Atmospheric boundary waves excited by the tsunami generation related to the 2011 great Tohoku-Oki earthquake

Abstract

[1] Atmospheric pressure changes caused by the 2011 Off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku, Japan earthquake (Mw = 9.0) are investigated. Sensitive microbarographs in and around Japan recorded unequivocal signals associated with the tsunami. We identify them as atmospheric boundary waves excited by the uplift and subsidence of the ocean surface, on the basis of the waveform characteristics as well as similarity with the data from ocean-bottom pressure gauges. Potential usefulness of an observation network of atmospheric pressure is discussed regarding the improvement of the tsunami warning system.