Sources Say Similar Circumstances Could Put Our Lives In Jeopardy

By Michael Rudolph

GUAM - According to one of Guam's foremost weather officials, the notion that the Marianas Trench will protect Guam from a tsunami, or earthquake-caused tidal wave, is a misconception. The revelation raises important questions about Guam's readiness for potentially deadly disaster.

The quake that caused American Samoa's tsunami occurred in the Tonga Trench, 120 miles away. It took about 10 minutes for the tidal wave to slam American Samoa. The Marianas Trench is 210 miles from Guam. Tidal waves from a similar earthquake would take less than 20 minutes to reach our coastline.

Many people believe that the Marianas Trench and our reef system is the reason why Guam has been spared from recent tsunami damage. However, this is not true and is a "misconception," according to Chip Guard (Guard), Warning Coordination Meteorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The fact is that a tsunami is caused by a submarine earthquake. Earthquakes occur when the tectonic plates that make up the earth's surface suddenly move. Trenches often have a high rate of earthquake activity because a trench is the location where the earth's plates meet. The Marianas Trench is the convergence of the Pacific Plate and the Philippine Plate and straddles the Pacific Ring of Fire.

The Pacific Ring of Fire is made of a series of oceanic trenches that outline the Pacific Plate, where 90% of the world's earthquakes occur, according to Wikipedia.

Tsunami Alert Systems: Some Work, Some Don't

The Pacific Tsunami Watch Center in Hawaii issued its first alert at about the same time American Samoa received the impact of its first tidal wave. This shows that this system cannot effectively notify citizens of a local submarine earthquake in time to save lives.

Guam, just like American Samoa, has no islandwide audible alert system such as a siren to notify island residents to immediately distance themselves from the coast and to head for high ground. The only warning Guam will have is the ocean's drawback from the shoreline and the exposed seabed before the Tsunami's wave strikes.

The system of buoys surrounding the Marianas as part of the worldwide oceanic buoy system was only put in place as an afterthought to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that claimed the lives of 200,000 people in 2004. According to Chip Guard, Warning Coordination Meteorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), since that time about 35 tsunami detection buoys have been placed in ocean waters around the world. Five or six of these buoys surround the Marianas, constantly measuring seismic activity and tranmitting to Hawaii for interpretation.

This system is effective for a regional submarine earthquake hundreds or thousands of miles away. For a local submarine earthquake such as the Samoan earthquake this September, it is simply inadequate. The buoy system will likely be inadequate for Guam as well in the event of a tsunami-causing quake from the deep of the Marianas Trench.

Considering our vulnerability to tsunami and significant investments being made on Guam relative to the military buildup, perhaps it would be prudent, to say the least, to install tsunami sirens.

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Leslie   |2009-10-19 18:52:09 Great article ... let's get moving on the sirens! Reply | Quote 2   0

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