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A tsunami was generated in the North Pacific Ocean by the great 4 October 1994 earthquake near Shikotan Island, which lies northeast of Japan. This remotely-generated teletsunami produced a variety of tsunami amplitudes and temporal patterns in U.S. waters. This diversity is due in part to differences of regional and local tsunami responses near the tide gauges. This response was also effected by the preferential southeastward direction of tsunami wave propagation from the source region. Superimposed on the data are amplitude envelopes based on the local tsunami data. Also shown is a comparison between the tsunami observed at a deep-ocean bottom pressure recorder, located at Station WC61, and a numerical model simulation. The model tsunami generally matches the observed amplitude and temporal pattern at the WC61 site.

1994 Shikotan Tsunami

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