Authors / CoAuthors
Burbidge, D.
Abstract
As part of the Australian Tsunami Warning System Project (2005-09), the Attorney-General's Department funded Geoscience Australia to develop the national offshore Probabilistic Tsunami Hazard Assessment (PTHA). This assessment could then be used by Australian emergency managers in understanding the tsunami hazard to Australia. The national offshore PTHA considers the tsunami hazard posed to the entire Australian coast by tsunami caused by subduction zone earthquakes in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. These regions are known to have produced major tsunamigenic events External site link in recorded history and are the most likely sources of future events. The hazard maps are defined at a bathymetry water depth contour of 100m offshore. This normally falls outside of the Great Barrier Reef or other reef systems. The 100m depth contour is chosen because: Estimating the tsunami closer to the coast requires high resolution bathymetric data which does not always exist for the entire coast estimating the tsunami closer to the coast is a more computational and time intensive task. These maps help to identify the areas which are most likely to be at risk to damaging tsunami waves. However, they cannot be used directly to infer how far a tsunami will inundate onshore (inundation extent), how high above sea level they will reach on land (run-up), the extent of damage or any other onshore phenomena. To estimate the onshore tsunami impact, detailed bathymetry and topography of the specific region concerned is required for input to a detailed inundation model. The catalogue of tsunami events used to derive the national offshore PTHA can be used by emergency managers, researchers and individuals however to develop detailed inundation models at any onshore location.
Product Type
dataset
eCat Id
81947
Contact for the resource
Custodian
Point of contact
Cnr Jerrabomberra Ave and Hindmarsh Dr GPO Box 378
Canberra
ACT
2601
Australia
Keywords
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- Database
- ( Theme )
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- tsunamis
- ( Theme )
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- geohazards
- ( Theme )
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- marine
- Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)
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- Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience
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- Published_Internal
Publication Date
2008-01-01T00:00:00
Creation Date
Security Constraints
Legal Constraints
Status
Purpose
Maintenance Information
unknown
Topic Category
geoscientificInformation
Series Information
Lineage
The dataset was originally created by GA for the National Tsunami Hazard Map. The map was funded by EMA (Emergency Management Australia) in 2007-08 as part of the Australian Tsunami Warning System Project (2005-2009). EMA's role in the ATWS was to develop the capacity of emergency managers to manage the tsunami risk and to develop community awareness products to assist the emergency managers in their role as well as the broader Australian community. EMA therefore funded the activity to develop the national tsunami hazard map under the umbrella of developing the capacity of emergency managers. The map provides valuable information to understand the level of tsunami risk they are exposed to and to prioritise detailed inundation studies in their jurisdictions. The map could also be used to communicate the national tsunami hazard to a range of stakeholders, including the public. It shows how the hazard varies around the country which is a function of the proximity to subduction zones and the shape of the seafloor. EMA is now part of the Attorney-General's Department. GA has always been the custodian of the dataset, although copies of it have been provided to other parties over the years. The MOU between AGD and GA for the work states that the data ownership resides with the Commonwealth of Australia. Both GA and AGD are Commonwealth agencies with AGD funding the work and GA developing and generating the product itself. This work considers the tsunami hazard posed to the entire Australian coast by tsunami caused by subduction zone earthquakes in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The focus on subduction zones in the southeast Indian and Pacific Oceans is justified because these are known to have produced major tsunamigenic events in recorded history and are the most likely source of future events. Sources not considered in this assessment include: - Non-seismic tsunami sources (eg submarine landslides, volcanoes or asteroids); and - Earthquakes that do not occur on a subduction zone. Examples of these earthquakes include those that occur on plate margins or within the plate itself (intra-plate earthquakes). The hazard maps are defined at a 100 m offshore contour. This contour normally falls outside of the Great Barrier Reef or other reef systems. The 100 m contour is chosen because - estimating the tsunami closer to the coast requires high resolution bathymetric data which does not always exist for the entire coast; and - estimating the tsunami closer to the coast is a more computational and time intensive task. It is important to emphasize that the hazard maps cannot be used directly to infer inundation extents, run-ups, damage or other onshore phenomena. To estimate the tsunami onshore impact, the following inputs are required: - detailed bathymetry and topography of the region concerned; and - a more sophisticated scientific process than that used for this assessment.
Parent Information
Extents
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Reference System
Spatial Resolution
Service Information
Associations
Source Information
Data source not available as yet 110.0 156.0 -44.0 -9.0