The Tsunami Generated by the Gorringe Bank Fault: Analyzing Wave Heights and Travel Time in the Atlantic Coast of Morocco

Abstract

Two hundred sixty-eight years (about three centuries) since the 1755 Lisbon tsunami, which provoked large-scale damage in Portugal, Spain and Morocco. Scientists in several countries have mobilized to develop investigative methods to study this extraordinary tsunami, with the aim of reducing the impact of waves in future events and protecting and warning populations at risk. However, the most important question remains whether the entire damaged community has sufficient information about the impact to prepare for tsunami risks. The aim of this paper is to determine the maximum wave heights in selected cities located within high-risk tsunami zones in Morocco, as well as the tsunami arrival time for each site. We used the Non-linear Shallow Water model With Nested Grids (NSWING) code to model tsunami propagation. Six cities were determined as observation points as being the subject of tsunami studies in previous work, namely Tangier, Asilah, Rabat, Casablanca, El-Jadida and Safi. The maximum wave height calculated within the Atlantic coast of Morocco exceeds 5 m in some locations and the first waves reach the Moroccan coast in 60 minutes. The authorities might utilize these results to develop evacuation plans.

Keywords

• tsunami
• maximum wave heights
• tsunami arrival time
• morocco