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J. J. Wijetunge
ABSTRACT: On 26th December 2004, coastal belts of Sri Lanka as well as several other countries
bordering the Indian Ocean suffered enormous loss of life and damage to property owing to the tsunami
unleashed by the third largest earthquake ever recorded. In order to mitigate potential loss of lives from a
similar event in the future we need to provide advance warning of an approaching tsunami and then
quickly evacuate vulnerable coastal communities to safer areas. The detailed planning required for such
evacuation is usually carried out based on tsunami hazard zonation maps. Accordingly, the present paper
outlines the numerical modelling carried out to develop a high-resolution tsunami hazard map, as a case
study, for the city of Hambantota on the south coast of Sri Lanka, which was devastated by the 2004
tsunami. The results give the spatial distribution of the dpeth of inundation as well as the maximum flow
velocities due to an event similar to the 2004 tsunami.
1. INTRODUCTION
The mega-tsunami of 26th December 2004 unleashed by the earthquake of moment magnitude 9.1 - 9.3
in the Sumatra-Andaman subduction zone caused enormous loss of lives and damage to property in Sri
Lanka and in several other countries bordering the Indian Ocean. The unprecedented disaster clearly
underscored the need to have a proper system in place for tsunami early warning as well as for quick
evacuation of vulnerable coastal communities to safer areas. One essential pre-requisite in planning such
evacuation is the development of inundation maps which provide a graphical presentation of damage-
prone areas with expected depth of flooding and flow velocities in case of a similar tsunami attack.
Accordingly, the present paper outlines the numerical modelling of tsunami propagation and inundation
carried out to develop a detailed tsunami hazard zonation map, as a case study, for the city of Hambantota
on the south coast of Sri Lanka, which was devastated by the 2004 tsunami.
2. NUMERICAL MODELLING
In the following, we outline the coseismic source model and the hydrodynamic model employed to
simulate the generation and the propagation of the 2004 tsunami, respectively. The nested grid set-up
used in the hydrodynamic model simulations is also described.
scheme. The model has been validated by experimental data [4] and has already been successfully used
to investigate several historical tsunami events [7].
The bathymetry data for the largest grid employed in the simulations, i.e., Region 1 shown in Fig. 2,
was obtained by interpolating ETOPO2 data with a resolution of 2 arc minutes to a grid of 0.6765 arc
minutes (~1250 m) spacing. Region 2, which is embedded in Region 1, is also shown in Fig. 2. The
bathymetry data for Region 2 with a grid resolution of 0.1353 arc minutes (~250 m) shown in Fig. 3 as
well as for Region 3 (grid spacing 50 m, Fig. 4) was at first interpolated from ETOPO2 data and was then
updated with data from the available navigation charts. A fourth level grid, Region 4, with a grid spacing
of 10 m was used to cover the city of Hambantota (see Fig. 4 for location of this grid with respect to
Region 3). The topographic data for this grid was obtained from high resolution LIDAR survey data (The
precise digital earth model of the coastal areas of Sri Lanka, Project Director: Prof. Fabrizio Ferrucci,
Italy) made available to the author by the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights of the
Government of Sri Lanka. These LIDAR data have been acquired at a horizontal resolution of 1 m and a
vertical resolution of not more than 0.3 m and were originally projected on to the UTM WGS84 - Zone
44N coordinate system.
Elevation (m)
Elevation (m)
Latitude (in deg.)
Latitude (in deg.)
Region 3
Region 2
3. MODEL RESULTS
The computed arrival time contours for the city of Hambantota are shown in Fig. 5. The numerical
simulations suggest an arrival time of around 130 minutes for the central area of the city whilst Inoue et
al. [2] report that the clock on a tower located near the bus station had stopped at 9:22 AM local time, i.e.,
143 min after the earthquake, probably corresponding to the arrival of the maximum wave which
according to some eyewitnesses was the first wave. However, another eyewitness account reported in [2]
suggests an arrival time of 130 minutes for the first wave.
The model results of the spatial distribution of the
maximum depth of inundation that would be caused by
an event similar to the tsunami in December 2004 in the
city of Hambantota is shown in Fig. 6. The arrows
6.14
the right and the hilly area to the left of the main flow as indicated by the arrows. Meantime, flood water
also rushes through location B, where the sand dune had been breached, towards both Saltern-2 and
Saltern-3. It is clear that, on the whole, the comparatively vast extents of the salterns have also acted as
sinks to absorb and spread water whilst the sand dunes, where present, have helped protect the settlements
in their shadow from direct tsunami attack.
Saltern-3 Saltern-3
Saltern-2
6.14 6.14
B B
Saltern-1 Saltern-1
A A
SEA SEA
6.12 6.12
4. CONCLUSIONS
The onshore flooding caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in the city of Hambantota on the south
coast of Sri Lanka has been numerically modelled to develop a tsunami hazard map depicting the spatial
distribution of the maximum depth of flooding as well as the flow velocities. The model simulations
clearly indicate the dominant influence of the geomorphological features of coastal lands on the spatial
distribution of tsunami inundation. The hazard map developed should be useful in planning evacuation
and in public education and awareness activities, but not intended for land-use regulation.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A part of the work described in the present paper was carried out with financial support from USAID/US Indian
Ocean Tsunami Warning System (IOTWS) Project Grant No.04-05-IOTWS-06. The author also wishes to thank
Prof. Philip Liu of Cornell University for making the COMCOT code available to carry out the model simulations.
REFERENCES
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