Tsunami Hazard Assessment (TSU 400) Syllabus
July 21–25 2007
Instructors
- Frank González, Ph.D., Research Scientist, NOAA Center for Tsunami Research; Affiliate Faculty in Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington.
- Catherine Petroff, Ph.D., Principal, LP4 Associates LLC; Affiliate Faculty in Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington.
Co-Instructors
- Andrew Moore, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Geology, Earlham College
- Vasily Titov, Ph.D., Chief Scientist, NOAA Center for Tsunami Research, Ocean Environment Research Division, Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory and Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Oceans, University of Washington
Intended Audience
The course’s intended audience includes professionals responsible for establishing, maintaining and developing multi-hazard warning and preparedness systems at national and sub-national levels. Included are planners, policy makers, emergency managers, scientists, engineers, and other professionals in both public and private sectors whose overriding goal is to develop and maintain tsunami-resilient societies.
Course Objectives
This course is intended to allow participants to explore the tools, techniques and associated products required to assess tsunami hazard at regional and local scales. Upon successful completion of the course, participants acquire a number of practical capabilities, including the ability to:
- Describe the basic scientific principles, the limitations and the effective use of these hazard assessment tools and products, such as the identification of ancient tsunami deposits, or the proper interpretation of inundation maps,
- Identify the specific tools, techniques and products that are appropriate to a particular geographical area, and
- Participate in improving hazard assessment capabilities through paleo- and post-tsunami field surveys and their subsequent documentation.
Individuals working in the context of country teams will complete the hazard assessment component of a Tsunami Resilient Community Plan Exercise.
Course content
This is the first course in the three-course Tsunami Certificate Program, Tsunami Science and Preparedness – Creating Tsunami Resilient Communities. Instructional topics include:
- Physical characteristics of tsunamis and tsunami-related terminology,
- Historic oral and written records of tsunamis and earthquakes,
- Paleo-tsunami evidence, including studies of seismic, landslide and other potential tsunami sources, and
- Development and implementation of numerical model simulations at regional and local scales.
Participants complete individual and team exercises in class to reinforce the concepts presented in lectures and course materials.
Schedule
- 8:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m. and 1:15–5:00 p.m., Sunday–Tuesday, July 22–24, 2007
- 8:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m., Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Location
Fourth Floor of Smith Hall, UW Seattle campus, Rooms: Classroom 405, GIS Laboratory 401, Geography Collaboratory 415C
Textbook and readings:
The required textbook will be mailed to participants prior to their arrival in Seattle. This text is being provided to participants as a courtesy from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The text is:
- Bernard, E.N. (Ed.), Developing Tsunami-Resilient Communities: The National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program, Reprinted from Natural Hazards, 35:1 (2005) 2005, VI, 186 p., ISBN: 978-1-4020-3353-7.
Additional readings
- Geist, E. (2007), “Tsunami Sources” NOAA Technical Memorandum OAR PMEL-136, Scientific and technical issues in tsunami hazard assessment of nuclear power plant sites, pages 25-46.
- Moore, A. and B. Jaffe (2007), “Geologic Evidence of Tsunamis,” NOAA Technical Memorandum OAR PMEL-136, Scientific and technical issues in tsunami hazard assessment of nuclear power plant sites, pages 17-23.
- Patton, J.R.
and L. A. Dengler, Relative Tsunami Hazard Mapping for Humboldt and
Del Norte Counties, California, Proceedings of the 8th U.S. National
Conference on Earthquake, April 2006.
Prerequisites:
Prior to attending the first course in the Tsunami Certificate Program, participants should complete the following activities:
- Read pages 5–24 and 89–119 in the text Developing Tsunami-Resilient Communities: The National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program. This text will be mailed out to program participants prior to the July 21st start date.
- Coordinate with assigned country team members, to select a district,
community or region in their country that will be used in the Tsunami Resilient
Community Plan Exercise. For the selected area, team members should
coordinate to provide:
- Any existing plans related to emergency management and preparedness for this community
- Bathymetry — offshore, coastal, and near-shore
- Topography — coastal, extending inland at least 3 km
- Critical infrastructure and lifelines, in the form of lists or maps
- Tsunami warning equipment available for alerting community residents, in the form of lists or maps
- Emergency management organizational structure and response organizations in the area
- Demographic, economic, and other information deemed relevant by the team
- Historic and/or pre-historic information on regional tsunami occurrence and the effect on the selected community
- Stories, legends or myths from the region that relate to a tsunami, a large wave or a coastal flood in the form of written, audio or video summaries. Stories should relate to pre-1900 events but, if not possible, more recent accounts should be acquired
Criteria for completion of certificate
The requirements for successful completion of this course are:
- Attendance and satisfactory participation, and
- Satisfactory completion of required work, including exercises, demonstrations, and the sections of the Tsunami Resilient Community Plan Exercise assigned during this course.
Course evaluation links
- Evaluation of UWE TSP Program Course 1 Day 1
- Evaluation of UWE TSP Program Course 1 Day 2
- Evaluation of UWE TSP Program Course 1 Day 3
- Evaluation of UWE TSP Program Course 1 Day 4
Jump to:
[ TSU 400 Syllabus ]
[ Day 1 (22
July): Intro | Ice
Breaker 1 |
Ice Breaker 2 | Basics
1 |
Basics 2 | TRC
Plan/Intro ]
[ TSU
400 Day 1 Course Evaluation ]
[ Day 2 (23
July): Geologic
Assessment 1 |
Geologic Assessment 2 | Participant Seminar | Geologic
Assessment 3 |
History | Geologic
Assessment 4 |
TRC Plan/Geologic Assessment ]
[ TSU
400 Day 2 Course Evaluation ]
[ Day 3 (24
July): Inundation
Modeling | Pre-event
Mapping 1 | Pre-event
Mapping 2 | Co-event
Forecasting 1 | Co-event
Forecasting 2 | TRC
Plan/Inundation Modeling ]
[ TSU
400 Day 3 Course Evaluation ]
[ Day 4 (25
July): Model
Improvement | Modeling
Standards | Summary | TRC
Plan/Summary ]
[ TSU
400 Day 4 Course Evaluation ]