Tsunami damage estimation in Esmeraldas, Ecuador using fragility functions

The current study investigated the probable impact from a tsunami to a populated area located along the northwest ecuadorian coast, specifically in the key oil-industrial city of esmeraldas. a numerical tsunami simulation was performed considering the seismological and tectonic aspects of the area....

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Main Authors: Teresa Vera San Martín, Leonardo Gutierrez, Mario Palacios, Erick Mas, Adriano Bruno, Shunichi Koshimura
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: AIMS Press 2021-12-01
Series:AIMS Geosciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.aimspress.com/article/doi/10.3934/geosci.2021040?viewType=HTML
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author Teresa Vera San Martín
Leonardo Gutierrez
Mario Palacios
Erick Mas
Adriano Bruno
Shunichi Koshimura
author_facet Teresa Vera San Martín
Leonardo Gutierrez
Mario Palacios
Erick Mas
Adriano Bruno
Shunichi Koshimura
author_sort Teresa Vera San Martín
collection DOAJ
description The current study investigated the probable impact from a tsunami to a populated area located along the northwest ecuadorian coast, specifically in the key oil-industrial city of esmeraldas. a numerical tsunami simulation was performed considering the seismological and tectonic aspects of the area. The damage probability was calculated using fragility functions (ffs). Briefly, 16 cases of source models with slightly different fault parameters were tested, where one was selected as the worst scenario of tsunami inundation. This scenario was a hypothetic earthquake case (mw 8.7) located in front of esmeraldas city, approximately 100 km offshore along the ecuador—colombia trench, with three shallow fault segments (top depth of 10 km), a strike aligned with the trench axis, a middle dip angle of 28°, assuming large slips of 5 to 15 m, and a rake angle of 90°. The results from the numerical simulation were comparable to a similar study previously conducted and with those of historically documented data. The tsunami damage estimation using FFs resulted in estimated damages of 50% and 44% in exposed buildings and population, respectively. Results also showed that the most impacted areas were located next to the coastal shoreline and river. tourism, oil exports, and port activities, in general, would be affected in this scenario; thus, compromising important industries that support the national budget. Results from this study would assist in designing or improving tsunami risk reduction strategies, disaster management, use of coastal zones, and planning better policies.
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spelling doaj.art-54b23cf3b3e347108a9445877c5cd2c12022-12-21T18:45:24ZengAIMS PressAIMS Geosciences2471-21322021-12-017466969410.3934/geosci.2021040Tsunami damage estimation in Esmeraldas, Ecuador using fragility functionsTeresa Vera San Martín0Leonardo Gutierrez1Mario Palacios2Erick Mas3Adriano Bruno4Shunichi Koshimura51. Facultad del Mar y Medio Ambiente, Universidad del Pacífico, Ecuador1. Facultad del Mar y Medio Ambiente, Universidad del Pacífico, Ecuador 2. Gent University, Particle and Interfacial Technology Research group, Belgium1. Facultad del Mar y Medio Ambiente, Universidad del Pacífico, Ecuador3. IRIDES, Tohoku University, Japan4. Geoinformatics Unit, RIKEN Center for Advanced Intelligence Project, Japan3. IRIDES, Tohoku University, JapanThe current study investigated the probable impact from a tsunami to a populated area located along the northwest ecuadorian coast, specifically in the key oil-industrial city of esmeraldas. a numerical tsunami simulation was performed considering the seismological and tectonic aspects of the area. The damage probability was calculated using fragility functions (ffs). Briefly, 16 cases of source models with slightly different fault parameters were tested, where one was selected as the worst scenario of tsunami inundation. This scenario was a hypothetic earthquake case (mw 8.7) located in front of esmeraldas city, approximately 100 km offshore along the ecuador—colombia trench, with three shallow fault segments (top depth of 10 km), a strike aligned with the trench axis, a middle dip angle of 28°, assuming large slips of 5 to 15 m, and a rake angle of 90°. The results from the numerical simulation were comparable to a similar study previously conducted and with those of historically documented data. The tsunami damage estimation using FFs resulted in estimated damages of 50% and 44% in exposed buildings and population, respectively. Results also showed that the most impacted areas were located next to the coastal shoreline and river. tourism, oil exports, and port activities, in general, would be affected in this scenario; thus, compromising important industries that support the national budget. Results from this study would assist in designing or improving tsunami risk reduction strategies, disaster management, use of coastal zones, and planning better policies.https://www.aimspress.com/article/doi/10.3934/geosci.2021040?viewType=HTMLdamage estimationfragility functionspopulationtsunamiesmeraldas city
spellingShingle Teresa Vera San Martín
Leonardo Gutierrez
Mario Palacios
Erick Mas
Adriano Bruno
Shunichi Koshimura
Tsunami damage estimation in Esmeraldas, Ecuador using fragility functions
AIMS Geosciences
damage estimation
fragility functions
population
tsunami
esmeraldas city
title Tsunami damage estimation in Esmeraldas, Ecuador using fragility functions
title_full Tsunami damage estimation in Esmeraldas, Ecuador using fragility functions
title_fullStr Tsunami damage estimation in Esmeraldas, Ecuador using fragility functions
title_full_unstemmed Tsunami damage estimation in Esmeraldas, Ecuador using fragility functions
title_short Tsunami damage estimation in Esmeraldas, Ecuador using fragility functions
title_sort tsunami damage estimation in esmeraldas ecuador using fragility functions
topic damage estimation
fragility functions
population
tsunami
esmeraldas city
url https://www.aimspress.com/article/doi/10.3934/geosci.2021040?viewType=HTML
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