Tsunami researchers Dr. Walter Dudley and John Coney are searching this weekend for signs of tsunami, ancient and modern, along Na Pali Coast. The search in Kaua‘i’s northwest wilderness area follows a hunt for evidence of tsunami along the southeast
Tsunami researchers Dr. Walter Dudley and John Coney are searching this weekend for signs of tsunami, ancient and modern, along Na Pali Coast.
The search in Kaua‘i’s northwest wilderness area follows a hunt for evidence of tsunami along the southeast coast of the Big Island.
Dudley, who is the chairman of the Scientific Advisory Council of the Pacific Tsunami Museum in Hilo on the Big Island, and a Professor of Oceanography at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo, and Coney, from the Marine Option Program at UH Hilo, hope to use their findings to help predict when and where future tsunami might hit the coasts of Kaua‘i and other islands in the Hawaiian Chain.
Their search this weekend includes looking for rows of large boulders and large pieces of driftwood that might have been pushed back into Na Pali valleys by powerful tsunami.
Future plans could include taking core samples along the coast at Na Pali that would show where tsunami struck in pre-historic times.
Dudley said researcher Dr. David Burney several years ago discovered evidence of a tsunami that hit the Maha‘ulepu area about 500 years ago during the study of core samples in that area.
This summer Dudley worked with James Goff – an expert in charting tsunami deposits who came to Hawai‘i from Christchurch, New Zealand – in mapping an area known as Halape on the east coast of the Big Island where a tsunami hit in 1975. On a November day that year tsunami began developing within 10-30 seconds following an earthquake along the scenic beach causing loss of life, with the tsunami moving north to hit Hilo in only 20 minutes.
“James and I have been very interested in extending the work that has been done,” Dudley said of the reason for his trip to Kaua‘i this weekend.
He said Na Pali valleys could be hit by tsunami generated in the Aleutians, Kamchatka and many other areas in the North Pacific, as well be affected by a landslide generated tsunami.
The goal of his ongoing research is to gather information that will help educate the public about the dangers tsunami pose, Dudley said.
Dudley told The Garden Island that the Pacific-wide tsunami warning system now in place is able to let officials in Hawai‘i know if an earthquake in Japan, Alaska, Chile or other coastal areas in the Pacific Basin might generate a tsunami that would hit the Hawaiian Islands.
“We’re up to around 90 percent or better level,” he said of the accuracy of the system, explaining that the number of false tsunami alarms issued are becoming fewer and far between now, and that coastal residents should take tsunami warnings seriously.
A danger to coastal dwellers and beachgoers is the local generation of a tsunami due to a coastal landslide or underwater earthquake just offshore, as happened at Halape.
“The warning system really doesn’t have enough time to operate (in the event of a locally generated tsunami),” he said. “If there’s one off the Big Island, Kaua‘i might get some warning.”
Kaua‘i residents should know what to do if they see signs of a tsunami, or experience a strong earthquake, he said.
Dudley suggested that beachgoers back cars into parking spaces to make for a quick exit.
“If you feel an earthquake and you’re near the coast just leave the coast,” he said. He said if beachgoers see shoreline waters behave strange they should leave the coast. “This is not the time to go near the ocean, go to high ground,” he said.
