Tsunami Maps for the West Coast United States

As I read this article, Pacific coast tsunami-risk maps: Building codes tweaked so we'll survive,I was thinking about all the bad information that people are picking up from it and the maps. It appears to me that the average person reading this information and viewing the different maps would be thinking that the Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake is going to cause a tsunami in Puget Sound that could be catastrophic.

The reality is that the map models shown for inundation areas in the Puget Sound are for a Seattle fault. For instance, the Port of Tacoma it is 15 feet of water at what is now the Port administration building. The Cascadia fault could cause some tidal water fluctuations in Puget Sound, but not to the extent of what these maps show. I would not be loading and unloading ships or ferries, but there will be no "significant" wave action like on the Washington Coast. There the maps are very accurate as to the impact.

It is a pretty common question I get about the threat of a tsunami in Puget Sound from a Cascadia Subduction Earthquake. It is important that we give people good information so that they understand what the risks are for each hazard. 

In this case there was not enough information given to differentiate between tsunamis or seiches.

The other item I'll mention is that it is unlikely that people will spend the extra money to provide for a stronger building to withstand a tsunami wave, or function as a vertical evacuation platform. We can't even get elected officials to address unreinforced masonry buildings that are killer buildings that we know will collapse in even some moderate earthquakes.