Tsunami Planning and Preparation in WA - Application of a computer based risk assessment  

Authors / CoAuthors

Hall, G. | Stevens, R. | Sexton, J.

Abstract

Following the tragic events of the Indian Ocean tsunami on 26 December 2004 it became obvious there were shortcomings in the response and alert systems for the threat of tsunami to Western Australia's (WA) coastal communities. The relative risk of a tsunami event to the towns, remote indigenous communities, and infrastructure for the oil, gas and mining industries was not clearly understood in 2004. Consequently, no current detailed response plans for a tsunami event in WA coastal areas existed. The Boxing Day event affected the WA coastline from Bremer Bay on the south coast, to areas north of Exmouth on the north-west coast, with a number of people requiring rescue from abnormally strong currents and rips. There were also reports of personal belongings at some beaches inundated by wave activity. More than 30 cm of water flowed down a coast-side road in Geraldton on the mid-west coast, and Geordie Bay at Rottnest Island (19 km of the coast of Fremantle) experienced five 'tides' in three hours, resulting in boats hitting the ocean bed a number of times. The vivid images of the devastation caused by the 2004 event across a wide geographical area changed the perception of tsunami and achieved an appreciation of the potential enormity of impact from this low frequency but high consequence natural hazard. With WA's proximity to the Sunda Arc, which is widely recognised as a high probability area for intra-plate earthquakes, the need to develop a better understanding of tsunami risk and model the potential social and economic impacts on communities and critical infrastructure along the Western Australian coast, became a high priority. Under WA's emergency management arrangements, the Fire and Emergency Services Authority (FESA) has responsibility for ensuring effective emergency management is in place for tsunami events across the PPRR framework.

Product Type

nonGeographicDataset

eCat Id

67203

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Keywords

• External Publication

( Theme )

• tsunamis

( Theme )

• numerical modelling

( Theme )

• 3D model

( Theme )

• risk assessment

• AU-WA

Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)

• Earth Sciences

• Published_Internal

Publication Date

2008-07-16T00:00:00

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Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem    

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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence    

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unknown

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geoscientificInformation

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