Assessment of exposure of Sri Lanka to tsunami hazards

Abstract

Nearly two third of the coastal zone of Sri Lanka suffered severe damages due to the tsunami caused by the undersea earthquake in the Sunda trench on 26 December 2004. The vast destruction was mainly due to the lack of awareness and preparedness in the country on tsunami hazards. The tsunami in 2004 and the subsequent tsunami alerts have highlighted the exposure of the country for such hazards. This study was focused on assessing the exposure of Sri Lanka to such potential tsunami events from Sunda trench using numerical simulations and to develop a database including information such as magnitude and location of earthquakes, tsunami travel times, deep sea and near shore wave heights and the extents of inundation which can be utilized for an early warning and evacuation system.