Tsunami hazard mitigation.

Abstract

The effect of giant tsunamis such as the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004 and the Great East Japan Earthquake Tsunami in 2011 has been devastating. In this study, a numerical simulation of the tsunami has been developed to estimate the physical characteristics of tsunamis and their effect on human society. Several laws and equations have been introduced for the simulation of tsunami propagation in the ocean, tsunami refraction, and tsunami run-up on land under a stable computational condition with acceptable accuracy. Our proposed method has been accepted as the world standard since 1997 and has been widely distributed to many countries through UNESCO.1) Computer graphic animations prepared by using the results of numerical simulation have been effectively used in public education and to increase the understanding of behaviors of the tsunami on the earth. When the numerical prediction of tsunami becomes possible with sufficient accuracy, then their results can be used to predict future damages and prevent the occurrence of a disaster. Data in the past were collected and expressed in terms of a newly introduced tsunami intensity which is related to the locally observed tsunami heights.