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Archival and Discovery of April 1, 1946 Tsunami Event on Marigrams

Published by DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Catalog Last Checked: April 12, 2026 at 02:27 AM | Dataset Last Updated: June 01, 2017 at 12:00 AM
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information have more than 3,000 tsunami marigram (tide gauge) records in both image and paper format. The majority of these tsunami marigram records were scanned to high-resolution digital tiff images during the NOAA Climate Data Modernization Program (CDMP). There still remain shelves full of deteriorating paper records that are in need of rescue reformatting to scanned images before they are lost. The 1946 tsunami is one of four 20th century tsunami events which are historically important but data during each reside only on the marigram records. The 1946 tsunami was the impetus for establishment of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center after impact to the Hawaiian Islands. The 1952, 1960, and 1964 tsunamis were each generated by three of the greatest of all recorded earthquakes. The 1960 tsunami, in particular, was generated by the largest earthquake ever recorded, a magnitude 9.5 off the central coast of Chile. Measurements of these tsunamis are expected to provide researchers with important information linking earthquake rupture to tsunami generation and propagation characteristics. All data reformatted as part of this project will be brought into compliance with NOAA Data Directives and meet the requirements for Data Management, Discoverability, Accessibility, Documentation, Readability, and Data Preservation and Stewardship as per the Big Earth Data Initiative (BEDI). BEDI is designed to promote interoperability of Earth observation data across Federal agencies, systems and platforms through the improvement of data management practices and increased discoverability, accessibility, and usability of data collections.

Resources

23 resources available

  • NETCDF

    NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration April 1, 1946 marigram from Ayukawa, Honshu, Japan

    NETCDF
    Download
  • NETCDF

    NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration April 1, 1946 marigram from Hachinohe, Honshu, Japan

    NETCDF
    Download
  • NETCDF

    NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration April 1, 1946 marigram from Hanasaki, Hokkaido, Japan

    NETCDF
    Download
  • NETCDF

    NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration April 1, 1946 marigram from Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan

    NETCDF
    Download
  • NETCDF

    NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration April 1, 1946 marigram from Miyako Harbor, Japan

    NETCDF
    Download
  • NETCDF

    NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration April 1, 1946 marigram from Uchiura, Japan

    NETCDF
    Download
  • NETCDF

    NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration April 1, 1946 marigram from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

    NETCDF
    Download

  • NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration April 1, 1946 marigram from Ayukawa, Honshu, Japan

    CSV
    Download

  • NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration April 1, 1946 marigram from Hachinohe, Honshu, Japan

    CSV
    Download

  • NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration April 1, 1946 marigram from Hanasaki, Hokkaido, Japan

    CSV
    Download

  • NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration April 1, 1946 marigram from Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan

    CSV
    Download

  • NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration April 1, 1946 marigram from Miyako Harbor, Honshu, Japan

    CSV
    Download

  • NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration April 1, 1946 marigram from Uchiura, Honshu, Japan

    CSV
    Download

  • NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration April 1, 1946 marigram from Victoria, British Columbia

    CSV
    Download

  • NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration April 1, 1946 marigram from Ayukawa, Honshu, Japan

    ZIP
    Download

  • NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration April 1, 1946 marigram from Hachinohe, Honshu, Japan

    ZIP
    Download

  • NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration April 1, 1946 marigram from Hanasaki, Hokkaido, Japan

    ZIP
    Download

  • NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration April 1, 1946 marigram from Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan

    ZIP
    Download

  • NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration April 1, 1946 marigram from Miyako Harbor, Japan

    ZIP
    Download

  • NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration April 1, 1946 marigram from Uchiura, Japan

    ZIP
    Download

  • NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration April 1, 1946 marigram from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

    ZIP
    Download

  • NGDC/WDS Global Historical Tsunami Database

    HTML
    Download

  • GCMD Keyword Forum Page

    TEXT/HTML
    Visit Page

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Earth Science > Oceans > Tides Earth Science > Oceans > Tides > Tidal Currents Earth Science > Oceans > Tides > Tidal Heights Earth Science > Oceans > Tides > Tidal Range Earth Science > Oceans > Ocean Waves > Tsunamis Earth Science > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Tidal Height Earth Science > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Sea Surface Height Earth Science > Human Dimensions > Natural Hazards > Tsunamis

