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Arica, Chile — over 16,000 kilometers away from Japan — experienced wave
amplitudes in excess of 2 meters, partly because of the focusing effects of ocean
bathymetry. Winter Harbor and Crescent City, both around 7,000 kilometers away
from the source, experienced significantly different responses: over 2 meter wave
amplitudes at Crescent City and less than one meter wave amplitudes at Winter
Harbor. Again, focusing of the wave energy during transoceanic propagation can
explain part of this response. However, some locations, such as Crescent City, also
experience harbor resonance or seiche in response to long period waves such as
tsunamis. The direction of initial wave motion also varied between locations with
leading elevation waves at the two sites shown for New Zealand and Chile and small
leading depression waves in Hawaii, British Columbia, and California.
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