Review of Recent Tsunami Observation by Offshore Cabled Observatory
This paper discusses near- and far-field tsunami observations at the Hokkaido, Japan, offshore cabled observatory, focusing on the 2006 Kuril Island earthquake (Mw 8.3) as a far-field event and the 2008 off-Tokachi earthquake (Mw 6.8) as a near-field event. The Kuril Islands earthquake was detected as a series of tsunami signals by 2 bottom pressure gauges roughly 1 hour after the earthquake. Tsunami amplitudes observed offshore were 3 cm and off-coastal amplitudes were a few tens of centimeters. In the 2008 near-field off-Tokachi earthquake (Mw 6.8), a tsunami signal was detected simultaneously with the earthquake, which had a source amplitude of 4 cm. Our tsunami calculation reproduced the first wave well, but discrepancies about arrival time and amplitude arose for the second and later waves. Offshore tsunami sensors such as bottom pressure gauges, deep-ocean assessment and reporting of tsunami (DART) buoys, and kinematic global positioning system (GPS) buoys may thus become keys in early tsunami warning once appropriate dataset processing is implemented.