Tsunami Hazard in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea: Strong Earthquakes and Tsunamis in the West Hellenic Arc and Trench System

Papadopoulos, Gerassimos A.; Daskalaki, Elena; Fokaefs, Anna; Giraleas, N.

doi:10.1142/s1793431110000856

Cited by 45 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…This area shows one of the largest seismic hazard in Europe (Woessner et al, 2013) and is 46 affected by a tsunami once every 19 years on average, leading to a significant risk (Papadopoulos, 2003; realize an inventory of the large mass transport deposits (MTDs) that may be interpreted as the result of 60 submarine landslides. Dated from the Late Pleistocene and the Holocene, the mapped mass transport 61 deposits range from 10 6 -10 9 m 3 .…”

Section: Introduction 35mentioning

confidence: 99%

Characteristics and frequency of large submarine landslides at the western tip of the Gulf of Corinth

Beckers¹,

Hubert

Beck³

et al. 2017

Preprint

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Section: Introduction 35mentioning

confidence: 99%

Characteristics and frequency of large submarine landslides at the western tip of the Gulf of Corinth

Beckers¹,

Hubert

Beck³

et al. 2017

Preprint

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“…Considering that most of the tsunamis are triggered by earthquakes, which is true both at global as well as at regional levels (see e.g., Dunbar, 2009, for a global catalogue; see the on-line world-ocean Historical Tsunami Database -HTDB; see also examples of regional catalogues such as Tinti et al, 2004, for Italian tsunamis and Papadopoulos et al, 2010, for tsunamis in the eastern Mediterranean), one of the main challenges of a reliable TWS is to recognise promptly if an earthquake is capable or not of triggering a tsunami and to establish the action that should be taken in case of a tsunami generation. The challenge can be managed by using a Decision Matrix (DM), which is a table that allows one to systematically identify, analyse and rate the size of the potential tsunami and to respond with appropriate actions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Applicability of the Decision Matrix of North Eastern Atlantic, Mediterranean and connected seas Tsunami Warning System to the Italian tsunamis

Tinti

Graziani

Brizuela

et al. 2012

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract.After the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami catastrophe, UNESCO through the IOC (Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission) sponsored the establishment of Intergovernmental Coordination Groups (ICG) with the aim to devise and implement Tsunami Warning Systems (TWSs) in all the oceans exposed to tsunamis, in addition to the one already in operation in the Pacific (PTWS). In this context, since 2005, efforts have begun for the establishment of TWSs in the Indian Ocean (IOTWS), in the Caribbean area (CARIBE EWS) and in the North Eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean and Connected Seas (NEAMTWS).In this paper, we focus on a specific tool that was first introduced in the PTWS routine operations, i.e., the Decision Matrix (DM). This is an easy-to-use table establishing a link between the main parameters of an earthquake and the possible ensuing tsunami in order to make quick decision on the type of alert bulletins that a Tsunami Warning Center launches to its recipients. In the process of implementation of a regional TWS for the NEAM area, two distinct DMs were recently proposed by the ICG/NEAMTWS, one for the Atlantic and the other for the entire Mediterranean area.This work applies the Mediterranean NEAMTWS DM to the earthquakes recorded in Italy and compares the action predicted by the DM vs. the action that should be appropriate in view of the observed tsunami characteristics with the aim to establish how good the performance of the Italian TWS will be when it uses the DM for future events. To this purpose, we make use of the parametric catalogue of the Italian earthquakes (CPTI04) compiled in 2004 and the most recent compilation of the Italian tsunami, based on the Italian Tsunami Catalogue of 2004 and the subsequent revisions. In order to better compare the TWS actions, we have identified four different kinds of action coding them from 0 to 3 according to the tsunami severity and have further considered three different distance ranges where these actions apply, that is local, regional and basin-wide, that refer to the distance of the message recipients from the tsunami source. The result of our analysis is that the actions prescribed by the DM are adequate only in 45 %-55 % of the cases, overestimations are about 37 % and underestimations are the rest. As a whole, the predictive ability of the DM is not satisfactory, which implies that recipients have the difficult task in managing bulletins carrying a great deal of uncertainty and on the other hand also suggests that strategies to improve the DM or to go beyond the DM need to be found.

