Abstract Database

TSUNAMI SIMULATION FOR THE 1992 NICARAGUA EARTHQUAKE

MEE14619
Emilio Adán TALAVERA MARTINEZ
Supervisor: Bunichiro SHIBAZAKI, Yushiro FUJII
Country: Nicaragua
Abstract

On September 2, 1992, at 0:16 GMT one large earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean, in front of the coast of Nicaragua, and produced devastating tsunami. The earthquake that originated the tsunami had a magnitude Mw = 7.6, with the hypocentral depth of 15km. We performed tsunami simulation and tsunami inundation modeling for tsunami assessment, in the coastal area of the Pacific of Nicaragua. We assumed 27 forecast points along the coastline of the Pacific of Nicaragua, for tsunami waveform computation. We also assumed a fault model obtained by a previous study. We computed seafloor deformation and obtained the maximum uplift of 1.16m and maximum subsidence of 0.53m. Numerical modeling on tsunami propagation based on the TUNAMI-N2, was performed with 1 arc-minute and 30 arc-seconds GEBCO bathymetry data. Tsunami arrives at the coastline of the Pacific of Nicaragua, 45 minutes after the earthquake. The tsunami inundation modeling based on TUNAMI Code (ver.0) in a nested grid system, was performed with 30 arc-seconds GEBCO bathymetry data, and 1 arc-second ASTER topography data. The maximum run up height at the north of Corinto was calculated to be around 1.34m, and the inundation area extended about 69m. The maximum run up height in Puerto Sandino and El Tránsito was calculated to be around 4.3m to 5.18m, and the inundation area extended from 69m to 138m. In El Astillero, the maximum run up was calculated to be around 5.9m, and the inundation area extended from 69m to 207m. In Popoyo beach the maximum run up height was calculated to be around 6.3m, and the inundation area extended from 69m to 138m. The comparison of the maximum tsunami heights and run-up heights obtained from our numerical simulations, shows a very clear difference of the wave amplitude. Tsunami run-up heights are higher than maximum tsunami heights along the coast. In some areas the tsunami run-up heights are twice or 2.5 times higher than the maximum tsunami heights.