Japanese Tsunamis in Hawaii - A Preliminary Report

Abstract

The study leading to this report was undertaken because of the importance of historic information in tsunami hazard management, and particularly in the identification of tsunami hazard zones in the National Flood Insurance Program whose full implementation in Hawaii is scheduled in the near future. In this program, the hazard zones are intended to represent the extent of tsunami inundation expectable, on the average, once in a hundred years. This preliminary report is the first product of the review of the historical record of Japanese tsunamis in Hawaii. It reflects an extensive search for and review of local contemporary documentation of the Hawaiian effects of the Japanese tsunamis that have been reported to be observed or recorded here. It also includes some notes on a tsunami reported in Hawaii early in the 19th century that might conceivably have been of Japanese origin.