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“…More recently, the M w 6.2, 1995 Aigion earthquake has been associated with a northdipping offshore blind fault (Bernard et al, 1997;Lambotte et al, 2014). The earthquake also triggered submarine landslides and a small tsunami (Papatheodorou and Ferentinos, 1997;Papadopoulos, 2003). Beside the 1861 CE and 1995 CE earthquakes, at least seven other M ≥ 6 earthquakes are known in the area of the western Gulf of Corinth from historical sources since 1600 CE (Papadopoulos, 2000, our Fig.…”

Section: Physical Setting and Previous Work In Paleoseismologymentioning

confidence: 92%

“…It is well known from the literature that in this particular setting, submarine landslides are frequent and are not necessarily triggered by earthquakes (e.g. Papadopoulos, 2003). Consequently, turbidite paleoseismology is not expected to be easily used in this area.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sedimentary impacts of recent moderate earthquakes from the shelves to the basin floor in the western Gulf of Corinth

et al. 2017

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a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f oIn seismically active areas, long term records of large earthquakes are indispensable to constrain reccurence patterns of large earthquakes. In the western Corinth Rift, one of the most active areas in Europe in terms of seismicity, data about ancient earthquakes are still insufficient, despite historical records covering the last two millenia and several studies in onshore paleoseimology. In this paper, we test the use of offshore sediments from the Gulf of Corinth to identify sediment failures and tsunamis that have been triggered by historical earthquakes. Two shelves (40-100 m deep), one sub-basin (180 m) and the basin floor (330 m) have been sampled by short gravity cores. The cores were analyzed in order to identify and characterize event deposits. The age control has been provided by 137 Cs and 210 Pb activity measurements showing that the cores represent 2 to 4 centuries of sedimentation. In each site, sandy event deposits are interbeded in the muddy, hemipelagic sedimentation. The age of event deposits has been compared to the record of historical earthquakes using new and published macroseismic data. This comparison shows temporal coincidence of some event deposits and documented earthquakes with a macroseismic intensity ≥ VII in the area, e.g. in 1861 CE, 1888 CE and 1909 CE. In nearshore, shallow-water settings, the record of event deposits does not exactly fit with the historical record of large earthquakes because too few event deposits are present. This may be due to the absence of sediment failures or to a lower preservation of the deposits in such settings. In the deepest site, in the basin floor, the correspondence is better: a sandy turbidite probably corresponds to each large earthquake since 1850 CE, except one aseismic sediment density flow that occurred at the end of the 20th century. Surprisingly, the Ms = 6.2, June 15, 1995 Aigion earthquake is only possibly recorded in one nearshore site on the Aigion Shelf, in the form of a tsunami back-wash flow deposit. This study showed that moderate earthquakes (M 5.8-6.5) can significantly impact marine sediments. Regarding the evaluation of seismic hazard in the area, the basin floor is proposed as a promising site for long term paleoseismology in the Gulf of Corinth, while shallower settings need to be considered more carefully.

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Tsunami Hazard in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea: Strong Earthquakes and Tsunamis in the West Hellenic Arc and Trench System

Cited by 45 publications

References 26 publications

Characteristics and frequency of large submarine landslides at the western tip of the Gulf of Corinth

Characteristics and frequency of large submarine landslides at the western tip of the Gulf of Corinth

Applicability of the Decision Matrix of North Eastern Atlantic, Mediterranean and connected seas Tsunami Warning System to the Italian tsunamis

Sedimentary impacts of recent moderate earthquakes from the shelves to the basin floor in the western Gulf of Corinth

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