The Natural Hazard Impacts Project (NHIP) at Geoscience Australia has developed modelling techniques that enable coastal inundation to be predicted during a tsunami. A Collaborative Research Agreement between Geoscience Australia and the Fire and Emergency Services Authority (FESA) was formed in 2005 to understand tsunami risk and inform emergency management in WA. Through this partnership a significant tsunami risk was identified in NW Western Australia, leading to the development of inundation models for several coastal communities in this region, including Onslow and Exmouth. Recognising the importance of this research to Geoscience Australia, FESA and the communities of Onslow and Exmouth, this year's graduate project was designed to assist the NHIP and to further strengthen ties with FESA and community organisations. The project had several distinct outcomes which can be divided into data acquisition and community interaction. High quality elevation data was gathered by GPS surveying in order to ascertain the quality of the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) that is currently used in inundation models. Improved accuracy in the elevation data allows the capture of subtle changes in topography that may not be present in the existing DEM and so may improve model accuracy. Secondly, ground-truthing of predicted inundation areas supplements the survey data, provides critical assistance in the production of accurate inundation models and potentially aids in the production of emergency plans. Prior to fieldwork a community-specific tsunami awareness brochure was designed and produced for Onslow. This brochure was presented to Onslow local emergency managers and FESA personnel, and subsequently to Emergency Management Australia and the Bureau of Meteorology. It has received widespread positive feedback, and consequently may provide a template for other community brochures in similarly vulnerable regions of Australia. Finally, graduates represented Geoscience Australia at several community meetings in Onslow where NHIP research was presented. These meetings provided insight into specific community concerns in the event of a tsunami and provided an opportunity for the attendees to ask questions about tsunamis and their impacts. Fortuitously this community interaction also led to the discovery of anecdotal evidence of past tsunami events in Onslow, including the tsunami triggered by the 1883 Krakatau eruption, a 1937 tsunami that may be attributed to an earthquake near Java, and the 1994 and 2004 tsunamis.

Colour brochure about tsunami awareness and what to do in case of a tsunami threat. This pamphlet is produced jointly by Emergency Management Australia, Geoscience Australia and the Bureau of Meteorology.

The Attorney General's Department (AGD) has supported Geoscience Australia (GA) to develop inundation models for one South Australia (SA) community with the view of building the tsunami planning and preparation capacity of the SA State Government. The community that was chosen was Victor Harbor, which also includes the townships of Port Elliot and Middleton. These locations were selected in collaboration with the SA State Emergency Service (SES), SA Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Australian Government based on the National Near Shore Tsunami Hazard Assessment [1] that highlighted tsunami amplification near Victor Harbor. Three tsunamigenic events were selected for modelling from the scenario database that was calculated as part of the national offshore probabilistic Probabilistic Tsunami Hazard Aassessment (PTHA) [2]. The events selected are hypothetical and are based on the current understanding of the tsunami hazard. Only earthquake sources are considered as these account for the majority of tsunami that have historically been observed in Australia. The suite of events includes three 'worst-case' or 1 in 10 000 year hazard event from three different source zones; the Puysegur Trench, Java Trench and South Sandwhich Islands Trench. These three source zones were identified from the PTHA to contribute significantly to the offshore tsunami hazard near Victor Harbor.

The Attorney General's Department (AGD) has supported Geoscience Australia (GA) to develop inundation models for selected Northern Territory communities with the view of building the tsunami planning and preparation capacity of the Northern Territory Government. The communities chosen were Darwin, Palmerston, Wagait Beach and Dundee Beach. These locations were selected in collaboration with the Northern Territory Emergency Service (NTES) and Department of Natural Resources, Environment, The Arts and Sport (NRETAS) and the Australian Government based on a combination of the offshore Probabilistic Tsunami Hazard Assessment of Australia (PTHA)[1], the availability of suitable elevation data and the location of low lying communities. Three tsunamigenic events were selected for modelling from the scenario database that was calculated as part of the national offshore probabilistic tsunami hazard assessment (PTHA) [1]. The events selected are hypothetical and are based on the current understanding of the tsunami hazard. Only earthquake sources are considered as these account for the majority of tsunami. The suite of events includes three 'worst-case' or 1 in 10 000 year hazard events as well as more frequent events. Source zones considered are the Timor Trough, Flores-Wetar Thrust Fault and the Java Trench as these regions make the highest contribution to the offshore tsunami hazard for Darwin.

