Re: [Paddlewise] tsunami

Joseph Sanford wrote:
> 
> Other factors which makes a tsunami more dangerous than a wind generated wave
> is its high rate of propagation and and its minimal energy loss  as it
> travels.Joe s

All of this talk of tsunamis reminds me of a time long ago when my wife
and I were in Mexico after grad school.  We we staying in Acapulco and
had befriended the Mexican couple who ran our flea bag hotel.  

The radio was full of news about an earthquake far out to sea; its
tsunami would hit the coast at x hour the next day.  Hundreds of
Mexicans like that couple and their friends rushed to a good viewing
spot slightly south of Acapulco.  As we sat there drinking Dos Equis and
eating cerviche, even my lame brain told me that this wasn't a smart
place to be.  Our vantage point was a beach at the end of a long narrow
fjord-like bay flanked by high hills!

As it turned out, nothing happened.  A few large swells came rumbling in
that resembled the tidal bores from the Bay of Fundy you get on inlets
in Nova Scotia.  So I guess seaquakes don't always pan out.  However,
looking back, I still shudder at what would have happened at that spot
had an angry tsunami come rolling down that narrow bay at us!

ralph diaz
-- 
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Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter
PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024
Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com
"Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag."
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