These kernel density maps show the source events (top) and runup effects (bottom) of historical tsun

These kernel density maps show the source events (top) and runup effects (bottom) of historical tsunamis. According to the data source, these tsunamis occurred “from 2000 B.C. to the present in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans; and the Mediterranean and Caribbean Seas.” As there is an order of magnitude more runup locations than source locations (~25k vs 2.5k), the maps are not scaled equally, though they are both scaled linearly. The significantly larger number of runup locations is due to the fact that a single tsunami-triggering event impacts multiple locations. Note that, while most of the locations highlighted in the maps are coastal, some inland events are capable of triggering tsunamis in oceans/seas, and in some cases, the tsunamis effects occur along rivers or lakes. The vast majority (at least 75%) of tsunamis are caused by earthquakes, but some are due to volcanic events, landslides, meteorological events, etc. According to the introduction to the data source, “The global distribution of these [source] events is 63% Pacific Ocean, 21% Mediterranean Sea, 5% Atlantic Ocean, 4% Caribbean Sea, 6% Indian Ocean, and 1% Black Sea… The global distribution of [the runup] locations is 82% Pacific Ocean, 2% Atlantic Ocean, 2% Caribbean Sea, 4% Mediterranean, 9% Indian Ocean, and <1% in the Red Sea and Black Sea.” Data source: http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazard/tsu_db.shtml National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS): Global Historical Tsunami Database. National Geophysical Data Center, NOAA. doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7 [11/18/14] -- source link

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