Residents on California's coast now have a better idea of how waves from a tsunami might affect their communities.
New maps for Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura Counties clearly show which neighborhoods are at risk. Previous hazard maps only focused on flooding risks from local temblors.
The second-generation maps take into account the risks from an underwater quake that occur far into the Pacific Ocean.
Scientists produced 130 maps which cover 20 coastal counties.
The maps were created to help emergency planners identify at-risk areas and plan for coastal evacuation, researchers say, and should not be used to set insurance rates or engineering standards.
Six tsunamis have caused destruction along the California coast since 1812.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
