Naval Oceanography Navy Tsunami Program CAPT Michael D Angove, US Navy NMFC/JTWC Pearl Harbor

Naval Oceanography Background Following Chilean Earthquake/Tsunami in Feb 2010, Commander Meteorology and Oceanography Command directed that the Naval Maritime Forecast Center/Joint Typhoon Warning Center, Pearl Harbor, HI develop a partnership with NOAA’s Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (IOC May 2011) to: –Maximize lead time for Navy decision makers in the event of a basin-wide tsunami; Decisions in Advance –Minimize confusion associated with Tsunami information dissemination The 10 March 2011 Earthquake/Tsunami off Sendai, Japan provided a “preview” of this capability 2

Naval Oceanography Tsunami Decision Support Concept

Naval Oceanography Goal: Provide “Depth of Knowledge” for Decision Makers Why Navy Ships Stayed Docked in Pearl Harbor During Hawaii Tsunami U.S. Navy A Civil Beat reader asked a question we thought many of you might have had after the Hawaii tsunami. Why didn't the Navy take its ships to sea the way most Honolulu boat owners did? Did the Navy have information that the general public wasn't privy to? It only seems rational that the military would want to safeguard its multi-million dollar investments, including a visiting aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln. USS Abraham Lincoln "We didn't feel like there would be that big of a danger," Lt. Commander John Perkins of the Navy's Pacific Fleet told Civil Beat. “…We think it's safe to say that the Navy has information not available to the general public.”

Naval Oceanography Tsunami Resilient Communities Japan's Fishing Industry Crushed By Tsunami by John YdstieJohn Ydstie Postscript: Masayuki Komatsu says the village on the northeast coast where he was born was virtually wiped away, but most of the residents survived. Professor KOMATSU: Luckily enough, according to my friends, there is almost none human life causalities. YDSTIE: Komatsu attributes that luck to the stories handed down in his village about tsunamis that struck in 1896 and Professor KOMATSU: I clearly remember my grandmother keep telling about those two preceding earthquakes, so that we have to run away immediately to the top of the, you know, a high place. YDSTIE: But for thousands upon thousands of other people in the region, the old stories were not enough to save them.

Naval Oceanography Looking toward Atlantic… Before an event—Tsunami Resilience –Identifying the threatened areas of interest –Communicating the threat potential to DoD for US and other international Atlantic ports and coastlines –Leverage TsunamiReady Program Naval Station Mayport, Florida During an Event –Communication to DoD customers in a new Area of Responsibility—Pacific communications paths established through JTWC –Modeling and Studies for non-US interests abroad ID areas of high threat and advance the modeling to match US levels 6