A Study of the 2015 M w 8.3 Illapel Earthquake and Tsunami: Numerical and Analytical Approaches

Development and application of a tsunami fragility curve of the 2015 tsunami in Coquimbo, Chile

“…With regard to American Samoa, the curve shows a low probability of damage at inundation depths lower than 2 m; it begins to increase to up to 80 % when the inundation depth reaches 6 m. It is important to mention that the Samoa fragility curves were developed considering different types of structures, including wood, brick and reinforced concrete. In addition, the fragility curve as a function of flow velocity shows significant damage (∼ 50 %) at velocities of 2 m s −1 , and only an 80 % probability of damage at velocities as high as 8 m s −1 (Gokon et al, 2014). Since all types of structures are analyzed in a single curve, it is believed that low velocities would easily cause damage to wooden structures, while damage to reinforced concrete structures would require higher inundation depths and flow velocities.…”

“…The variable K i is defined as K i = x i /y i , where x i and y i are recorded and computed tsunami heights, respectively. The Japan Society of Civil Engineers provides guidelines, which recommend that 0.95 < K < 1.05 and κ < 1.45 for there to be good agreement (Aida, 1978;Gokon et al, 2014).…”

“…The proposed curves were constructed for inundation depth, flow velocity and hydrodynamic force. After the 2009 Samoa event, Gokon et al (2014) developed a fragility curve for mixed structures, which included wood, masonry and reinforced concrete, for the same three tsunami intensity measures as in the previously mentioned study. Similarly, the fragility curves of Thailand were developed for two provinces, namely, Phang Nga and Phuket, with 2508 and 1033 structures, respectively.…”

“…This methodology has been applied to obtain empirical tsunami fragility curves for Banda Aceh in Indonesia (Koshimura et al, 2009b) and Thailand after the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. The same methodology was applied to areas affected by the 2009 Samoa tsunami (Gokon et al, 2014). In a similar manner, this method was applied in Japan after the 2011 Tohoku tsunami, allowing several fragility curves that considered several damage levels and different building materials to be obtained (Suppasri et al, 2013).…”

“…For example, the fragility curves developed by Suppasri et al (2013) have been applied to building damage estimation in Napier, New Zealand (Fraser et al, 2014), and both building damage and economic loss estimation in Seaside, Oregon (Wiebe and Cox, 2014). The former study also applied the fragility curves of Dichato, Chile (Mas et al, 2012), and American Samoa (Gokon et al, 2014).…”