HR: 0800h
AN: U11A-0828    [Abstracts]
TI: Field Survey of the 2004 Indonesian Tsunami in Oman
AU: RAAD, P
EM: praad@smu.edu
AF: Southern Methodist, University, Dallas, TX 75275 United States
AU: * Okal, E A
EM: emile@earth.northwestern.edu
AF: Northwestern, University, Evanston, IL 60208 United States
AU: Fritz, H M
U11A-0828 AF: Georgia Institute, of Technology, Savannah, GA 31407 United States
AU: Synolakis, C E
U11A-0828 AF: Univ. of, Southern Calif., Los Angeles, CA 90089 United States
AU: Synolakis, C E
U11A-0828 AF: Technical Univ., of Crete, Chania, 73100 Greece
AU: Al-Shijbi, Y
U11A-0828 AF: Earthq. Monitoring Ctr., SQU, Al Khod, 123 Oman
AU: Al-Saifi, M
U11A-0828 AF: Earthq. Monitoring Ctr., SQU, Al Khod, 123 Oman
AB: We present a report from the work of the International Tsunami Survey Team in Oman in the aftermath of the 2004 Sumatra tsunami. During an 7-day campaign, the team surveyed approximately 750 km of coastlines along the southern shore of the country, building a database of 41 standardized measurements of flow-depth, run-up and inundation, obtained primarily from eyewitness reports. Maximum heights for run-up unaffected by splash on nearby cliffs were found typically on the order of 1 to 3 meters, with a maximum of 3.3 m on beaches West of Salalah. In general, the largest values are found consistently in the southernmost part of the country, along the shore of the Dhofar province. The minimum values, in the range of 1 to 2 meters, are found in the Southcentral section of the shore. While no significant damage to infrastructure was reported, remarkable effects took place in the port of Salalah, where a 285-m long container ship broke its moorings and drifted for several hours both inside and outside the port, carried by a powerful system of eddy currents. This situation is reminiscent of the case of a smaller vessel in the port of Toamasina, Madagascar (Okal et al., 2005); in addition, a second ship of similar size encountered strong currents while attempting to enter the harbor as late as 19:00 GMT, i.e., several hours after the arrival of the wavetrains with maximum amplitude. This episode warrants a reassessment of the evaluation of potential hazards and of mitigation and evacuation procedures for port infrastructures.
DE: 4564 Tsunamis and storm surges
SC: Union [U]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005