Skip to main content

Effects of the Offshore Barrier Against the 2011 Off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake Tsunami and Lessons Learned

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Post-Tsunami Hazard

Part of the book series: Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research ((NTHR,volume 44))

Abstract

In this study, the effectiveness of an offshore breakwater for the 2011 off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake Tsunami was examined by two-dimensional (2D), quasi three-dimensional (quasi-3D) and three-dimensional (3D) numerical models. First, both 3D numerical models were applied to the behavior of tsunami inundation for Kamaishi Bay in Iwate Prefecture where an offshore deep-water breakwater was installed against an assumed tsunami before 2011. The numerical results indicate 20 % error of maximum inundation height compared with the post-event tsunami survey on the land. It is found that the offshore breakwater significantly reduced the tsunami height on the land. The reduction of tsunami height on the land gave about 30 % tax revenue in comparison with similar locations with or without breakwater. Based on the results the construction and or rebuilding of damaged offshore breakwaters can be considered as a viable option against tsunami particularly in vulnerable areas.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Goto C, Ogawa Y, Shuto N, Imamura F (1997) IUGG/IOC time project: IOC manuals and guides no 35 – Numerical method of tsunami simulation with the leap-frog scheme

    Google Scholar 

  • Kawai H, Satoh M, Kawaguchi K, Seki K (2011) Characteristics of the 2011 off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake Tsunami. Report of Port and Airport Research Institute 50(4):1–64

    Google Scholar 

  • Mori N, Takahashi T, Yasuda T, Yanagisawa H (2011) Survey of 2011 Tohoku earthquake tsunami inundation and run-up. Geophys Res Lett. doi:10.1029/2011GL049210

  • Mori N, Takahashi T, The 2011 Tohoku Earthquake Tsunami Joint Survey Group (2012) Nationwide post event survey and analysis of the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake Tsunami. Coastal Eng J 54(1), 1250001, 27 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Mori N, Cox DT, Yasuda T, Mase H (2013) Overview of the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake Tsunami damage and relation with coastal protection along the Sanriku coast, Earthquake Spectra, March 2013, 29(S1):S127–S143

    Google Scholar 

  • National Police Agency (2014) Damage situation and police countermeasures, http://www.npa.go.jp/archive/keibi/biki/higaijokyo.pdf. Accessed Jan 2014

  • Pringle W, Yoneyama N (2013) The application of a hybrid 2D/3D numerical tsunami inundation-propagation flow model to the 2011 off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake Tsunami. J Jpn Soc Civil Eng Ser B2 (Coastal Eng) 69(2):I_306–I_310 (in Japanese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Tanimoto K, Goda Y (1991) Stability of deep water caisson breakwater against random waves, Coastal Structures and Breakwaters, Institution of Civil Engineers (GB), Thomas Telford, London, pp 221–231

    Google Scholar 

  • The 2011 Tohoku Earthquake Tsunami Joint Survey (TTJS) Group (2011) Nationwide field survey of the 2011 off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake Tsunami. J Jpn Soc Civil Eng Ser B 67(1):63–66

    Google Scholar 

  • The Headquarters for Earthquake Research Promotion (2005) National seismic hazard maps for Japan, 158 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Yoneyama N, Mori N, Miwa M (2012) Numerical analysis of the 2011 off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake Tsunami in Kamaishi Bay . J Jpn Soc Civil Eng, 5 p (in press) (in Japanese)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge efforts on the survey results of the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake Tsunami Joint Survey (TTJS) group. This study is dedicated to all who have been affected by the earthquake in Japan on March 11, 2011.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nobuhito Mori .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Mori, N., Yoneyama, N., Pringle, W. (2015). Effects of the Offshore Barrier Against the 2011 Off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake Tsunami and Lessons Learned. In: Santiago-Fandiño, V., Kontar, Y., Kaneda, Y. (eds) Post-Tsunami Hazard. Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research, vol 44. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10202-3_9

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics