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Tsunami research reports

Cities Project Perth — Tsunami Appendix

Even before the Sumatran earthquake and tsunami on 26 December 2004, it was recognised in Cities Project Perth that Indonesian tsunami could have significant impacts in Western Australia, including on the Perth coastal region. As a consequence an appendix on tsunami hazard potential for Western Australia provides an overview of the historical impacts of tsunami in Western Australia and comments on the potential for future impacts on the State's south west coastal communities. More>>

• Full Report Summary
• Tsunami Appendix [PDF 460kb]

Hydrodynamic Modelling of Coastal Inundation

Modelling the effects on the built environment of natural hazards such as riverine flooding, storm surges and tsunami is critical for understanding their economic and social impact on urban communities. Geoscience Australia and the Australian National University are developing a hydrodynamic inundation modelling tool called ANUGA to help simulate the impact of these hazards.

• Brochure [PDF 6.1Mb]
• Extended Abstract [PDF 542kB]

Andaman-Sumatra earthquake - 2004

Hundreds of aftershocks have followed the Andaman-Sumatra earthquake on 26 December 2004. The magnitude 9.0 earthquake occurred where the Indo-Australian plate is being subducted under the Eurasia Plate. This subduction zone stretches from Burma in the west to West Irian Jaya in the east.

• Andaman-Sumatra earthquake aftershocks

Aitape Earthquake and Tsunami - 1998

Just before 7pm on Friday 17 July 1998, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake rocked the north coast region of Papua New Guinea. The Aitape tsunami resulted in more than 2,000 deaths, caused extensive damage to houses and public infrastructure and altered the environment around the village. A proposal to monitor aftershocks and provide advice to the Papua New Guinea and Australian governments was prepared by scientists from the Papua New Guinea Geological Survey and the forerunner to Geoscience Australia, the Australian Geological Survey Organisation. It was submitted to the two governments by the Australian aid agency, AusAID.

• Aitape Earthquake and Tsunami

AusGeo News Articles

March 2009 Scientific expertise and emergency management

• Scientific expertise and emergency management

Successful collaboration with state and Australian Government emergency management agencies using scientific analysis to assess tsunami impact to underpin planning and preparation activities.

March 2008 Tsunami: Graduate project strengthens community ties

• Graduate project strengthens community ties

March 2008 Tsunami: Spatial Excellence Award for tsunami modelling

• Spatial Excellence Award for tsunami modelling

March 2007 Operations Hub in Action for Australian Tsunami Warning System

The Operations Hub for Geoscience Australia's new Australian Tsunami Warning Centre (AusTWC) was officially opened on Friday 1 December 2006

• Operations Hub in Action for Australian Tsunami Warning System

September 2006 Modelling Answers Tsunami Questions

Geoscience Australia aims to define the economic and social threat posed to urban communities by natural hazards such as tsunami

• Modelling Answers Tsunami Questions

September 2006 Echoes of Ancient Tsunami

Geological signatures of tsunamis provide clues to tsunami hazards which are unknown or poorly understood from anecdotal and instrumental records alone

• Echoes of Ancient Tsunami

December 2005 Crustal Deformation from the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake

The Global Positioning System (GPS) and a global network of receivers now allows the detection of ground motion at the millimetre to centimetre level before, during and after earthquakes.

• Crustal Deformation from the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake

June 2005 Geoscience Australia's role in the Australian Tsunami Warning System

In the 2005-2006 Federal Budget handed down on 10 May the Australian Government announced the creation of the Australian Tsunami Warning System.

• Geoscience Australia's role in the Australian Tsunami Warning System

March 2005 The Boxing Day Tsunami - Echoes of 1833

An article in the September 2004 issue of AusGeo News discussed how massive earthquakes in the Sumatra subduction zone have the potential to cause tsunamis large enough to affect the entire Indian Ocean basin.

• The Boxing Day Tsunami - Echoes of 1833

September 2004 Small threat but warning sounded for tsunami research

There is an international tsunami warning system for the Pacific Ocean, but none for the Indian Ocean. How vulnerable is Australia to the risk of tsunami and are we leaving our western coastal communities exposed?

• Small threat but warning sounded for tsunami research (PDF 3.9 MB)

Geoscience Australia Library Catalogue

The Geoscience Australia Library is the premier geoscience library in Australia. Established in 1946, the library has an extensive collection of earth sciences material and is open to the public. More>>

• Search the Library for Tsunami titled books and reports.
• General Catalogue Search
• Library Services and Access
• Library Contact Information

External Research Links

• Bureau of Meteorology - Tsunami Information
• A first-generation real-time tsunami forecasting system for the Australian Region.

BMRC Research Report No. 126, Bur. Met. Australia.(Greenslade, D.J.M., Simanjuntak, M.A., Burbidge, D. and J. Chittleborough, 2007.)

• A Probabilistic Tsunami Hazard Assessment for Western Australia

David Burbidge, Phil .R. Cummins, Richard Mleczko, Hong Kie Thio, Pure and Applied Geophysics, DOI 10.1007/s00024-008-0421-x, 2008.

• Assessing the threat to Western Australia from tsunami generated by earthquakes along the Sunda Arc

David Burbidge and Phil Cummins, 2007. Natural Hazards, 10.1007/s11069-007-9116-3.

• DEST - Tsunamis: Does anybody have to die?

Report of the working group on tsunami to the prime minister's science, engineering and innovation council 2 December 2005. Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST).

The Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 has resulted in significant interest within Australia about the record of tsunami for the continent because an understanding of tsunami hazard begins with a catalogue of past events

• Fire and Emergency Services (FESA) Western Australia - Tsunami Information
• Historic records of teletsunami in the Indian Ocean and insights from numerical modelling

Dale Dominey-Howes, Phil Cummins and David Burbidge, 2006. Natural Hazards, 10.1007/s11069-006-9042-9.

• Medieval forewarning of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Thailand

Kruawun Jankaew, Brian F. Atwater, Yuki Sawai, Montri Choowong, Thasinee Charoentitirat, Maria E. Martin & Amy Prendergast, Nature 445, doi:10.1038/nature07373, 2008.

• The Effect of the Great Barrier Reef on the Propagation of the 2007 Solomon Islands Tsunami Recorded in Northeastern Australia

Toshitaka Baba, Richard Mleckzo, David Burbidge, Phil R. Cummins, Hong Kie Thio, Pure and Applied Geophysics, DOI 10.1007/s00024-008-0418-5, 2008.

• The potential for giant tsunamigenic earthquakes in the northern Bay of Bengal

Phil R. Cummins, Nature 449, 75-78, doi:10.1038/nature06088, 2007.

• The relationship of the seismic source and subduction zone structure for the 2004 December 26 Sumatra–Andaman earthquake

B.L.N. Kennett, and P.R. Cummins, 2005. Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 239, 1-2, p1-8.

• Tsunami Information Sources

Robert L. Wiegel, 2006. International Journal of the Tsunami Society, volume 24, number 2.

An extensive list of tsunami information sources from tsunami generation, propagation, effects of nearshore bathymetry, wave run-up on shore, and physical and numerical modelling.

• Tsunami planning and preparation in Western Australia: application of scientific modelling and community engagement

R. Stevens, G. Hall and J. Sexton, 2008. Australian Journal of Emergency Management, 23, 4, p30-36.