UH models calculate
tsunami flooding

Researchers predict wave run-up
levels for quake scenarios

University of Hawaii researchers have developed sophisticated models to predict coastal flooding in Hawaii from tsunamis generated by distant earthquakes.

Professor Kwok Fai Cheung of the Department of Ocean and Resources Engineering and associate professor Michelle Teng of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering pre-calculate tsunamis for different earthquake scenarios.

The calculations are so complex that they could not be completed quickly enough in an emergency, so they are prepared and stored in a computer model before a tsunami occurs, the scientists said.

When an earthquake generates a tsunami, scientists enter specific data relayed by underwater buoys into the model and receive rapid results indicating the tsunami wave forms at strategic locations throughout the Pacific Rim.

Model calculations have been completed for earthquakes generated in Alaska, Japan, the Russian Far East and South America - regions most likely to generate tsunamis that would reach Hawaii.

Cheung and his colleagues are working with Hawaii State Civil Defense to update Hawaii's evacuation maps.

Cheung said the Sea Grant Program recognized the need for tsunami research long before the Dec. 26 disaster in the Indian Ocean. "Our research and development efforts, while directly helping the people of Hawaii, can also be used as a model for what can be done in other areas of the world."

Hawaii Sea Grant, which has partnerships with federal, state and private groups, has awarded nearly $500,000 in research funds to improve public understanding and reaction to tsunamis.

The program also is providing funding for graduate students studying coastal hazards to help increase scientists with the expertise to model and forecast tsunami events.

Yong Wei, Cheung's graduate student, has developed a model for tsunami run-up that is being tested for use globally by the Hawaii Tsunami Mapping Project. It accounts for seabed topography and other unique factors in Hawaii.

Another of Cheung's graduate students, Edison Gica, has provided information on tsunamis to Hawaii high school students and their parents while contributing to the computer models for his doctoral dissertation.

Sea Grant also funds extension agents Zoe Norcross on Maui and Dolan Eversole on Oahu to provide expertise to the community on coastal processes and hazards.

Mary Donohue, Hawaii Sea Grant associate director, said: "We have the best tsunami researchers in the world right here at the University of Hawaii.

"Most importantly, I hope we don't forget about what happened in Indonesia just because it's not leading the news cycle."