F I R S TP R E V938NEXTLAST

Tsunami Preparedness, Ocean Beach
Following the great Sumatra quake and tsunami of 2004 most coastal cities re-examined their own risk and response plans to a similar emergence. How likely is it that a tsunami could hit San Francisco? Geophysicists have evidence that a 9.2 earthquake occurred along the Cascadia subduction zone, off our coast about 300 years ago. Another similar quake would result in a 15.7-foot tsunami surge wave on San Francisco's shore, nearly the same height as the Sumatra tsunami. That swell would travel five city blocks inland and flood even farther.

In addition to the danger from earthquakes, local Tiburon resident Rusty Schweickart, the retired Apollo 9 lunar module commander, estimates that a specific asteroid, 2004MN4 has a 10,000 to 1 chance of hitting the earth in 2036. That event would result in a 55-foot tsumani wave here on our coast and would be "far more devastating than anything known in history."

To help warn us in the event of any tsunami the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is installing a real-time reporting system made up of a series of ocean floor acoustic devices and sensored buoys with telemetry uplinks to satellites. So you see, there's nothing to worry about, an underfunded federal department is working for your safety. Until then, we still have these signs.
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