The Attorney-General's Department (AGD) has supported Geoscience Australia (GA) to develop inundation models for four Victorian communities with the view of enhancing the tsunami planning and preparation capacity of the Victorian State Government. The four communities chosen were Lakes Entrance, Port Fairy, Portland, and Warrnambool. These locations were selected in collaboration with the Victorian State Emergency Service (SES) and the Australian Government, based on an initial review of low lying coastal communities, and an Australia wide nearshore tsunami hazard assessment [1]. Several tsunamigenic events were selected for modelling from the scenario database that was calculated as part of the national offshore probabilistic tsunami hazard assessment (PTHA) [2]. The events selected are hypothetical and are based on the current understanding of the tsunami hazard. Only earthquake sources are considered, which account for the majority of tsunami. The suite of events includes 'worst-case' or 1 in 10000 year hazard events, as well as a more frequent (1 in 100 and 1 in 500 year hazard) events. Source zones considered are the Puysegur Trench (all cases), the New Hebrides Trench and the Kermadec Trench (Lakes Entrance only), and the Java Trench and the South Sandwich Islands Trench (Port Fairy, Portland, and Warrnambool only). Based on the probabilistic tsunami hazard assessment [2], these source zones are considered as they make the most significant contributions to the offshore tsunami hazard for the study sites.

The Indian Ocean tsunami of December 26, 2004 and subsequent smaller events (off Nias in 2005, Java in 2006 and the Solomon Islands in 2007) have increased awareness among emergency management authorities throughout the Pacific of the need for more information regarding the hazard faced by Pacific nations from tsunami. Over the last few years the Australian Government has undertaken an effort to support regional and national efforts in the southwest Pacific to build capacity to respond to seismic and tsunami information. As part of this effort, Geoscience Australia has received support from AusAid to partner with the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) to assist Pacific countries in assessing the tsunami hazard faced by nations in the southwest Pacific. The tsunami threat faced by Pacific island countries consists of a complex mix of tsunami from local, regional and distant sources, whose effects at any particular location in the southwest Pacific are highly dependent on variations in seafloor shape between the source and the affected area. These factors make the design of an effective warning system for the southwest Pacific problematic, because so many scenarios are possible and each scenario's impact on different islands is so varied. In order to provide national governments in the southwest Pacific with the information they need to make informed decisions about tsunami mitigation measures, including development of a warning system, a comprehensive hazard and risk assessment is called for. The aim of the report is to provide a probabilistic tsunami hazard assessment (PTHA) to SOPAC and AusAID to quantify the expected hazard for the SW Pacific nations. It follows a preliminary report of the tsunami hazard (Thomas et al, 2007) that was restricted to maximum credible tsunami events.

Legacy product - no abstract available

The maps contained on this DVD are designed to provide emergency managers and others with an estimate of the probability of large tsunami generated by a large subduction zone earthquake reaching the 100m contour offshore Australia. These maps were created by generating a synthetic catalogue of possible earthquakes with associated probabilities and estimating the maximum wave height of the resulting tsunami off the coast using numerical modelling.

Legacy product - no abstract available

We present the first national probabilistic tsunami hazard assessment (PTHA) for Indonesia. This assessment considers tsunami generated from earthquakes near-field sources around Indonesia as well as regional and far-field sources, to define the tsunami hazard at the coastline. The methodology is based on the established monte-carlo approach to probabilistic seismic hazard assessment (PSHA) and has been adapted to tsunami. The earthquake source information is primarily based on the recent Indonesian National Seismic Hazard Map developed by Team-9 and included a consensus-workshop with Indonesia's leading tsunami and earthquake scientists to finalise the input parameters. Results are presented in the form of tsunami hazard maps showing the expected tsunami height at the coast for a given return period (100, 500 and 2500 years) , and also as tsunami probability maps showing the probability of exceeding 0.5m and 3.0m at the coast, which define the thresholds for different tsunami warning levels in the Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System (Ina-TEWS).