Description
Following the tsunami that wreaked havoc in North Indian Ocean coastal areas on 26 December 2004, rapid rehabilitation of infrastructure is needed to help restore the livelihoods of local populations. A thorough understanding of factors leading to higher exposure to the tsunami is essential for improving coastal management, in order to rebuild near-shore infrastructure in a safer way. To initiate such a process, a spatial and statistical analysis was
performed to identify which geophysical and biological configurations were susceptible to be
associated with reduced tsunami impacts. Near-shore bathymetry (water depth), the
orientation and elevation of coastlines, the distance from the earthquake epicentre and other
key geomorphological parameters, presence of mangroves, coral reefs and type of fringing
vegetation were all extracted using GIS technologies and correlated with maximum length of
inland impacts as recorded by remote sensing or ground surveys. The results clearly indicate
that the scale of impact was, in the vast majority of cases, correlated with the distance to fault
lines, and the steepness and length of proximal slopes. Areas covered by sea grass were less
impacted, whereas areas behind coral reefs were more affected. This is surprising as coral
reefs are known to protect from normal waves, and may be because tsunami wavelengths are
up to a thousand times longer than other waves. Areas covered by mangroves were less
impacted than other areas, probably because mangrove communities tend to be located in
sheltered coastal areas. The results provided here are based on information available between
February and June 2005, and the model is based on global data sets applied to the 2004 Indian
Ocean tsunami. Variation in wavelength and origin contributed to diversity among the
findings. A more detailed study should be carried out to allow the local-level analysis that is
needed for coastal management.