"Alisdair Gurney" wrote in
:

Damage is worse than any storm in memory. Since it's my former
hometown, it is especially interesting.

Local sources do not indicate any seismic activity but there may
simply be a lag in reporting. A similar but smaller surge was
reported in Cundys Harbor. Both places are similar in having
configurations that could magnify surge effects and also in that both
are more active at this time of year than other nearby areas where
surge might simply not have been observed.



It's got tsunami written all over it. There IS a history:

http://www.state.me.us/doc/nrimc/mgs...nami/jan05.htm

If it happened on 10/28/08 at 3PM mentioned in the article, I don't see
any USGS Atlantic activity near that date/time or hours before, in the
Atlantic, other than several strength 2-4 quakes in a cluster along the
S side of the trench N or Puerto Rico where the 5.5 quake happened
today.

There was a 5.5 underwater quake on the south side of the trench, in a
cluster of quakes over the last day or so just N of Puerto Rico, but the
times are all wrong.

NWS report is more accurate:
"PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAY ME
630 PM EST WED OCT 29 2008


....TUESDAY'S UNUSUAL TIDE FLUCTUATIONS ALONG THE MID-MAINE
COAST...

THE CAUSE OF YESTERDAY'S UNUSUAL TIDE FLUCTUATIONS ALONG THE
MID COAST OF MAINE REMAINS A MYSTERY...AND MAY NEVER BE KNOWN.
SIGNIFICANT RAPID RISES AND FALLS IN TIDE LEVELS WERE OBSERVED
AROUND 3 PM IN BOOTHBAY HARBOR, SOUTHPORT, AND BRISTOL. ONLY
VERY MINOR FLUCTUATIONS WERE NOTED AT TIDE GAUGES ALONG THE
COAST.

THERE ARE SEVERAL POSSIBLE EXPLANATIONS FOR YESTERDAY'S EVENT.
RAPID SURGES CAN BE CAUSED BY THE UNDERWATER MOVEMENT OF LAND,
MOST OFTEN DUE TO AN EARTHQUAKE, OR DUE TO THE SLUMPING OF
SEDIMENTS ALONG A STEEP CANYON OR SHELF. NO EARTHQUAKES WERE
REPORTED IN THE AREA YESTERDAY. IN RARE INSTANCES, LARGE AND
RAPID SURGES CAN BE GENERATED BY STORMS. IN EITHER CASE, THE
BATHYMETRY OF THE OCEAN FLOOR REFLECTS AND REFRACTS THE WAVE
ENERGY AND CAN CAUSES SIGNIFICANT VARIATIONS IN TIDE LEVELS
ALONG THE COAST...AND RAPID CHANGES IN TIDE LEVELS AT A
PARTICULAR LOCATION. THESE SURGES ARE QUITE UNLIKE THE MUCH
SLOWER SURGES NORMALLY ASSOCIATED WITH COASTAL STORMS.

EYE-WITNESS REPORTS FROM SEVERAL LOCATIONS INDICATED THAT WATER
LEVELS FELL AND ROSE FROM 4 FEET TO AS MUCH AS 12 FEET ALONG
THE COAST DURING THE EVENT. THESE RAPID CHANGES IN TIDAL
LEVELS GENERATED THE STRONG CURRENTS THAT DAMAGED PIERS AND
BOATS IN THE AREA.

ALTHOUGH THESE EVENTS ARE RARE ALONG THE MAINE COAST, THEY HAVE
OCCURRED IN THE PAST. ON JANUARY 9, 1926, AN EVENT SIMILAR TO
YESTERDAY'S EVENT WAS OBSERVED IN BASS HARBOR. DURING THAT
EVENT, THE HARBOR DRAINED RAPIDLY AND THEN WAS FOLLOWED BY A 10
FT SURGE OF WATER, FOLLOWED BY TWO OTHER SMALLER WAVES. THERE
WERE NO EARTHQUAKES REPORTED ON THAT DAY. NO ONE WAS INJURED
IN THAT EVENT BUT ABOUT 50 FISHING BOATS WERE HURLED ASHORE.

$$

JENSENIUS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
GRAY, MAINE

NNNN"

I found some good discussions with supporting maps and references on
this topic in this discussion group:

http://able2know.org/topic/124844-1

We who live so near the sea, do so in our peril in many more ways than
we envision......