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

Author(s):  
Mohammad Heidarzadeh

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.

2020 ◽  
Vol 222 (3) ◽  
pp. 1952-1964 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Heidarzadeh ◽  
Alexander Rabinovich ◽  
Satoshi Kusumoto ◽  
C P Rajendran

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.


Author(s):  
Mohammad Heidarzadeh ◽  
Moharram D. Pirooz ◽  
Nasser H. Zaker ◽  
Mohammad Mokhtari

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.


2006 ◽  
pp. 97-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
T Logan ◽  
P Whitmore ◽  
W Knight ◽  
Z Kowalik

2006 ◽  
Vol 22 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 203-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emile A. Okal ◽  
Hermann M. Fritz ◽  
Peter E. Raad ◽  
Costas Synolakis ◽  
Yousuf Al-Shijbi ◽  
...  

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.


2006 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koji Fujima ◽  
Yoshinori Shigihara ◽  
Takashi Tomita ◽  
Kazuhiko Honda ◽  
Hisamichi Nobuoka ◽  
...  

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