Earthquake Generated Tsunami in the Indian Ocean and Probable Vulnerability Assessment for the East Coast of India

Abstract

The tsunami hazard for the east coast of India is assessed. The Sumatra-Andaman 1300 km long fault is divided into five segments, each segment assumed to have different fault parameters. The initial vertical displacement of the sea bottom is calculated with the Mansinha and Smylie algorithm. Modeling of tsunami amplitude, travel time, run-up and directivity has been done. We compared simulated tsunami travel times and elevation with data measured at tide gauges and coastal runup. The model results show that the distribution of maximum amplitude in the Indian Ocean basin is primarily controlled by the classical effects of the directivity and by refraction and focusing along bathymetric features. The results suggest 7–8 m run up height at Nagapatanam, Tamil Nadu, which was the worst affected region in the mainland of India during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

Keywords:

• Directivity
• simulation
• Sunda subduction zone (SSZ)
• tsunami
• travel time

Acknowledgements

This work is partially supported by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), and Ministry of Earth Sciences (MOES) Delhi, India. We thank two anonymous reviewers for their careful and constructive reviews. Some figures were generated using the GMT software.