Tsunami Travel Time Maps

NGDC, as the World Data Center for Geophysics and Marine Geology (including Tsunamis), and the UNESCO-IOC International Tsunami Information Center, have collaborated to provide tsunami travel time maps for historical maps using software used by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

The maps were generated using Tsunami Travel Times (TTT) software developed by Paul Wessel, Geoware. The TTT software calculates first-arrival travel times on a grid for a tsunami generated at a given earthquake epicenter.

Two types of tsunami travel time maps have been created:

• Maps showing travel times for selected historic tsunami events and hypothetical earthquakes in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
• Maps showing travel times from anywhere in an ocean basin to selected coastal locations.

NOTE: These maps do not provide information on the height or the strength of the wave, only the arrival times.

Travel Time Maps to Coastal Locations