scholarly journals The Risk of Tsunamis in Mexico

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaime Santos-Reyes

The paper reviews the risk of tsunamis in Mexico. It is highlighted that the Pacific coast of the country forms part of the so called “Ring of fire”. Overall, the risk of tsunami that has the potentiality to affect communities along the Pacific coast of the country are twofold: a). Local tsunami; i.e., those triggered by earthquakes originating from the “Cocos”, “Rivera” and the “North American” plates (high risk); and b) the remote tsunamis, those generated elsewhere (e.g, Alaska, Japan, Chile) (low risk). Further, a preliminary model for a “tsunami early warning” system for the case of Mexico is put forward.

Author(s):  
Jaime Santos-Reyes ◽  
Tatiana Gouzeva

This paper reviews the risk of tsunamis in Mexico. It is highlighted that the Pacific coast of the country forms part of the so called “Ring of fire.” Overall, the risk of tsunami that has the potentiality to affect communities along the Pacific coast is twofold: (a) local tsunami; that is, those triggered by earthquakes originating from the “Cocos,” “Rivera,” and the “North American” plates (high risk) and (b) the remote tsunamis, those generated elsewhere (e.g., Alaska, Japan, Chile) (low risk). Further, a preliminary model for “tsunami early warning” system for the case of Mexico is put forward.


2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Falck ◽  
M. Ramatschi ◽  
C. Subarya ◽  
M. Bartsch ◽  
A. Merx ◽  
...  

Abstract. GPS (Global Positioning System) technology is widely used for positioning applications. Many of them have high requirements with respect to precision, reliability or fast product delivery, but usually not all at the same time as it is the case for early warning applications. The tasks for the GPS-based components within the GITEWS project (German Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System, Rudloff et al., 2009) are to support the determination of sea levels (measured onshore and offshore) and to detect co-seismic land mass displacements with the lowest possible latency (design goal: first reliable results after 5 min). The completed system was designed to fulfil these tasks in near real-time, rather than for scientific research requirements. The obtained data products (movements of GPS antennas) are supporting the warning process in different ways. The measurements from GPS instruments on buoys allow the earliest possible detection or confirmation of tsunami waves on the ocean. Onshore GPS measurements are made collocated with tide gauges or seismological stations and give information about co-seismic land mass movements as recorded, e.g., during the great Sumatra-Andaman earthquake of 2004 (Subarya et al., 2006). This information is important to separate tsunami-caused sea height movements from apparent sea height changes at tide gauge locations (sensor station movement) and also as additional information about earthquakes' mechanisms, as this is an essential information to predict a tsunami (Sobolev et al., 2007). This article gives an end-to-end overview of the GITEWS GPS-component system, from the GPS sensors (GPS receiver with GPS antenna and auxiliary systems, either onshore or offshore) to the early warning centre displays. We describe how the GPS sensors have been installed, how they are operated and the methods used to collect, transfer and process the GPS data in near real-time. This includes the sensor system design, the communication system layout with real-time data streaming, the data processing strategy and the final products of the GPS-based early warning system components.


2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 2659-2675 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Birkmann ◽  
K. v. Teichman ◽  
T. Welle ◽  
M. González ◽  
M. Olabarrieta

