Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) Tsunami Aftermath
Images from an overflight of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands on March 23, 2011 show the aftermath of the tsunami generated by a Mw 9.0 earthquake (38.322°N, 142.369°E), at 05:46 UTC, 130 km (80 miles) E of Sendai, Honshu, Japan (according to the USGS) on March 11, 2011.
French Frigate Shoals
Gin Island. Seals and turtles visible.
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[ Click here to download high resolution image (0.5 MB JPG) ]
Laysan Island
Laysan field camps. Camp in upper part of frame is the USFWS camp. The structure in
the middle of the frame is the NMFS camp, packed up after the evacuation. Debris and torn up
vegetation can be seen below both of these camps. Normally there is a large band of
vegetation between the camps and the water. This was torn out by the tsunami.
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[ Click here to download high resolution image (0.8 MB JPG) ]
Lisianski Island
The west side of Lisianski island, hit by the tsunami. The brown vegetation line
indicates how high up the water went. As with Laysan, a lot of brush along the waterline was
ripped up.
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[ Click here to download high resolution image (0.7 MB JPG) ]
Pearl and Hermes Atoll
Seal Kittery Island. Same as Grass Island, there is usually a large amount of
vegetation on the small lobe of the island, all of which is now gone. Seal Kittery was
likely washed over by the tsunami.
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[ Click here to download high resolution image (0.6 MB JPG) ]
Kure Atoll
South west corner of Green Island. The sandy area behind the bushes shows where the wave
washed up.
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[ Click here to download high resolution image (0.7 MB JPG) ]