Researchers go into action after Tsunami

British researchers have launched urgent research programmes in order to learn lessons from the recent Indian Ocean Tsunami disaster. Such knowledge is relevant to both UK, and overseas disaster assessment and prevention programmes.
Funded by grants from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), teams from the University of Cambridge, the University of Newcastle, and University College London have looked at differing aspects of the tsunami's effects. Their objectives were to collect and assess appropriate structural, topographical, seismological and tsunami related data.

The University of Newcastle received a grant from EPSRC to undertake an immediate survey mission to the regions affected by the tsunami. Dr Sean Wilkinson from the University's Civil Engineering Department, with Dr Tiziana Rossetto from University College London, participated as members of the Earthquake Engineering Field Investigation Team (EEFIT) - which has now returned from the disaster zone. Their aim was to research the damage to buildings and infrastructure caused by the tsunami and to make recommendations to reduce or prevent damage in the future.

A further objective was to assess the reasons for the high death toll and suggest what engineering / architectural measures could be taken to save lives. Drs Wilkinson and Rossetto spent 10 days in Sri Lanka and Thailand researching the tsunami's impact on structures, coastal topography, and the differences in how well-designed and badly-designed buildings stood up to the events.

Dr Sean Wilkinson said of the findings: "What we found was quite unexpected. Even in the worst hit areas, many well engineered buildings suffered only modest structural damage, however they offered little protection from the tsunami. This is the opposite to what we find for normal earthquakes and has major implications for coastal communities worldwide."

A research team from the Department of Architecture at the University of Cambridge is using EPSRC funding in collating eyewitness reports from British citizens, field surveys, and satellite imagery to build a more complete understanding of the tsunami's behaviour and potential risks.

"More than any other recent earthquake-related disaster, the immediate and long term effects are not confined to the Indian Ocean basin, but are still being felt around the world. Rapid recording of damage data helps to identify when and where such changes have occurred," said Professor Robin Spence, the Cambridge project's Principal Investigator.

The Cambridge University work has direct implications for UK coastal regions. Dr Ilan Kelman and Keiko Saito the project's researchers, explain: "UK coastlines are vulnerable to rare but large scale tsunamis. Major storm damage occurs relatively frequently. The understanding of safer coastal development, which our research work could produce, will apply directly to UK practices."

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) reacted quickly to these funding requests and ensured that the opportunity for optimised research with direct relevance to science, and people's lives, was achieved.

Source: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

Related stories:

Students to Test 'Tsunami Shelters'
Their tsunami shelters are only made out of small wooden blocks and held together by toothpaste used for glue, but they also incorporate months of study with computer-aided design, learning about engineering principles, applying skills to real world problems and the simple ingenuity of hundreds of middle school students from Oregon coastal and rural areas.
Making (accurate predictions of) waves
A new review of tsunami hazards concludes that the 2004 catastrophe was far from the worst possible in many Indian Ocean borderlands -- and notes that warning systems to guard at-risk populations are still lagging.
Status quo of the tsunami early warning system for the Indian Ocean
The German-Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System for the Indian Ocean (GITEWS) runs on track. Main milestones like the development of the automatic data processing software SeisComP3, as well as the underwater communication for the transmission of the pressure data from the ocean floor to a warning centre are already finalised. Furthermore the calculations of the ocean modelling including the source modelling were completed and are available in a data base so that the system can be set into operation at the end of 2008. This positive conclusion is drawn by the GITEWS consortium consisting of different German geo and marine scientists on the occasion of the third anniversary of the tsunami catastrophe on December 26, 2004.
NEPTUNE Completes First Phase of Installation
The first phase of the new NEPTUNE Canada ocean observatory is being completed today off the west coast of Vancouver Island.
Making waves: New research could minimize the impact of future tsunami
For the first time, a team of experts is preparing to create tsunami in a controlled environment in order to study their effects on buildings and coastlines - ultimately paving the way for the design of new structures better able to withstand their impact.
Study of coastal disasters yields surprising findings, arresting images
Two of the world’s worst natural disasters in recent years stemmed from different causes on opposite sides of the globe, but actually had much in common, according to Yin Lu “Julie” Young.
Iowa State to unveil the most realistic virtual reality room in the world
You're high above the desert peaks. Your Predators are approaching their targets. Information from instruments, cameras and radar is before your eyes. And with the help of 100 million pixels of bright and vivid virtual reality you're in control of a swarm of U.S. Air Force unmanned aerial vehicles.
Mapping the wake of a pending quake
Research into ancient earthquakes by scientists at USC and Caltech shows that within the next few decades another tsunami from another giant earthquake is likely to flood densely populated sections of western coastal Sumatra, south of those that devastated by the tsunami of Dec. 26, 2004.

News discussion:

Space & Earth science news