Course Atlas for North Atlantic Tsunamis

Abstract

Although the Atlantic occur less tsunamis that in other regions of the world, as for example the Pacific Ocean and the Ocean Indian, the facts show that if these phenomena are produced in our region. Tsunamis are long gravity waves similar to the tides and the upwelling caused by tropical cyclones. Since tsunamis are classified as long waves, the crossing of these time can be computed from a single variable depth of the water, at least in the zero order. The Tsunamis caused by undersea earthquakes are the main objective of this work since most of them are caused by earthquakes, although the sites where there is the possibility arise from volcanoes and landslides are also included. Making a comparison with the Pacific Ocean tsunamis are less common in the Atlantic Ocean, it is why in this region there is no early warning system so far, unlike the Pacific where there is this warning system since 1949, although the XXIII General Assembly of the IOC adopted in June 2005 the resolution to create an Intergovernmental Coordination Group (ICG) for the Tsunami Warning System and other coastal risks in the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions (SATRCC). Atlas of travel time for tsunamis to our area have been made in Canada starting from the works of Murty (1977) and Murty et al., (1987) and in the United States by the NOAA National Weather Service, U.S.Tsunami Warning Center. As result a Digital Tsunami Atlas is obtained for the North Atlantic Ocean. In this Atlas it shows the travel time of the first Tsunami wave caused in 98 locations in 41 countries in the North Atlantic basin and the Atlantic Ocean 17 points. The primary purpose of preparing this Atlas was to protect the island of Cuba and the countries of the Caribbean Basin of the possible impact of a tsunami caused in our geographic region. Route maps show the position of the first tsunami wave with half-hour intervals from the starting time from the epicenter.