Sri Lanka Field Survey after the December 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami

2006 ◽  
Vol 22 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 155-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Goff ◽  
Philip L-F. Liu ◽  
Bretwood Higman ◽  
Robert Morton ◽  
Bruce E. Jaffe ◽  
...  

An International Tsunami Survey Team (ITST) consisting of scientists from the United States, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka evaluated the impacts of the 26 December 2004 transoceanic tsunami in Sri Lanka two weeks after the event. Tsunami runup height, inundation distance, morphological changes, and sedimentary characteristics of deposits were recorded and analyzed along the southwest and east coasts of the country. Preliminary results show how local topography and bathymetry controlled the limits of inundation and associated damage to the infrastructure. The largest wave height of 8.71 m was recorded at Nonagama, while the greatest inundation distance of 390 m and runup height of 12.50 m was at Yala. At some sites, human alterations to the landscape increased the damage caused by the tsunami; this was particularly evident in areas of coral poaching and of sand dune removal.

Author(s):  
James Goff

An International Tsunami Survey Team (ITST) consisting of scientists from the U.S., New Zealand, and Sri Lanka evaluated the impacts of the December 26th 2004 transoceanic tsunami in Sri Lanka two weeks after the event. Tsunami runup, height, inundation distance, morphological changes, and sedimentary characteristics of deposits were recorded and analyzed along the southwest and east coasts of the country. Preliminary results show how local topography and bathymetry controlled the limits of inundation and associated damage to the infrastructure. At some sites, human alterations to the landscape increased damage caused by the tsunami.


2006 ◽  
Vol 22 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 105-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce E. Jaffe ◽  
Jose C. Borrero ◽  
Gegar S. Prasetya ◽  
Robert Peters ◽  
Brian McAdoo ◽  
...  

An International Tsunami Survey Team (ITST) conducted field surveys of tsunami effects on the west coast of northern and central Sumatra and offshore islands 3–4 months after the 26 December 2004 tsunami. The study sites spanned 800 km of coastline from Breuh Island north of Banda Aceh to the Batu Islands, and included 22 sites in Aceh province in Sumatra and on Simeulue Island, Nias Island, the Banyak Islands, and the Batu Islands. Tsunami runup, elevation, flow depth, inundation distance, sedimentary characteristics of deposits, near-shore bathymetry, and vertical land movement (subsidence and uplift) were studied. The maximum tsunami elevations were greater than 16 m, and the maximum tsunami flow depths were greater than 13 m at all sites studied along 135 km of coastline in northwestern Sumatra. Tsunami flow depths were as much as 10 m at 1,500 m inland. Extensive tsunami deposits, primarily composed of sand and typically 5–20 cm thick, were observed in northwestern Sumatra.


2006 ◽  
Vol 22 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 137-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hermann M. Fritz ◽  
Costas E. Synolakis ◽  
Brian G. McAdoo

The tsunami of 26 December 2004 severely affected the Maldives at a distance of 2,500 km from the epicenter of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake. The Maldives provide an opportunity to assess the impact of a tsunami on coral atolls. Two international tsunami survey teams (ITSTs) surveyed a total of 13 heavily damaged islands. The islands were visited by seaplane on 14–15 and 18–19 January 2005. We recorded tsunami heights of up to 4 m on Vilufushi on the basis of the location of debris in trees and watermarks on buildings. Each watermark was localized by means of a global positioning system (GPS) and was photographed. Numerous eyewitness interviews were recorded on video. The significantly lower tsunami impact on the Maldives as compared with Sri Lanka is largely due to the topography and bathymetry of the atoll chain.


2006 ◽  
Vol 22 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 93-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose C. Borrero ◽  
Costas E. Synolakis ◽  
Hermann Fritz

A field survey of earthquake and tsunami effects was conducted in the region around Banda Aceh in northern Sumatra. The field data included visual observations of watermarks, which were located via handheld GPS units and then photographed. Where possible, watermarks were surveyed along cross-shore profiles to determine runup height. Additional information on wave arrival and behavior—including the timing and the number of waves—was collected through interviews with witnesses and survivors and from video recorded during the tsunami event. These data were used in conjunction with satellite imagery obtained before and shortly after the earthquake to describe the effects of the tsunami and earthquake in terms of runup height, inundation distance, flow depth, levels of structural damage, shoreline erosion, and earthquake-related subsidence. This data set is far from complete, and additional information is needed to fully assess the tsunami effects in northern Sumatra.


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikiyasu Nakayama ◽  
Nicholas Nicholas Bryner ◽  
Satoru Mimura

This special issue features policy priorities, public perceptions, and policy options for addressing post-disaster return migration in the United States, Japan, and a couple of Asian countries. It includes a series of case studies in these countries, which are based on a sustained dialogue among scholars and policymakers about whether and how to incentivize the return of displaced persons, considering social, economic, and environmental concerns. The research team, composed of researchers from Indonesia, Japan, Sri Lanka, and the United States, undertook a collaborative and interdisciplinary research process to improve understanding about how to respond to the needs of those displaced by natural disasters and to develop policy approaches for addressing post-disaster return. The research focused on the following three key issues: objectives of return migration (whether to return, in what configuration, etc.), priorities and perceptions that influence evacuees’ decision-making regarding return, and policies and practices that are used to pursue return objectives. This special issue includes ten articles on the following disaster cases: the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the Great Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004, and the Great Sumatra Island Earthquake in 2009. Important lessons for the future were secured out of these case studies, covering the entire phase of return, namely planning, implementation, and monitoring.


2006 ◽  
Vol 22 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 285-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tint Lwin Swe ◽  
Kenji Satake ◽  
Than Tin Aung ◽  
Yuki Sawai ◽  
Yukinobu Okamura ◽  
...  

A post-tsunami survey was conducted along the Myanmar coast two months after the 2004 Great Sumatra earthquake ( Mw=9.0) that occurred off the west coast of Sumatra and generated a devastating tsunami around the Indian Ocean. Visual observations, measurements, and a survey of local people's experiences with the tsunami indicated some reasons why less damage and fewer casualties occurred in Myanmar than in other countries around the Indian Ocean. The tide level at the measured sites was calibrated with reference to a real-time tsunami datum, and the tsunami tide level range was 2–3 m for 22 localities in Myanmar. The tsunami arrived three to four hours after the earthquake.


2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 22-34
Author(s):  
Lee R. Briggs

This paper presents a set of best practices and lessons learned from a set of 93 impact evaluations conducted on community-level, small grants activities implemented between March 2003 and September 2007 by the Sri Lanka country programme of the Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). It analyses the change theories that guided programme development and common trends in impact which emerged, and discusses ways in which programme staff can improve project impact. It provides a working definition of ‘process’, a key element of OTI's approach and a key concept used by facilitators to understand the work they do with groups and communities. It also delineates a general typology of peacebuilding projects likely to emerge in the community setting. Finally, it formulates a postulate for predicting and observing generic programme impact based upon the relative richness of process, which is considered useful for informing further research design.


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