Distribution Functions of Tsunami Wave Heights

Byung Choi, Efim Pelinovsky, Igor Ryabov and Sung Hong

Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, 2002, vol. 25, issue 1, 21 pages

Abstract: The problem of describing the distribution functions of tsunami wave heights is discussed. Data on runup heights obtained in field surveys of several tsunamis for the last decade are used to calculate the empirical distribution functions. It is shown that the log-normal distribution describes the observed data well. This means that the irregular topography and coastline are major factors which influence the height distribution. The power distribution related with the geometric decay of the propagated wave is a good approximation for one event (Sulawesi, January 1, 1996) only. Results of a numerical simulation of the tsunami event in the Japan (East) Sea on July 12, 1993 are presented. It is shown that the computed wave height distribution, obtained by using the runup correction in the framework of nonlinear shallow-water theory, is in good agreement with the observed height distribution. Simulations are used to study the transformation of the distribution function on different distances from the source. Copyright Kluwer Academic Publishers 2002

Keywords: tsunami; statistical analysis; mathematical modeling; the 1993 tsunami in the East (Japan) Sea; distribution functions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2002
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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DOI: 10.1023/A:1013379705323

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