Tsunami and Earthquake Research at the USGS

On our Tsunami and Earthquake Research web site, you will find general information on how local tsunamis are generated by earthquakes as well as animations, virtual reality models of tsunamis, and summaries of past research studies.

Learn more about tsunamis in the United States.

Learn more about our active research projects:
Probabilistic Forecasting of Earthquakes and Earthquake Effects in the Coastal Zone
Tsunami Hazards, Modeling, and the Sedimentary Record
U.S. West Coast and Alaska Marine Geohazards

• 

  Chiapas, Mexico: September 8, 2017

  Preliminary simulation of the tsunami from the M=8.1 offshore intermediate-depth earthquake

• 

  Honshu, Japan: March 11, 2011

  Preliminary simulation of the tsunami from the M=9.0 subduction zone earthquake

• 

  Mentawai Islands, Indonesia: October 25, 2010

  Preliminary simulation of the tsunami from the M=7.7 subduction zone earthquake

• 

  Bío Bío, Chile: February 27, 2010

  Preliminary simulations of the tsunami from the M=8.8 subduction zone earthquake

• 

  Samoa Islands: September 29, 2009

  Preliminary analysis of the tsunami from the M=8.1 Samoa Islands subduction zone earthquake, southwest Pacific Ocean

• 

  Tsunamis in the U.S. Pacific Northwest

  How do various parameters that describe an earthquake influence the resulting local tsunami?

• 

  The 1952 and 2003 Tokachi-Oki Earthquakes and Tsunamis

  Comparison of the September 25, 2003 M=8.3 and the 1952 M=8.1 Tokachi-Oki earthquakes, near Hokkaido, Japan

• 

  all studies