The 1867 Virgin Island Tsunami

Zahibo, Narcisse; Pelinovsky, Efim; Yalçıner, Ahmet Cevdet; Kurkin, Andrey; Koselkov, Andrey; Zaitsev, Andrey

doi:10.5194/nhess-3-367-2003

Cited by 30 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Nevertheless, some reports are sufficient to highlight the tsunami threat potential for the Lesser Antilles islands, and particularly for Guadeloupe, where it is now well known that several tsunamis have been able to reach this island (Nikolkina et al, 2010), as well as the other French overseas territories of Martinique, Saint-Martin and SaintBarthelemy. Among these events are the devastating 1755 Lisbon transoceanic tsunami (Roger et al, 2010a,b;Zahibo et al, 2011) and, more regionally, the 1867 Virgin Islands tsunami (Zahibo et al, 2003). Local tsunamis could also have had severe consequences in these islands, as the < 1 m tsunami triggered by the 2004 Les Saintes Mw = 6.3 earthquake affecting the southeastern coasts of Guadeloupe (Le Friant et al, 2008), or the Montserrat pyroclastic flows generating 1-2 m high tsunamis propagating towards northeastern Guadeloupe in 1997(Pelinovsky et al, 2004Trofimovs et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tsunami hazard assessment of Guadeloupe Island (F.W.I.) related to a megathrust rupture on the Lesser Antilles subduction interface

Roger

Dudon

Zahibo

2013

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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The French Caribbean Archipelago of Guadeloupe is located over the Lesser Antilles active subduction zone, where a handful of earthquakes have reached magnitudes of Mw = 7.0 (moment magnitude) and more. According to available catalogs, these earthquakes have been able to trigger devastating tsunamis, either directly by the shake or indirectly by induced landslides. The Guadeloupe Archipelago is known to have suffered from several violent earthquakes, including the 1843 Mw ~ 8.5 megathrust event. In this study, we discuss the potential impact of a tsunami generation scenario of a Mw = 8.5 rupture at the subduction interface using numerical modeling and high resolution bathymetric data within the framework of tsunami hazard assessment for Guadeloupe. Despite the fact that the mystery remains unresolved concerning the lack of historical tsunami data for the 1843 event, modeling results show that the tsunami impact is not uniformly distributed in the whole archipelago and could show important maximum wave heights. This is easily explained by the bathymetry and the presence of several islands around the main island leading to resonance phenomena, and because of the existence of a fringing coral reef partially surrounding Guadeloupe Island and its satellites. We then discuss the role of source parameters, the arrival times and the protective role of fringing coral reefs surrounding the islands, using tsunami modeling applied on two Guadeloupian touristic coastal places: Sainte-Anne and Saint-François

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tsunami hazard assessment of Guadeloupe Island (F.W.I.) related to a megathrust rupture on the Lesser Antilles subduction interface

Roger

Dudon

Zahibo

2013

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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“…It was tested and verified in international workshops specifically organized for testing the tsunami numerical models YALCINER et al, 2007;LIU et al, 2008). It has been applied to several tsunami events (YALCINER et al, 2001(YALCINER et al, , 2003KURKIN et al, 2003;ZAHIBO et al, 2003;ZAIT-SEV, 2002). This numerical model has also been used for the computation of the resonant oscillations of basins (YALCINER and PELINOVSKY, 2007).…”

Section: Numerical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sensitivity Study of Hydrodynamic Parameters During Numerical Simulations of Tsunami Inundation

Ozer

Yalçıner

2011

Pure Appl. Geophys.

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This paper describes the analysis of a parameter, ''hydrodynamic demand,'' which can be used to represent the potential for tsunami drag force related damage to structures along coastlines. It is derived from the ratio of drag force to hydrostatic force caused by a tsunami on the structure. It varies according to the instantaneous values of the current velocities and flow depths during a tsunami inundation. To examine the effects of a tsunami in the present study, the analyses were performed using the tsunami numerical model in two altered regular-shaped basins having different bottom slopes. The simulations were implemented using a single sinusoidal wave with particular initial conditions, such as leading elevation wave and leading depression wave profiles with different wave periods. Two different initial wave amplitudes were employed to assess the diversity in the distribution of the square of the Froude number Fr 2 along the coastline. The numerical results were compared quantitatively.

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“…Waves of 7 m were recorded around the basin but wave heights as great as 10 m were recorded at two locations in Guadeloupe (Zahibo et al, 2003). Tsunami waves propagated cross the Caribbean to inflict coastal damage as far away as Grenada.…”

Section: Tsunamismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At 16:50 UTC on 18 November 1867, triggered by abrupt and energetic rupture on the floor of the Virgin Islands Basin, an earthquake with magnitude between 7.2 and 7.5 (Barkan and ten Brink, 2010;Zahibo, et al, 2003), generated tsunami waves that began inundating the shoreline communities of the surrounding islands -Frederiksted, Charlotte Amalie, Christiansted, Road Town -within approximately 10 min. Waves of 7 m were recorded around the basin but wave heights as great as 10 m were recorded at two locations in Guadeloupe (Zahibo et al, 2003).…”

Section: Tsunamismentioning

confidence: 99%

Coordinated management of coastal hazard awareness and preparedness in the USVI

2014

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Abstract. As far back as history has been written in the islands today known as the US Virgin Islands (USVI), residents have had to endure and survive costly and deadly onslaughts from tropical storms such as the 1867 San Narciso Hurricane, Hurricane Hugo and Hurricane Marilyn. Keenly alerted by recent tragic events in the Indian Ocean in 2004, in Haiti in 2010 and in Japan in 2011, the USVI was reminded that it had suffered its greatest tsunami impact in a well-documented event that had followed the 1867 hurricane by fewer than three weeks. To address their community's continual vulnerability to coastal hazards, USVI emergency managers, scientists and educators, assisted by national and regional disaster management agencies and warning programs, have engaged programs for understanding, anticipating and mitigating these hazards. This paper focuses on how three public-serving institutions, the Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency (VITEMA), the University of the Virgin Islands and the Caribbean Ocean Observing System have responded to the community's need for improved preparedness through programs of physical preparation, planning, research, observations, education and outreach. This report reviews some of the approaches and activities employed in the USVI in the hope of sharing their benefits with similarly vulnerable coastal communities.

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The 1867 Virgin Island Tsunami

Cited by 30 publications

References 10 publications

Tsunami hazard assessment of Guadeloupe Island (F.W.I.) related to a megathrust rupture on the Lesser Antilles subduction interface

Tsunami hazard assessment of Guadeloupe Island (F.W.I.) related to a megathrust rupture on the Lesser Antilles subduction interface

Sensitivity Study of Hydrodynamic Parameters During Numerical Simulations of Tsunami Inundation

Coordinated management of coastal hazard awareness and preparedness in the USVI

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