthquakes, download one of our earthquake KML files (below) and open it in Google Earth. Earthquakes refresh every 5-minutes in Google Earth. More Google Earth files »

• M 1+ earthquakes, past seven days (colored by age)

  Updated: Wed Oct 31 03:17:16 UTC (143 kB)

• M 1+ earthquakes, past seven days (colored by depth)

  Updated: Wed Oct 31 03:06:06 UTC (143 kB)

RSS Feeds

Contains basic information (date, location, and magnitude) about each earthquake and a link to a detailed report. More information »

• M 2.5+ earthquakes, past day RSS 2.0 CAP

  Updated: Wed Oct 31 03:13:47 UTC (6 kB)

• M 2.5+ earthquakes, past 7 days RSS 2.0 CAP

  Updated: Wed Oct 31 03:13:47 UTC (61 kB)

• M 5+ earthquakes, past 7 days RSS 2.0 CAP

  Updated: Wed Oct 31 03:13:48 UTC (7 kB)

• USGS Earthquake ShakeMaps RSS 2.0

  Updated: Wed Oct 31 03:05:03 UTC

CSV Files

Comma separated ASCII text files containing the source network (Src), ID (Eqid), version, date, location, magnitude, depth and number of reporting stations (NST) for each earthquake. Note: files are not inclusive (the past day file does not include past hour events, for example).

• M 1+ earthquakes, past hour

  Updated: Wed Oct 31 03:17:02 UTC (55 B)

• M 1+ earthquakes, past day

  Updated: Wed Oct 31 03:17:02 UTC (5 kB)

• M 1+ earthquakes, past 7 days

  Updated: Wed Oct 31 03:17:02 UTC (46 kB)

Merged Catalog in XML Format

Unlike the RSS Feeds, this XML file contains all available parameters, including date, location, magnitude/magnitude type, number of stations/phases used for location, distance to first station, RMS/horizontal/vertical errors, and more. The minimum magnitude of events included in the XML merged catalog varies from region to region depending upon the density of the reporting networks.

• XML merged catalog, past 7 days

  Updated: Wed Oct 31 03:15:42 UTC (60 kB)

Merged Catalog in Cube Format

Cube format is a fixed-format, card-like version of the information in the merged catalog. It contains the same information provided in the XML format, except that there is no information on ‘duplicate’ event ids, which occur when networks other than the authoritative network submit information on the same event. The minimum magnitude of events included in the Cube catalog varies from region to region depending upon the density of the reporting networks. More information »

• Cube merged catalog, past 7 days

  Updated: Wed Oct 31 03:15:33 UTC (71 kB)

Moment Tensors via Email

Sends a message that contains the estimate of the seismic moment tensor for earthquakes with either a body-wave magnitude (mb) or surface-wave magnitude (MS) of 5.5 or greater. More information »

QED Post

Sends a daily message of the earthquakes located 7 days behind the current day taken from our Quick Epicenter Determinations (QED) listing. It is a preliminary publication and typically contains 10-30 events per day. More information »

Weekly Seismicity Reports for Northern California

The Weekly Reports contain information on earthquakes in Northern California.

Real Time (10min delay) seismometer chart – Berkeley, CA Station;

AFTERSHOCK Forecast Map:

Telstar Logistics brings us the scoop on the construction of the new Bay Bridge in San Francisco. They write:

We live in a time of many wonders and miracles, and one of them is taking shape in San Francisco Bay. The new eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge will replace the cantilevered span built in 1936. The old span was vulnerable to earthquakes — as the Bay Area discovered in 1989 — so the new structure is designed to be a bit less fragile.

Estimated to cost billions of dollars and six more years of construction this project will huge in scope and a topic likely to be discussed often in the maritime community. Read his full story HERE and be sure to click on the photo links.

If you prefer the other bay bridge visit his story: Backstage atop the Golden Gate Bridge

Also be sure to read our post: Bridge Designs.