Numerical simulation of the December 26, 2004 :Indian ocean Tsunami

Abstract

The December 26, 2004 tsunami is one of the most devastating tsunami in recorded history. It was generated in the Indian Ocean off the western coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia at 0:58:53 (GMT) by one of the largest earthquake of the century with a earthquake magnitude of M[subscript w] = 9.1-9.3 In this study, we focus on the best-fitted tsunami source based on geophysical and seismological data, and the use of accurate bathymetry and topography data. Then, we simulated the large scale features of the tsunami propagation, runup and inundation. The numerical simulation is performed using GEOWAVE model. GEOWAVE consists of two components: the modeling of the tsunami source (Okada, 1985), and the computation of the wave propagation and inundation based on a second-order fully nonlinear Boussinesq equations. The tsunami source is used as initial condition in the tsunami propagation and inundation model. The tsunami source model is calibrated by usingavailable tide gauge data and anomalous water elevations recorded by Jason1 altimeter (track 129, cycle 109). The simulated maximum wave heights for the Indian Ocean are displayed and compared with observations with a special focus on the Thailand coast.