Thanks to researchers Costas Synolakis, Jose Borrero, and Aggeliki Barberopoulou, of the University of Southern California's Tsunami Research Center, Californians can now go online to assess their risk of inundation by a tsunami at home, at work, or at their self-storage facility. The risk assessment tool has been added to the California Emergency Management Agency's MyHazards website. It is also possible to view the tsunami risk maps by county at the California Department of Conservation website.
California is not as famous for tsunamis as it is for earthquakes, but the risk of a tsunami is part of living in earthquake country. In approximately the last 200 years, California has had 14 tsunamis with wave heights exceeding three feet. Six of those waves were large enough to cause deaths and destruction. The worst tsunami in recent California history was caused by the 1964 Alaska earthquake. That tsunami caused 12 deaths and $17 million in property damage in California.
The MyHazards website has been available to Californians for some time, and had already been providing information about earthquake, flood, and fire risk. For example, it could tell residents whether their homes were likely to experience mild, moderate, or levels of shaking in an earthquake, whether or not they lived on ground that was susceptible to liquefaction or landslides, whether they lived in a flood plain, and whether they lived in an area with a high risk of wildfires. Now, however, a tsunami tab has been added to the website. In the same search, Californians can also find out whether they live in an area that would be flooded in the event of a tsunami.
Business owners can also use the website to assess the risk to their businesses -- and self-storage owners can assess the risk to the property left by tenants in storage units. For example, a search of the addresses for Extra Space's San Diego facilities shows that none of them lie within an area that is likely to experience tsunami-related flooding. Property owners who are very concerned about risk to valuable items or family heirlooms may want to compare the risk levels at their homes and at nearby self-storage facilities, to see which site is the most secure.
The MyHazards website also provides guidelines and checklists to help residents and business owners to prepare for an emergency. For example, in areas that might experience high shaking during an earthquake, the website recommends securing heavy or potentially hazardous objects such as water heaters, propane tanks, tall furniture and bookshelves, and garage items or hazardous chemicals. In areas that might experience tsunamis, it is recommended that residents and business owners have a disaster plan, including a plan for where to go to try to survive a tsunami, and how to get there.
Of course, guidelines designed to help property owners protect their property are meant to be used for emergency preparedness, not to be used at the actual time of an emergency. A tsunami is a potentially life-threatening event. If a tsunami is threatening the area, it is too late to secure possessions. Instead, it is advisable to put disaster plans into effect, and go on foot (if possible, because of traffic and possible damage to roads) to an area that is at least 100 feet above sea level, or at least two miles inland. If it is not possible to go that far above sea level or inland, it is best to go as far uphill or inland as can be managed in the time available. Every foot inland or upwards increases a person's likelihood of survival in the event of a tsunami.