A low-cost toolbox for high-resolution vulnerability and hazard-perception mapping in view of tsunami risk mitigation: Application to New Caledonia

Thomas, Bruce Enki Oscar; Roger, Jean; Gunnell, Yanni; Sabinot, Catherine; Aucan, Jérôme

doi:10.1016/j.ijdrr.2021.102350

Cited by 12 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 123 publications

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“…As a general starting point, we can say that most of the cases reported here point out the low consideration of tsunami risk by people living in the coastal areas, independently from the region of the world and from the frequency of past tsunamis. There are some exceptions to this, especially in areas where recent tsunamis have occurred (Arias et al, 2017;Thomas et al, 2021). Also people's recent experience of other extreme events (different from tsunamis) determines a better attitude towards mitigation actions and correct response, particularly when the impact of these events on the interviewees has been strong (Buylova et al, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tsunami risk perception, a state-of-the-art review with a focus in the NEAM region

2022

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Large-scale coastal urban sprawl, development of tourist accommodations and industrial maritime poles have highly increased the tsunami risk to people living and/or traveling along the coasts of our planet. The disastrous tsunamis in the Indian Ocean (2004) and in the Pacific Ocean (2011), as well as a suite of other damaging events worldwide, have encouraged International Institutions, first of all UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, National Governments and Local Communities to implement Tsunami Warning Systems (TWS), to raise awareness on tsunami risk, and to create a multilevel risk governance. In this framework, research on tsunami risk perception plays a key role. The results of these studies should be taken into account in designing risk mitigation programs and tools (such as drills, activities with local communities, emergency plans, etc.). This paper presents a review of such studies, carried out in several countries worldwide through many thousands of interviews performed with different techniques. Most tsunami risk perception studies were carried out in the regions where the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System and the Pacific Ocean one (PTWS) operate. In the NEAMTWS (North-East Atlantic, Mediterranean and connected seas Tsunami Warning Systems) region, only few specific studies were conducted, mostly within the EU-funded ASTARTE project (2013–2017) and more recently in a few extensive surveys on tsunami risk perception conducted in Italy between 2019 and 2021. Although the twenty-three studies analyzed in our review show a strong heterogeneity of methodological approaches and population samples, they allow us to outline some general considerations on tsunami risk as perceived by people in the different regions of the world. With the help of a table, we schematically summarized the emerging strengths, weaknesses and lessons learned in the twenty-three papers, noting an increase in the number of such studies in the last 5 years. The surveys were mostly concentrated in high-risk areas and focused on local residents. Some differences emerged depending on the memory of past tsunamis, education level, and local cultures. This provides useful hints for sound citizen-based tsunami risk reduction actions, including improved risk communication aimed at increasing the resilience of tsunami-prone populations. The need for increasing the assessment of tourists’ tsunami risk perception, and for a more homogeneous survey strategy also emerge from our analysis.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tsunami risk perception, a state-of-the-art review with a focus in the NEAM region

2022

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“…An e cient way of understanding those datasets consists in mapping the entire population on each island, and then focusing on the populated areas that pinpoint in each village where the population actually lives (Thomas et al 2021). The result presented here focus on the Vava'u group of islands, around the village of Ta'anea, in order to illustrate the methodology (Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, in the case of a tsunami such de nitions are no substitute for run-up height as the best reference frame. In this paper, the coastal belt (termed coastal fringe in Thomas et al 2021) is de ned between the highest astronomical tide limit and a certain critical elevation contour. Given the small size of the islands and the highest run-ups reported (Clark et al 2011;Fritz et al 2011; Government of Tonga 2022), the 0-30 m elevation band covers a comprehensive range of possibilities from small to potentially large tsunamis.…”

Section: 1mentioning

confidence: 99%

A method for planning disaster risk management and calibrating disaster relief efforts: application to the 2009 and 2022 Tonga tsunamis

