01/14/08 — Tsunami seminar Wednesday

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Tsunami seminar Wednesday

By News-Argus Staff
Published in News on January 14, 2008 2:08 PM

KURE BEACH -- The North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher will host a presentation on tsunami planning Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. in the aquarium auditorium. Tom Matheson of the National Weather Service will discuss New Hanover County's preparations toward certification as a "Tsunami Ready Community."

To earn the designation, New Hanover County Emergency Management officials mapped out the local governmental response to a tidal wave. County emergency management officials describe the risk of a tsunami hitting New Hanover County to be very slight. However, the National Weather Service has determined that some risk does exist from a severe earthquake along the Puerto Rico Trench. A large earthquake along that trench could threaten North Carolina with a four-to-five foot high tidal wall.

The program is free to aquarium visitors as part of their admission fee.