Tsunami Visualizations
Compiled by John McDaris at Carleton College.
This page has links to several visualizations of recent and historical tsunami episodes. We have also collected other tsumani materials that go beyond visualizations.
Indian Ocean Tsunami - 26 December, 2004
Quicktime animation (more info) This Quicktime animation, by Dr. Steven Ward at the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics at the University of California - Santa Cruz, shows the tsunami's progress across the Indian Ocean. It also shows some water level graphs and wave run-up heights throughout the region.
visualization (more info) This visualization from Kenji Satake at the Active Fault Research Center in Tsukuba, Japan, highlights the crests and troughs of the tsunami waves as they travel across the Indian Ocean and refract around islands and interfere with each other. The red color means that the water surface is higher than normal, while the blue means lower.
Indian Ocean (more info) This NOAA visualization tracks the tsunami waves until they reach the East African coast of Somalia.
East African coast of Somalia (more info) Movie of tsunami waves at Somali coast
world-wide picture (more info) NOAA has rerun the tsunami model used to generate the two previous visualizations to generate a world-wide picture of the wave's propagation. This is a very large file.
special report (more info) This special report from The Guardian uses imagery from #2 above and uses a stepwise progression to show when waves reached particular points throughout the Indian Ocean area. This animation helps pull together the phenomenon, the timing, and the consequences for a more general audience.
Before and After Tsunami Photos (more info) Before and After Tsunami Photos: This series of 14 sets of before and after photos was taken via satellite of the tsunami-ravaged city of Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia. The images are very dramatic and the ability to see before and after in the same scale and field of view in rapid succession is extremely powerful.
Before and After Photos of Tsunami Destruction of Aceh Province in Sumatra (more info) Satellite photographs os Aceh Province post-tsunami
Other Historical Tsunamis
How Do Tsunamis Differ from Other Water Waves? (more info) How Do Tsunamis Differ from Other Water Waves?: This page from a site from the University of Washington includes a Quicktime movie that shows the propagation of the earthquake-generated 1960 Chilean tsunami across the Pacific Ocean.
Papau New Guinea, 1998 (more info) This is a USGS visualization of the 1998 tsunami that struck Papua New Guinea. There are also medium-(4.7 Mb) and high-resolution (16.8 Mb) versions.
Cascadia Tsunami (more info) A model of the wave propagation from the 1700 Cascadia Tsunami, created by the Geological Survey of Canada.
Peru, 2001 (more info) This is a medium-resolution (4.3 Mb) animation from the USGS of the June 23, 2001 tsunami that struck Peru and the west coast of South America. There is also a high-resolution version (24 Mb).
Hypothetical Tsunami Visualizations
Pacific Northwest, North America (more info) Stochastic model for future tsunamis
resource 12331 'Tsunami Generation (more info) This animation by Prof. Miho Aoki from the University of Alaska Fairbanks Art Department provides a very nice look at how a tsunami can be generated by a subduction zone earthquake. The visualization is large, so be prepared for lengthy download.
Coastal Inundation (more info) This animation by Prof. Miho Aoki from the University of Alaska Fairbanks Art Department shows how a coastal town can be inundated by a tsunami.
Tsunami and Earthquake Simulation (more info) Three Shockwave animations demonstrating how earthquakes, waves, and tsunamis are generated.