Thomas

Roger

Gunnell

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Coastal communities are highly exposed to ocean- and climate-related hazards but often lack an accurate population and infrastructure database. On January 15, 2022 and for many days thereafter, the Kingdom of Tonga was cut off from the rest of the world by a destructive tsunami associated with the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai volcanic eruption. This situation was made worse by COVID-19-related lockdowns and no precise idea of the magnitude and pattern of destruction incurred. The occurrence of such events in remote island communities highlights the need for (1) precisely knowing the distribution of residential and public buildings, and (2) evaluating what proportion of those would be vulnerable to a tsunami. A GIS-based dasymetric mapping method, previously tested in New Caledonia for assessing and calibrating population distribution at high resolution, is improved and implemented in less than a day to jointly map population clusters and critical elevation contours based on runup scenarios, and is tested against destruction patterns independently recorded in Tonga after the two recent tsunamis of 2009 and 2022. Results show that 62% of the population of Tonga lives in well-defined clusters between sea level and the 15 m elevation contour. The patterns of vulnerability thus obtained for each island of the archipelago allow exposure and potential for cumulative damage to be ranked as a function of tsunami magnitude and source-area. By relying on low-cost tools and incomplete datasets for rapid implementation in the context of natural disasters, this approach works for all types of natural hazards, is easily transferable to other insular settings, can assist in guiding emergency rescue targets, and can help to elaborate future land-use planning priorities for disaster risk reduction purposes.

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“…People with a higher educational qualification are more likely to have better knowledge about natural hazards in their area and basic knowledge about tsunamis. Such a knowledge, in some situations, may reduce the response time in case of emergencies and fosters appropriate and effective behaviors [78,11,70,79,80,21,71,64,81,22].…”

Section: Proximity Age Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Proximity to the coast also positively affects some key factors closely related to tsunami risk perception including: knowledge of the phenomenon, behaviors one would adopt in case of emergency, and evacuation in case of tsunami warning Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 11 January 2023 doi:10.20944/preprints202301.0194.v1 [77]. Furthermore, research shows that tsunami risk perception is closely related to the temporal factors of residence in each area and to the memory of events that occurred in the past [81]. Others noticed a lower tsunami risk perception among those living in cities or large urban centers than among those living in the countryside or small towns [82].…”

Section: Proximity Age Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Something Still Remains: Factors Affecting Tsunami Risk Perception on the Coasts Hit by the Reggio Calabria – Messina 1908 Event (Italy)

Cerase¹,

Cugliari²

2023

Preprint

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In the Mediterranean, the probability of tsunamis is lower than in other coastal areas such as the Pacific Ring, where tsunamis are more familiar and memory of past events and anticipatory signals and protective measures is preserved by local culture, along with media and scientific sources, therefore tsunami risk is more likely to be downplayed or neglected. Past research identified socio-demographic and spatial factors that may affect tsunami risk perception. This research is based on a sample of 5842 CATI interviews to investigate whether and how risk perception and risk knowledge were affected by a major event such as the 1908 Reggio Calabria Messina tsunami, by making a comparison between areas hit by that event and unaffected areas, also providing some explanatory hypotheses. Despite differences between Calabria and Sicily, data anyway show higher levels of tsunami risk perception in the area affected by the 1908 event, along with a major role of interpersonal sources, playing a relevant role in information gathering and understanding. Research also suggests the need to better integrate different sources of knowledge to improve people’s understanding as to effectively cope with tsunami risk.

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A low-cost toolbox for high-resolution vulnerability and hazard-perception mapping in view of tsunami risk mitigation: Application to New Caledonia

Cited by 12 publications

References 123 publications

Tsunami risk perception, a state-of-the-art review with a focus in the NEAM region

Tsunami risk perception, a state-of-the-art review with a focus in the NEAM region

A method for planning disaster risk management and calibrating disaster relief efforts: application to the 2009 and 2022 Tonga tsunamis

Something Still Remains: Factors Affecting Tsunami Risk Perception on the Coasts Hit by the Reggio Calabria – Messina 1908 Event (Italy)

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