Preliminary estimation of the tsunami hazards associated with the Makran subduction zone at the northwestern Indian Ocean

Mohammad Heidarzadeh; Moharram D. Pirooz; Nasser H. Zaker; Ahmet C. Yalciner

doi:10.1007/s11069-008-9259-x

Preliminary estimation of the tsunami hazards associated with the Makran subduction zone at the northwestern Indian Ocean

Mohammad Heidarzadeh, Moharram D. Pirooz, Nasser H. Zaker, Ahmet C. Yalciner

Department of Architecture & Civil Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

52 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

We present a preliminary estimation of tsunami hazard associated with the Makran subduction zone (MSZ) at the northwestern Indian Ocean. Makran is one of the two main tsunamigenic zones in the Indian Ocean, which has produced some tsunamis in the past. Northwestern Indian Ocean remains one of the least studied regions in the world in terms of tsunami hazard assessment. Hence, a scenario-based method is employed to provide an estimation of tsunami hazard in this region for the first time. The numerical modeling of tsunami is verified using historical observations of the 1945 Makran tsunami. Then, a number of tsunamis each resulting from a 1945-type earthquake (M_w 8.1) and spaced evenly along the MSZ are simulated. The results indicate that by moving a 1945-type earthquake along the MSZ, the southern coasts of Iran and Pakistan will experience the largest waves with heights of between 5 and 7 m, depending on the location of the source. The tsunami will reach a height of about 5 m and 2 m in northern coast of Oman and eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates, respectively.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	229-243
Number of pages	15
Journal	Natural Hazards
Volume	48
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-008-9259-x
Publication status	Published - 28 Feb 2009

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Acknowledgments The long wave propagation models, TUNAMI-N2 and TUNAMI-N3, used in this study are registered copyright of Professors F. Imamura, Ahmet C. Yalciner, and C. E. Synolakis. The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO is thanked for funding the first author’s participation in the first international tsunami modeling course held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in May 2006. The first author would like to extend his sincere gratitude to Professor Emile A. Okal (Northwestern University, IL, USA) and Professor Costas E. Synolakis (University of Southern California, CA, USA) for their fruitful discussions during the Malaysia international course. This manuscript benefited from constructive reviews by two anonymous reviewers. We are sincerely grateful to the reviewers for comments that improved this article.

Keywords

Deterministic tsunami hazard assessment
Indian Ocean
Makran subduction zone (MSZ)
Numerical modeling
Tsunami

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Water Science and Technology
Atmospheric Science
Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous)

Access to Document

10.1007/s11069-008-9259-x

Cite this

@article{e0d7920c156548d593596bf3809494a3,

title = "Preliminary estimation of the tsunami hazards associated with the Makran subduction zone at the northwestern Indian Ocean",

abstract = "We present a preliminary estimation of tsunami hazard associated with the Makran subduction zone (MSZ) at the northwestern Indian Ocean. Makran is one of the two main tsunamigenic zones in the Indian Ocean, which has produced some tsunamis in the past. Northwestern Indian Ocean remains one of the least studied regions in the world in terms of tsunami hazard assessment. Hence, a scenario-based method is employed to provide an estimation of tsunami hazard in this region for the first time. The numerical modeling of tsunami is verified using historical observations of the 1945 Makran tsunami. Then, a number of tsunamis each resulting from a 1945-type earthquake (Mw 8.1) and spaced evenly along the MSZ are simulated. The results indicate that by moving a 1945-type earthquake along the MSZ, the southern coasts of Iran and Pakistan will experience the largest waves with heights of between 5 and 7 m, depending on the location of the source. The tsunami will reach a height of about 5 m and 2 m in northern coast of Oman and eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates, respectively.",

keywords = "Deterministic tsunami hazard assessment, Indian Ocean, Makran subduction zone (MSZ), Numerical modeling, Tsunami",

author = "Mohammad Heidarzadeh and Pirooz, {Moharram D.} and Zaker, {Nasser H.} and Yalciner, {Ahmet C.}",

