Tsunami Impact on Near-Shore Infrastructure: Challenges and Solutions

摘要

Recent tsunami events have brought to light an often overlooked fact: that they represent one of the most destructive natural disasters. The past decade has been witness to four major earthquake-generated tsunamis: 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami; 2007 Solomon Islands Tsunami; 2010 Chile Tsunami; and 2011 Japan Tsunami. These natural disasters have been responsible for widespread infrastructure damage, devastating economic consequences, and significant fatalities. The recovery for many of the coastal communities that have been hit by these tsunamis will take years. Those that have witnessed and survived such horrifying events will also deal with long lasting psychosocial-related issues. While developed countries are apparently better prepared than many of the developing nations, the March 2011 Japan earthquake and subsequent tsunami demonstrated that the current state of the art in disaster prevention and mitigation, particularly for the case of tsunamis, is limited, in spite of the experience and prevention efforts of countries such as Japan.