In the past dozen years, there have been six major tsunamis around the world which resulted in nearly a quarter million deaths and over $260 billion in property damage. Each of these tsunamis focused global attention on the threat and significant impacts of these catastrophic events. In the United States, the potential for tsunamis is most prevalent in the Hawaii and the surrounding Ring of Fire. In fact, more people have died in Hawai‘i from tsunamis than from hurricanes, floods, and volcanoes combined, making it the state’s deadliest natural hazard.
![This tsunami was generated by the 9.0 magnitude earthquake off the Pacific coast of Japan on March 11, 2011 along a 300 km or 180 mile long megathrust fault. The wave "energy map" of maximum wave heights show that those coastlines directly in the energy "beam" of red/yellow had a much higher impact than those to either side of it. (Image credit: NOAA) This tsunami was generated by the 9.0 magnitude earthquake off the Pacific coast of Japan on March 11, 2011 along a 300 km or 180 mile long megathrust fault. The wave "energy map" of maximum wave heights show that those coastlines directly in the energy "beam" of red/yellow had a much higher impact than those to either side of it.](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_width_1275/public/legacy/image/2019/Jun/Japan_2011_thumbnail_big_19x9.jpg?itok=qiIz7gHJ)
This tsunami was generated by the 9.0 magnitude earthquake off the Pacific coast of Japan on March 11, 2011 along a 300 km or 180 mile long megathrust fault. The wave "energy map" of maximum wave heights show that those coastlines directly in the energy "beam" of red/yellow had a much higher impact than those to either side of it. (Image credit: NOAA)