Tsunami current and its impact on inundation depth in the coastal areas of West Sumatra – Indonesia

Abstract

The influence of cities that are in coastal areas and prone to earthquakes is very likely to be hit by tsunami waves or currents. The city of Padang is one of the cities in Indonesia which is located along the Indonesian sea coast and is also an earthquake-prone area so it has the opportunity to experience tsunami waves. Efforts to inhibit wave propagation are mostly carried out by using walls on the beach or multi-story buildings. However, in small towns or villages you rarely find multi-story buildings, there is only drainage parallel to the beach. Based on this, an experiment was carried out by imitating the existing conditions and changing the width of the drainage for the Purus and Ulak Karang Padang areas. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of changing the drainage geometry on the tsunami current. The results showed that the drainage channel was wider, the greater the decrease in height and area of inundation or vice versa. It is recommended for stakeholders make adequate and safe drainage against tsunami flows.