Risk Assessment and Design of Prevention Structures for Enhanced Tsunami Disaster Resilience (RAPSODI)/Euro-Japan Collaboration


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Harbitz C. B., Nakamura Y., Arikawa T., BAYKAL C., Dogan G. G., Frauenfelder R., ...More

COASTAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL, vol.58, no.4, 2016 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 58 Issue: 4
  • Publication Date: 2016
  • Doi Number: 10.1142/s057856341640012x
  • Journal Name: COASTAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Keywords: 2011 Tohoku tsunami, field survey, coastal mitigation, impact loads, numerical modeling, laboratory experiments, risk analysis, CONCERT-Japan RAPSODI project, 2011 TOHOKU EARTHQUAKE, BUILDING DAMAGE, VULNERABILITY, REDUCTION, ROCKSLIDE, BEHAVIOR, SCIENCE, HAZARD, SLIP
  • Middle East Technical University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

The 2011 Tohoku event showed the massive destruction potential of tsunamis. The Euro-Japan "Risk assessment and design of prevention structures for enhanced tsunami disaster resilience (RAPSODI)" project aimed at using data from the event to evaluate tsunami mitigation strategies and to validate a framework for a quantitative tsunami mortality risk analysis. Coastal structures and mitigation strategies against tsunamis in Europe and Japan are compared. Failure mechanisms of coastal protection structures exposed to tsunamis are discussed based on field data. Knowledge gaps on failure modes of different structures under different tsunami loading conditions are identified. Results of the wave-flume laboratory experiments on rubble mound breakwaters are used to assess their resilience against tsunami impact. For the risk analysis, high-resolution digital elevation data are applied for the inundation modeling. The hazard is represented by the maximum flow depth, the exposure is described by the location of the population, and the mortality is a function of flow depth and building vulnerability. A thorough search for appropriate data on the 2011 Tohoku tsunami was performed. The results of the 2011 Tohoku tsunami mortality hindcast for the city of Ishinomaki substantiate that the tsunami mortality risk model can help to identify high-mortality risk areas and the main risk drivers.