Science of Tsunami Hazards (Feb 2017)

CONTRASTING RESULTS OF POTENTIAL TSUNAMI HAZARDS IN MUISNE, CENTRAL COAST OF ECUADOR

  • Theofilos Toulkeridis,
  • Humberto Parra1,
  • Fernando Mato,
  • Mario Cruz D’Howitt,
  • Washington Sandova,
  • Oswaldo Padilla Almeida,
  • Willington Rentería,
  • Fabián Rodríguez Espinosa,
  • Rodolfo Salazar Martínez,
  • Jessica Cueva Girón,
  • Adriana Taipe Quispe,
  • Lucía Bernaza Quiñonez

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 36, no. 1
pp. 13 – 40

Abstract

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After the 7.8 Mw Earthquake occurred in Ecuador on April 16 of 2016, the Ecuadorian Government declared the whole Island of Muisne into a risk hazard zone by a potential Tsunami impact and subsequent flooding. Based on the emitted resolution, human settlements in the affected area were prohibited, and a resettlement project in the village of Bunche is currently taking place. Nonetheless, our study demonstrates that the inundation chart used to release the mentioned resolution underestimate the flooding area in case of a real Tsunami impact. To support this conclusion, we present a new inundation chart for the three more probable scenarios, based on historical tsunami records and a seismic hazard assessment study in central coastal Ecuador.

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