Field surveys and numerical modelling of the 2004 December 26 Indian Ocean tsunami in the area of Mumbai, west coast of India

ABSTRACT In the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean (Sumatra-Andaman) tsunami, numerous survey teams investigated its effects on various locations across the Indian Ocean. However, these efforts were focused only on sites that experienced major destruction and a high death toll. As a consequence, some Indian Ocean coastal megacities were not examined. Among the cities not surveyed was Mumbai, the principal west coast port and economical capital of India with a population of more than 12 million. Mumbai is at risk of tsunamis from two major subduction zones in the Indian Ocean: the Sumatra–Andaman subduction zone (SASZ) and the Makran subduction zone (MSZ). As a part of the present study, we conducted a field survey of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami effects in Mumbai, analysed the available tide gauge records and performed tsunami simulations. Our field survey in 2018 January found run-up heights of 1.6−3.3 m in the Mumbai area. According to our analysis of tide gauge data, tsunami trough-to-crest heights in Okha (550 km to the north of Mumbai) and in Mormugao (410 km to the south of Mumbai) were 46 cm and 108 cm, respectively. Simulations of a hypothetical MSZ Mw 9.0 earthquake and tsunami, together with the Mw 9.1 Sumatra–Andaman earthquake and tsunami, show that the tsunami heights generated in Mumbai by an MSZ tsunami would be significantly larger than those generated by the 2004 Sumatra–Andaman tsunami. This result indicates that future tsunami hazard mitigation for Mumbai needs to be based on a potential large MSZ earthquake rather than an SASZ earthquake.

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Myanmar Coastal Area Field Survey after the December 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami

Earthquake Spectra ◽

10.1193/1.2206158 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 22 (3_suppl) ◽

pp. 285-294 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Tint Lwin Swe ◽

Kenji Satake ◽

Than Tin Aung ◽

Yuki Sawai ◽

Yukinobu Okamura ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Indian Ocean ◽

Real Time ◽

West Coast ◽

Coastal Area ◽

Field Survey ◽

Indian Ocean Tsunami ◽

Sumatra Earthquake ◽

The West ◽

Tide Level ◽

The Indian Ocean

A post-tsunami survey was conducted along the Myanmar coast two months after the 2004 Great Sumatra earthquake ( Mw=9.0) that occurred off the west coast of Sumatra and generated a devastating tsunami around the Indian Ocean. Visual observations, measurements, and a survey of local people's experiences with the tsunami indicated some reasons why less damage and fewer casualties occurred in Myanmar than in other countries around the Indian Ocean. The tide level at the measured sites was calibrated with reference to a real-time tsunami datum, and the tsunami tide level range was 2–3 m for 22 localities in Myanmar. The tsunami arrived three to four hours after the earthquake.

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Modeling of Tsunami Propagation in the Vicinity of the Southern Coasts of Iran

Volume 5: Ocean Space Utilization; Polar and Arctic Sciences and Technology; The Robert Dean Symposium on Coastal and Ocean Engineering; Special Symposium on Offshore Renewable Energy ◽

10.1115/omae2007-29082 ◽

2007 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Mohammad Heidarzadeh ◽

Moharram D. Pirooz ◽

Nasser H. Zaker ◽

Mohammad Mokhtari

Keyword(s):

Indian Ocean ◽

Subduction Zone ◽

Initial Conditions ◽

Indian Ocean Tsunami ◽

Height Distribution ◽

Tsunami Propagation ◽

Makran Subduction Zone ◽

Tsunami Waves ◽

The Indian Ocean ◽

The Impact

The extensive death toll and sever economical damages brought by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami has emphasized the urgent need for assessing the hazard of tsunami in this ocean, and determining the most vulnerable coastlines to the impact of possible tsunami. In this paper the hazard of tsunami for southern coasts of Iran bordering the Indian Ocean is discussed. At first, historical data of tsunami occurrences on the Iranian southern coasts are collected, described and analyzed. Then, numerical simulation of potential tsunamis in the Makran subduction zone is performed and the tsunami wave height distribution along the Iranian coast is calculated. The Makran subduction zone is among two main tsunamigenic zones in the Indian Ocean. In this zone the Oman oceanic plate subducts beneath the Iranian Micro-plate at an estimated rate of about 19 mm/yr. Historically, there is the potential for tsunami generation in this region and several tsunamis attacked the Makran coastlines in the past. The most recent tsunami in this region has occurred on 28 November 1945 which took the lives of more than 4000 people in the coasts of Iran, Pakistan, India, and Oman. Here we examine the seafloor uplift of the Makran zone and its potential for generating destructive tsunamis in the southern coastlines of Iran. Several earthquake scenarios with moment magnitudes ranging between 6.5 and 8.5 are used as initial conditions for analysis. For scenario of an earthquake with magnitude of 8.0, propagation of tsunami waves on coastlines and wave time histories in selected reference locations are calculated.

