1. United States Coast Guard
Oakland, California March 2006
Plate Boundary Observatory GPS stations: Multi-Use for Rapid Earthquake and Tsunami Alerts
Ken Hudnut
Thank you for having me here today.
tell you about efforts to monitor earthquakes
Both for Research and to improve our ability to respond
Photo by John Galetzka
Caltech Tectonic Observatory

2. M9 Cascadia or Alaska earthquake and tsunami
26 January 1700
M9 earthquake & tsunami
Good Friday 1964
M9.2 earthquake & tsunami

3. Atwater et al. (1999)

4. CREW scenario
for M9 Cascadia
subduction mega-
thrust event and
tsunami

5. Rapid detection of fault slip using GPS - tsunami warning system integration
IOTWS:
Caltech Tectonic Observatory
GPS array being upgraded to
real-time satellite telemetry

6. Sea floor deformation - tsunami
Fault slip caused the sea floor to deform (4-5 meters up, and meters to the west)
This pushed the water and formed the tsunami
Model by Dr. Chen Ji at Caltech, funded by USGS external research program

7. A M9 mega-thrust event off Cascadia or Alaska is likely
within the next few decades
An earthquake of M9 size is
certain to produce a large and
damaging tsunami
U. S. Government must pro-
vide earthquake (USGS) and
tsunami (NOAA) warnings
National Science Foundation
has funded the EarthScope
Project, including the Plate
Boundary Observatory
GPS stations will be emplaced
along the coast of California,
Oregon, Washington and
Alaska for daily positioning
It is highly important for USGS
and NOAA to partner with PBO
and UNAVCO to upgrade the
telemetry to real-time at these
key coastal stations (funds not
yet obtained, but working on it)
USGS wishes to add strong-
motion accelerometers at these
sites to complement GPS data
USGS will work with NOAA on system integration at both of the U. S. tsunami warning centers
GPS station
Site & Permit
Earthquake real-time
system
Tsunami warning
system

8. Ken Hudnut Dept. of the Interior U. S. Geological Survey
525 South Wilson Ave.
Pasadena, CA
Office:
Cell:
Photo by John Galetzka
Caltech Tectonic Observatory