note = "Funding Information: Acknowledgments The long wave propagation models, TUNAMI-N2 and TUNAMI-N3, used in this study are registered copyright of Professors F. Imamura, Ahmet C. Yalciner, and C. E. Synolakis. The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO is thanked for funding the first author{\textquoteright}s participation in the first international tsunami modeling course held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in May 2006. The first author would like to extend his sincere gratitude to Professor Emile A. Okal (Northwestern University, IL, USA) and Professor Costas E. Synolakis (University of Southern California, CA, USA) for their fruitful discussions during the Malaysia international course. This manuscript benefited from constructive reviews by two anonymous reviewers. We are sincerely grateful to the reviewers for comments that improved this article.",

year = "2009",

month = feb,

day = "28",

doi = "10.1007/s11069-008-9259-x",

language = "English",

volume = "48",

pages = "229--243",

journal = "Natural Hazards",

issn = "0921-030X",

publisher = "Springer",

number = "2",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Preliminary estimation of the tsunami hazards associated with the Makran subduction zone at the northwestern Indian Ocean

AU - Heidarzadeh, Mohammad

AU - Pirooz, Moharram D.

AU - Zaker, Nasser H.

AU - Yalciner, Ahmet C.

N1 - Funding Information: Acknowledgments The long wave propagation models, TUNAMI-N2 and TUNAMI-N3, used in this study are registered copyright of Professors F. Imamura, Ahmet C. Yalciner, and C. E. Synolakis. The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO is thanked for funding the first author’s participation in the first international tsunami modeling course held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in May 2006. The first author would like to extend his sincere gratitude to Professor Emile A. Okal (Northwestern University, IL, USA) and Professor Costas E. Synolakis (University of Southern California, CA, USA) for their fruitful discussions during the Malaysia international course. This manuscript benefited from constructive reviews by two anonymous reviewers. We are sincerely grateful to the reviewers for comments that improved this article.

PY - 2009/2/28

Y1 - 2009/2/28

N2 - We present a preliminary estimation of tsunami hazard associated with the Makran subduction zone (MSZ) at the northwestern Indian Ocean. Makran is one of the two main tsunamigenic zones in the Indian Ocean, which has produced some tsunamis in the past. Northwestern Indian Ocean remains one of the least studied regions in the world in terms of tsunami hazard assessment. Hence, a scenario-based method is employed to provide an estimation of tsunami hazard in this region for the first time. The numerical modeling of tsunami is verified using historical observations of the 1945 Makran tsunami. Then, a number of tsunamis each resulting from a 1945-type earthquake (Mw 8.1) and spaced evenly along the MSZ are simulated. The results indicate that by moving a 1945-type earthquake along the MSZ, the southern coasts of Iran and Pakistan will experience the largest waves with heights of between 5 and 7 m, depending on the location of the source. The tsunami will reach a height of about 5 m and 2 m in northern coast of Oman and eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates, respectively.

AB - We present a preliminary estimation of tsunami hazard associated with the Makran subduction zone (MSZ) at the northwestern Indian Ocean. Makran is one of the two main tsunamigenic zones in the Indian Ocean, which has produced some tsunamis in the past. Northwestern Indian Ocean remains one of the least studied regions in the world in terms of tsunami hazard assessment. Hence, a scenario-based method is employed to provide an estimation of tsunami hazard in this region for the first time. The numerical modeling of tsunami is verified using historical observations of the 1945 Makran tsunami. Then, a number of tsunamis each resulting from a 1945-type earthquake (Mw 8.1) and spaced evenly along the MSZ are simulated. The results indicate that by moving a 1945-type earthquake along the MSZ, the southern coasts of Iran and Pakistan will experience the largest waves with heights of between 5 and 7 m, depending on the location of the source. The tsunami will reach a height of about 5 m and 2 m in northern coast of Oman and eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates, respectively.

KW - Deterministic tsunami hazard assessment

KW - Indian Ocean

KW - Makran subduction zone (MSZ)

KW - Numerical modeling

KW - Tsunami

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=58149472189&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s11069-008-9259-x

DO - 10.1007/s11069-008-9259-x

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:58149472189

SN - 0921-030X

VL - 48

SP - 229

EP - 243

JO - Natural Hazards

JF - Natural Hazards

IS - 2

ER -

Preliminary estimation of the tsunami hazards associated with the Makran subduction zone at the northwestern Indian Ocean

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this