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REVIEW OF TIDE GAUGE RECORDS IN THE INDIAN OCEAN

Journal of Earthquake and Tsunami ◽

10.1142/s1793431109000378 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 03 (01) ◽

pp. 1-15

Author(s):

HIROYUKI MATSUMOTO ◽

YUICHIRO TANIOKA ◽

YUICHI NISHIMURA ◽

YOSHINOBU TSUJI ◽

YUICHI NAMEGAYA ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Indian Ocean ◽

Tide Gauge ◽

Indian Ocean Tsunami ◽

Tide Gauges ◽

Tide Gauge Records ◽

Historical Tsunami ◽

Tide Level ◽

History Of ◽

The Indian Ocean ◽

Systematic Collection

According to the NOAA earthquake database, at least 31 events have been found in the Indian Ocean in terms of tsunami event since 1900, most of which occurred along the Sunda Trench. In this study, we review the history of tide level measurements and their datasets archives in Thailand, Indonesia, India, and Australia. We collected tide gauge paper charts recording historical tsunamis including the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in those countries. As a result, systematic collection of historical tsunami records by tide gauges in the Indian Ocean has been difficult, because few tsunamigenic earthquakes occurred in the Indian Ocean during the instrumentally observed period.

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Far-Field Effects of Large Tsunamis Produced by the Makran Subduction Zone

Volume 4: Ocean Engineering; Ocean Renewable Energy; Ocean Space Utilization, Parts A and B ◽

10.1115/omae2009-79362 ◽

2009 ◽

Author(s):

Mohammad Heidarzadeh

Keyword(s):

Numerical Modeling ◽

Indian Ocean ◽

Subduction Zone ◽

Indian Ocean Tsunami ◽

Far Field ◽

Historical Records ◽

Makran Subduction Zone ◽

Field Effects ◽

Seychelles Islands ◽

The Indian Ocean

The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami which exported death and destruction to far distant shores, once more emphasized the tsunami hazards associated with transoceanic tsunamis. Historical records of tsunamis in the Makran subduction zone (MSZ) reveal that Makran tsunamis are capable of producing large waves in the far-field. The Makran tsunami of 1945 produced by an Mw8.1 earthquake was reported to cause far-field effects in the Indian Ocean and reached a height of about 30 cm in the Seychelles, at the distance of about 3500 km from the MSZ. Here, we assess historical observations of this event and perform numerical modeling of this tsunami with emphasis on its far-field effects. Our numerical modeling successfully reproduces most feathers of the historical observations including its far-field effects. Southward propagation of Makran large tsunamis is investigated and their possible effects on Maldives and Seychelles islands are discussed. This study will help to better understand tsunami hazard associated with the MSZ, especially its far-field hazard.

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Oman Field Survey after the December 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami

Earthquake Spectra ◽

10.1193/1.2202647 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 22 (3_suppl) ◽

pp. 203-218 ◽

Cited By ~ 66

Author(s):

Emile A. Okal ◽

Hermann M. Fritz ◽

Peter E. Raad ◽

Costas Synolakis ◽

Yousuf Al-Shijbi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Indian Ocean ◽

Subduction Zone ◽

Field Survey ◽

Indian Ocean Tsunami ◽

Southern Coast ◽

2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami ◽

Makran Subduction Zone

In August 2005, a team surveyed the effects of the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami on the southern coast of Oman. Runup and inundation were obtained at 41 sites, extending over a total of 750 km of shoreline. Measured runup ranged from 3.25 m in the vicinity of Salalah to a negligible value at one location on Masirah Island. In general, the largest values were found in the western part of the surveyed area. Significant incidents were documented in the port of Salalah, where a 285-m-long vessel broke its moorings and drifted inside and outside the port, and another ship struck the breakwater while attempting to enter the harbor. The general hazard to Oman from tsunamis may be greatest from the neighboring Makran subduction zone in western Pakistan.

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