Abstract. The development of appropriate risk and vulnerability reduction strategies to cope with tsunami risks is a major challenge for countries, regions, and cities exposed to potential tsunamis. European coastal cities such as Cadiz are exposed to tsunami risks. However, most official risk reduction strategies as well as the local population are not aware of the probability of such a phenomenon and the potential threat that tsunami waves could pose to their littoral. This paper outlines how tsunami risks, and particularly tsunami vulnerability, could be assessed and measured. To achieve this, a vulnerability assessment framework was applied focusing on the city of Cadiz as a case study in order to highlight the practical use and the challenges and gaps such an assessment has to deal with. The findings yield important information that could assist with the systematic improvement of societal response capacities of cities and their inhabitants to potential tsunami risks. Hazard and vulnerability maps were developed, and qualitative data was obtained through, for example, focused group discussions. These maps and surveys are essential for the development of a people-centred early warning and response system. Therefore, in this regard, the Tsunami Early Warning and Mitigation System in the North Eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and connected seas promoted by the UNESCO-Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) should encompass these assessments to ensure that action is particularly intensified and fostered by those potentially exposed. That means that besides the necessary technical infrastructure for tsunami detection, additional response and adaptation measures need to be promoted – particularly those that reduce the vulnerability of people and regions exposed – in terms of national systems. In addition, it is important to develop emergency preparedness and awareness plans in order to create an integrated regional Tsunami Early Warning System (TEWS) by 2011. The findings of the paper are based on research conducted within the framework of the EC funded project TRANSFER: "Tsunami Risk ANd Strategies For the European Region", a project that aims to improve the understanding of tsunami processes in the Euro-Mediterranean region, to develop methods and tools to assess vulnerability and risk, and to identify strategies for the reduction of tsunami risks.


2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 741-749 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Schöne ◽  
W. Pandoe ◽  
I. Mudita ◽  
S. Roemer ◽  
J. Illigner ◽  
...  

Abstract. On Boxing Day 2004, a severe tsunami was generated by a strong earthquake in Northern Sumatra causing a large number of casualties. At this time, neither an offshore buoy network was in place to measure tsunami waves, nor a system to disseminate tsunami warnings to local governmental entities. Since then, buoys have been developed by Indonesia and Germany, complemented by NOAA's Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART) buoys, and have been moored offshore Sumatra and Java. The suite of sensors for offshore tsunami detection in Indonesia has been advanced by adding GPS technology for water level measurements. The usage of GPS buoys in tsunami warning systems is a relatively new approach. The concept of the German Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System (GITEWS) (Rudloff et al., 2009) combines GPS technology and ocean bottom pressure (OBP) measurements. Especially for near-field installations where the seismic noise may deteriorate the OBP data, GPS-derived sea level heights provide additional information. The GPS buoy technology is precise enough to detect medium to large tsunamis of amplitudes larger than 10 cm. The analysis presented here suggests that for about 68% of the time, tsunamis larger than 5 cm may be detectable.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamara Breuninger ◽  
Moritz Gamperl ◽  
Kurosch Thuro

<p>The project Inform@Risk, a collaboration of German and Colombian Universities and Institutes funded by the German government, aims to install a landslide early warning system in the informal settlements in Medellín, Colombia. In the recent past the city has suffered from multiple landslides, some of them with up to 500 casualties. The informal settlements in the steep slopes at the city borders grow rapidly, which destabilizes the ground and complicates the installation and operation of an early warning system. Therefore, key goal of the project is to include the community in the process of the development of the early warning system.</p><p>Medellín is embedded in the Aburrá Valley in the Cordillera Central of the Andes. The region around the city consists of different triassic and cretaceous metamorphic rocks and magmatic batholites and plutonites. Especially the north-eastern slope is prone to landslides, as it is very steep and made up of a deep cover of soil over highly weathered dunite rock.</p><p>During the first field trip, carried out in August 2019, former landslide areas were located, and ERT-measurements were conducted at the study site Bello Oriente in the northeast of Medellín. After a first evaluation of the findings, the soil cover seems to be over 50 m high in the middle of the slope, which indicates a deep-seated landslide, that might have been moving downhill very slowly for thousands of years. The more dangerous landslides however, which are much faster, are the shallow ones on the surface. These landslides can appear on top of each other and are distributed across the whole study area but are most concentrated between and above the last houses of the barrio. During a second field campaign in 2020, the ERT-profiles will be calibrated and complemented by drillings and the hazard map will be completed accordingly.</p>


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sapari D. Hadian ◽  
Ute Lies Siti Khadijah ◽  
Encang Saepudin ◽  
Agung Budiono ◽  
Ayu Krishna Yuliawati

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