Mapping ocean tsunamis

Volcanoes and earthquakes are closely associated with the world’s tectonic margins. But how closely do plate margins correlate with tsunami events that, as recent history shows, can account for even greater devastation and loss of life?

Volcanoes in Java, Indonesia. Use the Natural Hazards Viewer to understand the correlation between seismic activity and tsunami events

Visit the Natural Hazards Viewer website: www.tinyurl.com/y9dwnsom. To clear the default data, scroll down the left-hand menu column and click ‘Reset All Filters’ and uncheck the ‘Plate Boundaries’ box. Now go to the upper right of the screen click on ‘Basemap’ and from the dropdown menu select ‘Shaded Relief (GEBCO_2014).’ This will give you a world map with country names together with major cities.

Next, click on the ‘Plate Boundaries’ box on the left and zoom in and out of the map to view the plate margins in different parts of the world. Three different colours are used to indicate plate boundaries. By clicking on the ‘Show Legend’ icon to the right of the ‘Plate Boundaries’ box you will see which type of plate margin is represented by each different colour.