The 26th December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami: the intensity field


E. Daskalaki
G. A. Papadopoulos
Résumé

The Mw=9.3 Sumatra earthquake of 26.12.2004 triggered one of the most devastating tsunamis. A great number of coastal sites were affected around the Indian Ocean from near-field up to distances of more than 6000 km. We compiled field data taken by many research groups, including the present one, from around the Indian Ocean and classified them according to their geographical distribution. In every observation point, the various effects of the tsunami have been transformed to tsunami intensities. The 12-point intensity scale was applied. Maximum intensities ranging between 10 and 12 have been assigned not only to near-field localities of Sumatra and to mid-field localities but also to far-field spots of East Africa. A similar pattern for the maximum wave heights (10 m <h <35 m) observed has been found for near- and mid-field locations. However, no such large wave heights were observed in East Africa, which implies that the tsunami intensity is controlled by the wave heights and also by other natural and anthropogenic factors. In fact, wave heights and intensities were mapped along the coast of Sri Lanka, where the dataset is more accurate and complete. For these reasons wave height and intensity practically are not correlated.

Article Details
  • Rubrique
  • Geophysics and Seismology
Téléchargements
Les données relatives au téléchargement ne sont pas encore disponibles.
Références
Ambraseys, N.N., 1962. Data for the investigation of the seismic sea-waves in the eastern Mediterranean, Bull. Seismol. Soc. Am., 52, 895-913.
Hatori, T., 1986. Classification of tsunami magnitude scale. Bull. Earthquake Res. Inst. Univ. Tokyo, 61, 503-515. (in Japanese with English abstract)
lida, K., 1956. Earthquakes accompanied by tsunamis occurring under the sea off the Islands of Japan, J. Earth Sciences Nagoya Univ., 4, 1-43.
lida, K., 1970. The generation of tsunamis and the focal mechanism of earthquakes. In W. M. Adams (ed.), Tsunamis in the Pacific Ocean,, East-West Center Press, Honolulu, 3-18.
lida, K., Cox, D.C., and Pararas-Carayannis, G., 1956. Preliminary catalog of tsunamis occurring in the Pacific Ocean, Data Report 5, HIG-67-10, Hawaii Institute of Geophysics, University of Hawaii, Honolulu.
Imamura, Α., 1942. History of Japanese tsunamis. Kayo-No-Kagaku (Oceanography), 2, 74-80. (in Japanese)
Imamura, Α., 1949. List of tsunamis in Japan, J. Seismol. Soc. Japan, 2, 23-28. (in Japanese)
Murty, T.S., and Loomis, H.G., 1980. A new objective tsunami magnitude scale, Mar. Geod., 4, 267-282.
Papadopoulos, G.A., and Imamura, F., 2001. A proposal for a new tsunami scale, ITS 2001 Proceedings, Session 5, Number 5-1
Papadopoulos, G.A., and Satake, K., (eds), 2005.Proceedings of the 22nd IUGG Tsunami Symposium, Chania, Crete Is., 27-29 June, 2005, 330pp.
Papadopoulos, G.A, Caputo, R., McAdoo, B., Pavlides, S., Karastathis, V., Fokaefs, Α., Orfanogiannaki, K., and Valkaniotis, S., 2006. The large tsunami of 26 December 2004: Field observations and eyewitnesses accounts from Sri Lanka, Maldives Is. and Thailand. Earth Planets Space, 58, 233-241.
Shuto, N., 1991. Tsunami intensity and disasters. In S. Tinti (ed.), Tsunamis in the World, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 197-216.
Sieberg, Α., 1927. Geologische, physikalische und angewandte Erdbebenkunde, Verlag von Gustav Fischer, Jena.
Soloviev, S.L., 1970. Recurrence of tsunamis in the Pacifc. In W.M. Adams (ed.), Tsunamis in the Pacific Ocean,, East-West Center Press, Honolulu, 149-163.
Articles les plus lus par le même auteur ou la même autrice