Integrated tsunami vulnerability and risk assessment: application to the coastal area of El Salvador

Abstract

Abstract. Advances in the understanding and prediction of tsunami impacts allow for the development of risk reduction strategies for tsunami-prone areas. This paper presents a tsunami vulnerability and risk assessment for the case study of El Salvador, the applied methodology dealing with the complexity and variability of coastal zones by means of (i) an integral approach to cover the entire risk-related process from the hazard, vulnerability and risk assessments to the final risk management; (ii) an integrated approach to combine and aggregate the information stemming from the different dimensions of coupled human and natural systems; and (iii) a dynamic and scale-dependent approach to integrate the spatiotemporal variability considerations. This work also aims at establishing a clear connection to translate the vulnerability and risk assessment results into adequate target-oriented risk reduction measures, trying to bridge the gap between science and management for the tsunami hazard. The approach is applicable to other types of hazards, having been successfully applied to climate-change-related flooding hazard.

A contribution to the selection of tsunami human vulnerability indicators: conclusions from tsunami impacts in Sri Lanka and Thailand (2004), Samoa (2009), Chile (2010) and Japan (2011)

“…and the vulnerability conditions that may exacerbate the tsunami impacts (UNDP, 2011;UNU-EHS, 2009;Villagrán de León, 2008;González-Riancho et al, 2014;Sugimoto et al, 2003;Sato et al, 2003;Koshimura et al, 2006;Jonkman et al, 2008;Strunz et al, 2011;Post et al, 2009;Dwyer et al, 2004;Tinti et al, 2011;Dall'Osso et al, 2009;Cruz et al, 2011;Grezio et al, 2012;Koeri, 2009;Eckert et al, 2012;etc. ).…”

“…human, ecological, socioeconomic, infrastructural) or on an integrated approach when dealing with coupled human and natural systems. Most of the vulnerability assessments are carried out by means of the definition of a set of indices and indicators which are normalized, weighted, aggregated and classified through a variety of methods to geographically represent the information (OECD, 2008;Alliance Development Works, 2012;Damm, 2010;Eckert et al, 2012;González-Riancho et al, 2014;etc.). The selected vulnerability indicators differ among authors and are based on previous literature, scientific knowledge and advances, lessons learned from tsunami disasters, the study scope and the availability of information.…”

“…Several authors base the hazard assessment on numerical modelling of the tsunamigenic sources to identify the potential flooded area and subsequent number of people located there (UNU- , 2009;González-Riancho et al, 2014). When no numerical modelling is available, the human exposure assessment is usually based on the identification of a site-specific topographic contour line, the area below being assumed to be flooded (Sahal et al, 2013;Eckert et al, 2012;Suharyanto et al, 2012).…”

“…With the aim of reducing the negative consequences of a potential tsunami event in a certain area, the scientific community is developing methodologies to better understand the tsunami hazard itself (Goseberg and Schlurmann, 2009;Harbitz et al, 2012;Álvarez-Gómez, 2013;Greiving et al, 2006, …”

Influence of Flow Velocity on Tsunami Loss Estimation

“…Existing tsunami risk assessments are often carried out using a scenario-based approach focusing on either historical tsunami catalogue or specific critical scenarios, although selected scenarios cannot comprehensively consider all possible situations [24][25][26][27]. This is a critical issue for major tsunami disasters.…”