Abstract:
The Indian Ocean Tsunami de 'r-stated the- coastline of Sri Lanka. This paper sumrnarises the initial
efforts in understanding the tsunami wave and its hydraulic impact on the Sri Lankan coastline. It focuses
attention on the hydraulic processes which led to large scale inundation, analysis of wave- current
measurements recorded offshore of Colombo Harbour and describes post tsunami field investigations to
assess the overall impact on the coastline. The paper identifies the need for modeling of potential
tsunamis and discusses briefly issues relating to the planning of countermeasures.
