Abstract
The Jalisco region in western Mexico is one of the most seismically active in the country. The city of Puerto Vallarta is located at Bahía de Banderas on the northern coast of Jalisco. Currently there exists a Seismic Gap in the Northern coast of Jalisco (Vallarta Gap). Historically seismogenic tsunamis have affected the coast of Jalisco. In this work, we assess the risk due to a local tsunami in the city of Puerto Vallarta as a function of the interaction between hazard and vulnerability. We model the tsunami hazard, generation and propagation, using the initial conditions for a great earthquake (Mw ≥ 8.0) similar to those that occurred in 1787 at Oaxaca and in 1995 at Tenacatita Bay, Jalisco. Vulnerability is estimated with available data for the years 2010–2015 with sociodemographic variables and the location of government, commercial or cultural facilities. The area with the highest vulnerability and risk is between the valleys of the Ameca and Pitillal Rivers, extending to a distance greater than 5.1 km from the coastline and affecting an area of 30.55 km2. This study does not consider the direct damage caused by the tsunamigenic earthquake and aftershocks; it assumes that critical buildings in the region, mostly hotels, would not collapse after the earthquake and could serve as a refuge for its users. The first (It) tsunami wave arrives to Puerto Vallarta (Cuale) 19 min after the earthquake with a height (Hi) of 3.7 m; the run-up (At) arrives 74 min after earthquake with a height (Hr) of 5.6 m.
Highlights
The Jalisco region, in western Mexico (Figure 1), is one of the most seismogenic regions in Mexico, with many past destructive earthquakes of great magnitude, some of which generated important tsunamis
We present an estimation of the risk in Puerto Vallarta due to the occurrence of a local tsunami after a great magnitude earthquake with an epicenter offshore along the northern part of the Middle America Trench
Different tests were performed for the proposed tsunami by changing the initial earthquake conditions by varying the dislocation while keeping the fracture plane constant
Summary
The Jalisco region, in western Mexico (Figure 1), is one of the most seismogenic regions in Mexico, with many past destructive earthquakes of great magnitude, some of which generated important tsunamis. The largest instrumentally-recorded historic earthquake in the 20th century in Mexico was an M = 8.2, on June 3, 1932, and located off the coast of Jalisco (Núñez-Cornú 2011). The most destructive tsunamigenic event in the region was a probable submarine slump landslide involving marine sediments provided by the Armería River accumulated on the continental shelf that took place on June 22, 1932. It was responsible for destroying a resort at Cuyutlán (Colima state), causing a maximum water layer height of 15 m and an estimated flooding extent of 1 km along 20 km of coast
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
