U.S. tsunami warning system: Capabilities, gaps, and future vision

Abstract

Tsunamis have long been recognized as a significant threat to U.S. coastlines. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its predecessor agencies have had operational responsibility for issuing U.S. tsunami warnings since establishment of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in 1949. Today's end-to-end U.S. tsunami warning system relies on partnerships with federal, state, territorial, international, regional, and local organizations as well as industry. It includes preparedness and mitigation activities, observation technologies that rapidly detect earthquakes and tsunamis, earthquake analysis to characterize tsunamigenic events, timely and accurate messaging, hydrodynamic models for forecasting tsunami propagation and inundation, and decision support services during events to enhance community response. The U.S. system has proven to be strong and effective, but capability gaps remain. This paper examines the current state of the U.S. tsunami warning system and previews the science, technology, research, and development efforts aimed at improving the accuracy of NOAA's suite of tsunami warning products.