After the shocking destruction of the tsunami from the 12/26/2004 earthquake off Sumatra, many people living at or close to an ocean coast ask, if soemthing like that can happen in their area.
Living in California, I gave it some thought as well. Although, Palo Alto would probably not be much affected, a tsunami of that magnitude could have huge effect on cities close to the ocean, like Santa Cruz and even San Francisco. Even the regular high tide caused some flooding in San Francisco this week.
The human casualties of a tsunami, however, are likely to be considerably lower in North America than they were in South Asia. This is mainly because there is an early-warning-system in the Pacific. Although, that wouldn’t help much if the earthquake or submarine landslide causing the waves is very close to the coast.
But there is no reason to have bad dreams now - at least not about deadly waves. After all, it is probably more dangerous to drive on Highway 101 than to walk on the beach.
Monday, January 10, 2005
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