[MyFootHurts]

If you know anyone down the beach, let them know http://forecast.weather.gov/wwamap/wwatxtget.php?cwa=sew&wwa=tsunami%20watch ...A TSUNAMI WATCH IS NOW IN EFFECT WHICH INCLUDES THE COASTAL AREAS OF CALIFORNIA, OREGON AND WASHINGTON FROM THE CAL./MEXICO BORDER TO THE WASH./BC BORDER ... If you are located in this coastal area, stay alert for further updates. Tsunami watches are an advance notice to areas that could be impacted by a tsunami at a later time. Watch areas may be upgraded to a warning or advisory status, or canceled, based on new information. At 1232 AM Alaska Standard Time on January 23 an earthquake with preliminary magnitude 8.0 occurred 175 miles southeast of Kodiak City Alaska.

[wildernessed]

I woke up to that on my news feed this morning. I saw where one area noticed water receding along the shoeline and became alarmed at the possible implications.

[Brockton]

All tsunami alerts have been cancelled now.

[thunderhead]

An ~8 just does not have the strength required to create a sizeable wave this far away. Especially a strike slip that puts much of its energy into non-tsunamigenic side to side motion. The great 9+ waves of Japan and Indonesia had some 50-100 times more vertical displacement by comparison. The tsunami warning center really needs to stop crying wolf for these relatively little 8.0s that occur in the deep ocean if they want people to take them seriously when it really matters.

[Pyrites]

Last night they were saying the closest buoy experienced considerable vertical displacement. After a time wave at the next closest buoy only moved several centimeters. I’m sure they need to balance need for speed with accuracy. Do you promptly alert eight of ten tsunamis or do you promptly alert twelve out of ten tsunamis? Best.

[thunderhead]

The problem is right now they are alerting on like 12 out of 1 tsunamis. Thats not a ratio that lends towards future believe-ability. We shouldn't expect alerts to be perfect but what he have right now is way out of hand. As for the buoy heights, they looked pretty small to me. Most had open ocean displacement of a few centimeters... with a typical coast runup of 10-20x... not a threat. One went crazy with obviously impossible(short of a major impact) bad data. Also you can afford to wait a little while for distant shores. If the wave takes 3 hours to reach the warning area... and it already looks small... you have plenty of time to wait and verify what is going on before scaring people. The south coast of Kodiak island and a few nearby smaller islands deserved an instant warning(perhaps not a very dire one) for this, since it was close to the rupture. Everywhere else should have been left alone.

[wanderwild]

I agree with Thunderhead. Or maybe "warning" is the incorrect terminology. After many of these in my lifetime here in the PNW, I do not interpret the warning as "a tsunami is coming." My interpretation is "there was a quake somewhere in the Pacific and you should Google it to make your own assessment." Helpful, but definitely not heeded as a "warning." But alas, if I lived in tidal Grays County I might react differently.

[MyFootHurts]

[Pyrites]

A bunch of hikers, who can start their own car, and be a hundred miles away in a couple hours might be one market for the information. But another customer of the alert or watch might be an assisted living facility manager. And presumably everywhere calls in all off-duty police & fire. Their responsibility is both their families’ and community’s safety, and then bugging out. Moving just one not self mobile or frail person is a labor intensive function. In numbers? A couple hours would go pretty fast. Best.

[thunderhead]

[Adohrn]

Advisory, watch and warning talk about confusing and vague terms. No wonder the general public tends to overreact. Now if they named them don’t panic, calmly move away from ocean, your gona die, there would be a lot less anxiety and confusion. Except for the people who are gona die, and they won’t be able to vote anymore so who cares about them.😏

[AlpineRose]

Tsunami Watches, Advisories and Warnings are analogous for tsunami probability as Wind Watches, Advisories and Warnings are for high wind probability.

[MyFootHurts]

The terms are very specific and defined. The messages even explain them: Tsunami watches are an advance notice to areas that could be impacted by a tsunami at a later time. Watch areas may be upgraded to a warning or advisory status, or canceled, based on new information. If people who live in tsunami zones can't be bothered to learn the terms and make a plan for each one, their impending doom is a personal problem.

[thunderhead]

Even if the media and the people knew the definitions(which I agree is their problem), the tsunami warning center still massively overwarned this latest quake, continuing a trend of massively overwarning ~8.0 level quakes that goes back many years. They evacced half of hawaii's coast a few years ago for like an 8 inch wave.