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Complete Metadata
@type dcat:Dataset
accessLevel public
contactPoint 
                                            {
  "fn": "DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information",
  "@type": "vcard:Contact",
  "hasEmail": "mailto:haz.info@noaa.gov"
}
describedByType application/octet-steam
description NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information have more than 3,000 tsunami marigram (tide gauge) records in both image and paper format. The majority of these tsunami marigram records were scanned to high-resolution digital tiff images during the NOAA Climate Data Modernization Program (CDMP). There still remain shelves full of deteriorating paper records that are in need of rescue reformatting to scanned images before they are lost. The 1946 tsunami is one of four 20th century tsunami events which are historically important but data during each reside only on the marigram records. The 1946 tsunami was the impetus for establishment of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center after impact to the Hawaiian Islands. The 1952, 1960, and 1964 tsunamis were each generated by three of the greatest of all recorded earthquakes. The 1960 tsunami, in particular, was generated by the largest earthquake ever recorded, a magnitude 9.5 off the central coast of Chile. Measurements of these tsunamis are expected to provide researchers with important information linking earthquake rupture to tsunami generation and propagation characteristics. All data reformatted as part of this project will be brought into compliance with NOAA Data Directives and meet the requirements for Data Management, Discoverability, Accessibility, Documentation, Readability, and Data Preservation and Stewardship as per the Big Earth Data Initiative (BEDI). BEDI is designed to promote interoperability of Earth observation data across Federal agencies, systems and platforms through the improvement of data management practices and increased discoverability, accessibility, and usability of data collections.
distribution 
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    "title": "NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration April 1, 1946 marigram from Ayukawa, Honshu, Japan",
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    "description": "Data access to scanned marigram netCDF data.",
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    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
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    "description": "Data access to scanned marigram netCDF data.",
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    "description": "Data access to scanned marigram netCDF data.",
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    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration April 1, 1946 marigram from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada",
    "format": "NETCDF",
    "mediaType": "application/x-netcdf",
    "description": "Data access to scanned marigram netCDF data.",
    "downloadURL": "https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/thredds/fileServer/marigrams/19460401_1762/digitized/vibc_19460401.nc",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
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  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
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    "mediaType": "text/csv",
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    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
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    "title": "NGDC/WDS Global Historical Tsunami Database",
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identifier https://data.noaa.gov/waf/NOAA/NESDIS/NGDC/MGG/Hazards/iso/xml/marigram_1946_metadata.xml
isPartOf Big Earth Data Initiative (BEDI): Archival and Discovery of 1946, 1952, 1960, 1964 Tsunami Events on Marigrams
issued 2017-06-01T00:00:00.000+00:00
keyword 
                                            [
  "Earth Science > Oceans > Tides",
  "Earth Science > Oceans > Tides > Tidal Currents",
  "Earth Science > Oceans > Tides > Tidal Heights",
  "Earth Science > Oceans > Tides > Tidal Range",
  "Earth Science > Oceans > Ocean Waves > Tsunamis",
  "Earth Science > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Tidal Height",
  "Earth Science > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Sea Surface Height",
  "Earth Science > Human Dimensions > Natural Hazards > Tsunamis",
  "Earth Science > Human Dimensions > Natural Hazards > Earthquakes",
  "Continent > Asia > Eastern Asia > Japan",
  "Ocean > Pacific Ocean",
  "Continent > North America > Canada > British Columbia",
  "Ayukawa",
  "Hachinohe",
  "Hakodate",
  "Hanasaki",
  "Miyako Harbor",
  "Uchiura",
  "Victoria",
  "Vancouver Island",
  "Strait of Juan de Fuca",
  "In Situ Land-Based Platforms > Ocean Platform/Ocean Stations > Coastal Stations",
  "In Situ/Laboratory Instruments > Gauges > Tide Gauges",
  "ICSU-WDS > International Council for Science - World Data System",
  "Big Earth Data Initiative (BEDI)",
  "Climate Data Modernization Program (CDMP)",
  "DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information"
]
language 
                                            []
license https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
modified 2017-06-01T00:00:00.000+00:00
publisher 
                                            {
  "name": "DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
}
references 
                                            [
  "https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazard/tsu_db.shtml"
]
spatial -123.3707,35.017222,145.583333,48.424666
temporal 1946-04-01T00:02:38+00:00/1946-04-04T00:46:04+00:00
title Archival and Discovery of April 1, 1946 Tsunami Event on Marigrams

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