^^^= OCCASIONAL EARTHOUAKES 



(jll l l' l illM FREQUENT EARTHOUAKES 



ii 1 1 1 1 i volcanic Anes 



TRENCHES 



Figure 1. Oceanic zones of recent earthquake activity, showing 

 association with trench systems and island arcs. 

 Pacific preponderance is apparent (from Van Dorn, 1965) 



Tsunamis can be generated in any coastal area, including inland seas 

 and large lakes. Spaeth (1964) provides an extensive bibliography on 

 tsunamis. The Appendix summarizes the occurrence of tsunamis from 1891 

 to 1961, using Spaeth's data and some additional information from 

 Heck (1947), Ambraseys (1965), Pararas-Carayannis (1969), and Cox, 

 Pararas-Carayannis, and Calebaugh (1976). Part of Ambraseys' informa- 

 tion has been omitted because of the lack of verification. Tsunamis 

 occurring between 1962 and the present are not listed because a complete 

 summary is not readily available. 



Good records are available for more recently occurring tsunamis, 

 particularly in the present century; however, records of tsunamis in 

 past centuries are mostly based on accounts of personal observations. 

 The dates that tsunamis occurred have often been confused with the dates 

 on letters or other accounts rather than the date of the actual event . 

 There have also been many errors in interpreting these older accounts, 

 particularly when translating from one language to another. Soloviev 

 and Ferchev (1961) refer to the reports of an event in 1827 at the 

 Komandorskiye Islands, located between Kamchatka and the Aleutian Islands, 

 Alaska. A Russian expedition, under the command of F.P. Lutke, reported 

 the occurrence of an earthquake and noted that earthquakes were sometimes 

 accompanied by a rise in water level. The original Russian report was 

 translated in French, then into. German, then into French, and back into 

 Russian again. The final translation indicated that a tsunami had 

 occurred along with the 1827 earthquake. 



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