scholarly journals The 22 December 2018 Mount Anak Krakatau Volcanogenic Tsunami on Sunda Strait Coasts, Indonesia: tsunami and damage characteristics

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Mumtaz Luthfi ◽  
Anawat Suppasri ◽  
Louise K. Comfort ◽  

Abstract. On 22 December 2018, a tsunami was generated from the Mount Anak Krakatau area that was caused by volcanic flank failures. The tsunami had severe impacts on the western coast of Banten and the southern coasts of Lampung in Indonesia. A series of surveys to measure the impacts of the tsunami was started three days after the tsunami and lasted ten days. Immediate investigations allowed the collection of relatively authentic images of the tsunami impacts before the clearing process started. This article investigates the impacts of the 2018 Sunda Strait tsunami on the affected areas and presents an analysis of the impacts of pure hydrodynamic tsunami forces on buildings. Impacts of the tsunami were expected to exhibit different characteristics than those found following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Aceh. Data was collected from 117 flow depths along the Banten and Lampung coasts. Furthermore, 98 buildings or houses were assessed for damage. Results of this study revealed that the flow depths were higher in Banten than in Lampung. Directions of the tsunami arrays created by the complex bathymetry around the strait caused these differences. Tsunami-induced damage to buildings was mostly the result of impact forces and drag forces. Damping forces could not be associated with the damages. The tsunami warning system in Indonesia should be extended to anticipate non-seismic tsunamis, such as landslides and volcanic processes driven by tsunamis. Lack of a tsunami warning during the first few minutes after the generation of the first wave led to a significant number of human casualties at both of the affected areas.

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 549-565 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Mumtaz Luthfi ◽  
Anawat Suppasri ◽  
Louise K. Comfort ◽  

Abstract. On 22 December 2018, a tsunami was generated from the Mount Anak Krakatau area that was caused by volcanic flank failures. The tsunami had severe impacts on the western coast of Banten and the southern coasts of Lampung in Indonesia. A series of surveys to measure the impacts of the tsunami was started 3 d after the tsunami and lasted for 10 d. Immediate investigations allowed the collection of relatively authentic images of the tsunami impacts before the clearing process started. This article investigates the impacts of the 2018 Sunda Strait tsunami on the affected areas and presents an analysis of the impacts of pure hydrodynamic tsunami forces on buildings. Impacts of the tsunami were expected to exhibit different characteristics than those found following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Aceh. Data were collected from 117 flow depths along the Banten and Lampung coasts. Furthermore, 98 buildings or houses were assessed for damage. Results of this study revealed that the flow depths were higher in Banten than in Lampung. Directions of the tsunami arrays created by the complex bathymetry around the strait caused these differences. Tsunami-induced damage to buildings was mostly the result of impact forces and drag forces. Damping forces could not be associated with the damage. The tsunami warning system in Indonesia should be extended to anticipate non-seismic tsunamis, such as landslides and volcanic processes driven by tsunamis. The lack of a tsunami warning during the first few minutes after the generation of the first wave led to a significant number of human casualties in both of the affected areas.


2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 843-857 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Tinti ◽  
L. Graziani ◽  
B. Brizuela ◽  
A. Maramai ◽  
S. Gallazzi

Abstract. After the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami catastrophe, UNESCO through the IOC (Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission) sponsored the establishment of Intergovernmental Coordination Groups (ICG) with the aim to devise and implement Tsunami Warning Systems (TWSs) in all the oceans exposed to tsunamis, in addition to the one already in operation in the Pacific (PTWS). In this context, since 2005, efforts have begun for the establishment of TWSs in the Indian Ocean (IOTWS), in the Caribbean area (CARIBE EWS) and in the North Eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean and Connected Seas (NEAMTWS). In this paper, we focus on a specific tool that was first introduced in the PTWS routine operations, i.e., the Decision Matrix (DM). This is an easy-to-use table establishing a link between the main parameters of an earthquake and the possible ensuing tsunami in order to make quick decision on the type of alert bulletins that a Tsunami Warning Center launches to its recipients. In the process of implementation of a regional TWS for the NEAM area, two distinct DMs were recently proposed by the ICG/NEAMTWS, one for the Atlantic and the other for the entire Mediterranean area. This work applies the Mediterranean NEAMTWS DM to the earthquakes recorded in Italy and compares the action predicted by the DM vs. the action that should be appropriate in view of the observed tsunami characteristics with the aim to establish how good the performance of the Italian TWS will be when it uses the DM for future events. To this purpose, we make use of the parametric catalogue of the Italian earthquakes (CPTI04) compiled in 2004 and the most recent compilation of the Italian tsunami, based on the Italian Tsunami Catalogue of 2004 and the subsequent revisions. In order to better compare the TWS actions, we have identified four different kinds of action coding them from 0 to 3 according to the tsunami severity and have further considered three different distance ranges where these actions apply, that is local, regional and basin-wide, that refer to the distance of the message recipients from the tsunami source. The result of our analysis is that the actions prescribed by the DM are adequate only in 45%–55% of the cases, overestimations are about 37% and underestimations are the rest. As a whole, the predictive ability of the DM is not satisfactory, which implies that recipients have the difficult task in managing bulletins carrying a great deal of uncertainty and on the other hand also suggests that strategies to improve the DM or to go beyond the DM need to be found.


2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 212-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomoyuki Takahashi ◽  
◽  
Tomohiro Konuma ◽  

There is still no tsunami warning systemprotecting the shores of the Indian Ocean, but imagine that a tsunami warning system had been in operation at the time of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. What disaster management information would have been issued for this tsunami ? This paper first proposes four tsunamimodels based on the earthquake information issued by different institutions. Next, setting these tsunami models as the initial condition, tsunami simulations are conducted to find the height of the tsunami striking the coastline around the Indian Ocean. As a result, it is indicated that because the tsunami model immediately after occurrence of the 2004 Sumatra Earthquake and the Indian Ocean tsunami calculated from this model are underestimated, appropriate tsunami warnings would most probably not have been issued before the 2004 tsunami struck land.


2006 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-61
Author(s):  
Ben Wisner ◽  
Peter Walker

The massive human and economic impact of the Asian tsunami in later 2004 is mirrored in the aftershocks felt among humanitarian organisations, development agencies, and policy makers. This paper raises a number of these troubling, fundamental issues. Firstly, the call for an Indian Ocean tsunami warning system raises fundamental issues about what warning systems can, and cannot, do. Secondly, one is also forced to consider why in the first place so many people live on exposed coasts today, vulnerable not only to tsunamis but tropical storms and rainy season flooding among other hazards. Thirdly, one is challenged to question the very meaning of “recovery”. Such massive damage has been done and so many people and their livelihoods have been dislocated, is it actually possible to imagine a return to the status quo ante? Fourthly, reconstruction of the magnitude now underway in the affected areas raises many difficult questions about accountability, transparency, and the unevenness with which the international community responds to crises. The paper finishes with some recommendations.


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