Science of Tsunami Hazards (Apr 2018)
BRIEF HISTORY OF EARLY PIONEERING TSUNAMI RESEARCH – Part A
Abstract
ABSTRACT The year 2015 marked the 50th anniversary of operations of the International Tsunami Warning System in the Pacific Ocean - which officially begun in 1965. Our previous report in this journal described briefly the establishment of early tsunami warning systems by the USA and other countries and the progressive improvements and international cooperative efforts which were expanded to include other regions in establishing the International Tsunami Warning System under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO, with the purpose of mitigating the disaster’s impact. The present paper (Part A) provides a brief historical review of the early, pioneering research efforts undertaken mainly in the U.S.A. and in Canada, initially by scientists at the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics of the University of Hawaii, at the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, at the Honolulu Observatory - later renamed Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) - at the International Tsunami Information Center (ITIC), at the Joint Tsunami Research Effort (JTRE) and at the later-established Joint Institute of Marine and Atmospheric Research (JIMAR) at the University of Hawaii, in close cooperation with scientists at the Pacific Division of the National Weather Service (NWS) of and the Pacific Marine Environmenal Laboratory (PMEL) of NOAA in Seattle. Also, reviewed briefly - but to a lesser extent - are some of the additional early research projects undertaken by scientists of the U.S. Coast of Geodetic Survey (USC&GS), of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), of the U.S. National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) in Boulder, Colorado, of the U.S. Army, Coastal Engineering Research Center (CERC) and the Waterways Experiment Station (WES) in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and of researchers at different U.S. Universities and by members of the Tsunami Society, as well as at by many other national and international governmental and non-governmental institutions and Civil Defense Agencies. Part B will expand on international contributions.
