WA: NOAA says unusual wave that caused damage and injuries was not a tsunami

[Emily]

https://www.facebook.com/irene.bergs...0/?pnref=story

rene Bergsagel Sumi
A very high tide and a rogue wave coming in to Joe Creek. January 16 near Moclips

https://nwschat.weather.gov/p.php?pi...-NOUS46-PNSSEW

000
NOUS46 KSEW 212330
PNSSEW

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
330 PM PST THU JAN 21 2016

...WAVE EVENT AT OCEAN SHORES NOT A TSUNAMI...

THIS PAST SATURDAY...JANUARY 16 IN THE LATE AFTERNOON...A UNIQUE AND
RARE SET OF CIRCUMSTANCES COMBINED TO PRODUCE AN UNUSUAL EVENT ALONG
PORTIONS OF COASTAL GRAYS HARBOR COUNTY. THERE WERE SEVERAL VIDEOS
DOCUMENTING THIS EVENT...MANY OF WHICH DESCRIBED IT AS A "MINI-
TSUNAMI"...GIVEN THE APPEARANCE AND BEHAVIOR OF THE WAVES DURING
THIS EVENT...WHICH QUICKLY RAN UP AND INTO COASTAL ESTUARIES. SOME
REPORTS OF INJURIES AND EVEN DAMAGE WERE RECORDED FROM OCEAN SHORES
DURING THIS EVENT.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN SEATTLE WASHINGTON....WORKING
WITH THE NATIONAL TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER IN PALMER ALASKA...AND THE
PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER IN HONOLULU HAWAII...HAVE REVIEWED
THE VIDEOS...AND THE METEOROLOGICAL AND OCEANIC CONDITIONS AT THE
TIME TO MAKE A DETERMINATION ON WHAT TYPE OF EVENT OCCURRED AT THE
COAST THAT SATURDAY AFTERNOON.

THE CONCLUSION OF THE ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION IS THAT THIS EVENT WAS
NOT A TSUNAMI. TSUNAMI EVENTS ARE TIED TO A TRIGGER...E.G. A STRONG
UNDERWATER EARTHQUAKE OR LANDSLIDE. IN THIS CASE...THERE WERE NO
SEISMIC EVENTS OF SIGNIFICANT STRENGTH OBSERVED NEAR THE WASHINGTON
COAST...OR ANYWHERE ELSE ACROSS THE PACIFIC. THE LACK OF ANY SUCH
TRIGGER INDICATES THIS WAS NOT A TSUNAMI EVENT...DESPITE ITS
APPEARANCE AND BEHAVIOR.

But there was some unusual activity picked up by a warning buoy recently, though I think that happened a day later.

http://www.kezi.com/news/365709771.html

By Grace Lim Jan. 18, 2016

EUGENE, Ore. - An article published on a news website based in New York is claiming, "an ocean data buoy is alerting to an event in the Cascadia Subduction Zone off the west coast of Oregon." It further made claims that Mount Hood could erupt.

John Vidale is a seismologist and the Director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network. On Monday, he called the article's claims nonsense.

"A lot of that is clearly nonsense and the claim that the water level changed isn't right. It was clearly misinformation that was presented as news," said Vidale.
The ocean data buoy (DART buoy 46404) mentioned in the article is stationed west of Astoria, near the Juan De Fuca Ridge. The article claims the data showed the water column height fell sharply, signaling the Earth sunk. The article adds, this kind of event is usually followed by a severe earthquake.

Chris Goldfinger, the Director at Active Tectonics and Seafloor Mapping Laboratory, and a professor at Oregon State University, said "this interesting excursion in the water height at DART buoy 46404 is not a tsunami. The buoy is on the Juan De Fuca Ridge flank, not in the subduction zone, so I'd guess this might be a magma chamber deflation event."

- See more at: http://www.kezi.com/news/365709771.h....1RrVa6mG.dpuf

Here's the rest of the NOAA announcement:

THIS EVENT IS LIKELY DUE TO AN UNCOMMON COMBINATION OF FACTORS...LEADING TO THE FORMATION OF A SNEAKER WAVE. SNEAKER WAVES OCCUR RELATIVELY FREQUENTLY ON THE WEST COAST...BUT THEY ARE NOT NORMALLY AS LARGE...STRONG...OR AS DRAMATIC IN APPEARANCE AS THIS ONE. SNEAKER WAVES RESULT FROM A BUILDUP OF WIND-GENERATED WAVE ENERGY...NORMALLY FROM DISTANT STORMS. SNEAKER WAVES RUN SIGNIFICANTLY FURTHER AND HIGHER UP THE SHORELINE THAN OTHER WAVES ARRIVING AT THE SHORE BEFORE OR AFTERWARD. BECAUSE OF THE HIGHER RUNUP...THEY TYPICALLY SURPRISE BEACHGOERS WHO ARE NOT WATCHING THE WAVES CLOSELY AND CONSTANTLY. AT THE TIME OF THE EVENT...LARGE WAVE SWELLS FROM A DISTANT PACIFIC STORM WERE REACHING THE WASHINGTON COAST. AS THESE WAVES INTERACT WITH OTHER WAVES FROM OTHER SOURCES...THEY CAN COMBINE TO FORM LARGER SETS OF WAVES...WHICH RELEASE THEIR ENERGY ON THE COASTLINE IN WAYS THAT WERE DOCUMENTED IN THE VIDEOS OF THIS EVENT. AT THE TIME OF THIS EVENT...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SEATTLE HAD A HIGH SURF ADVISORY IN EFFECT. THE HIGH SURF ADVISORY WARNED OF THE POTENTIAL FOR THE WAVES TO BE QUITE ENERGETIC AND TO HAVE THE ABILITY TO WASH OVER JETTIES AND HIGHER UP THE BEACHES THAN NORMAL. THIS HIGH SURF ADVISORY ADDITIONALLY STATED THE WAVES WILL ALSO CAUSE BEACH EROSION...AND WILL DISLODGE LARGE LOGS AND OTHER DEBRIS ON BEACHES THAT CAN CAUSE SERIOUS INJURY. WHILE SCENIC...THE BEACHES OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST CAN ALSO BE DANGEROUS PLACES...AND A RARE EVENT LIKE THIS ILLUSTRATES THE IMPORTANCE OF AWARENESS OF CONDITIONS AND HEEDING STATEMENTS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AND OTHER LOCAL...STATE...AND FEDERAL AGENCIES REGARDING BEACH HAZARDS. $$ JOHNSON/GRUB