Could something like what happened to south Asia happen to either of our shores? Are there similar tectonic areas in the right part of the ocean that could cause an earthquake sparking a tsunami that would be directed towards us?
A big enough quake in any part of the Pacific Ocean could generate tsunami’s that could affect the west coast.
http://www.fema.gov/emanagers/2004/nat101504.shtm
That was from off Taiwan.
Apparently, if you are counting Alaska as West Coast:
Tectonic issues are inevitable, but they aren’t the only concern.
You might want to visit this thread for a view on what many consider to be the most evident impending tsunami threat to the US East Coast, Africa and Western Europe.
Seattle is known to be vulnerable.
Short answer: Yes, for both coasts. But it’s not terribly likely at any given time.
Longer answer: Tsunamis affecting the Pacific Coast of Asia and its extension through island chains and such down to New Zealand will affect Pacific North America – but appear often to “peter out” as they cross that vast expanse of ocean. Ones closer to home could cause serious tsunami damage, but are less likely to occur, except where they would impact Alaska, as the area which might generate them is less stressed and therefore less apt to have an earthquake at any given time. Most of the earthquake-prone area at the intersection of the Pacific and North American plates is on land. However, where this tails off to the south, it’s out to sea and could cause serious tsunami damage to places like Mazatlan and Acapulco on the Mexican Pacific coast.
Since the Atlantic coast is predominantly passive-margin coast bordering a spreading plate boundary, as opposed to the colliding ones along the Pacific, tsunami-causing temblors are much less likely – but the potential is there. Another GQ thread addresses the potential for catastrophic tsunamis from the Canary Islands; both North Carolina and Newfoundland are at some risk from subsidences along the continental slope off their coasts, with other areas in somewhat less danger.
Yes, there appears to be evidence of multiple tsunamis in northern California, estimated intervals of 700 years approximately. Ditto Washington, Oregon, British Columbia, and Alaska. Also, there currently is the possibility of a big landslide in the steep submarine canyons off Santa Cruz that could cause serious problems on the shores from Monterey to San Francisco. And there is discussion of a huge landslide capability in the Canary Islands that would devastate Atlantic shores.
And these are just the ones I happen to have heard about.
There’s an excellent article on SFGate today about the possibility of a tsunami hitting Northern California.
There’s also a picture of the devastation caused by a tsunami in Crescent City in 1964.
From the same earthquake: some photos of the tsunami damage in Port Alberni, BC.
From The Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network
BTW, the exact date of the earthquake comes mainly from Japanese tsunami records, so a sufficiently powerful quake off the coast of Asia could cause a tsunami on this side of the Pacific.
See this thread. It’s the east coast that could get really flattened. It could happen in 10 years, or in 100 years, or 1,000 years, or never. That’s Nature for you.
If you look at the topography of seattle, the port areas in particular, they should be the most worried.