{"114571":{"#nid":"114571","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Mapping the Japanese Tsunami to Prepare for Future Events","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe 2011 Tohoku tsunami was Japan\u2019s deadliest in more than\n100 years.\u0026nbsp; Despite an extraordinary level of preparedness by the\nJapanese, the tsunami caused more than 90 percent of the almost 20,000 fatalities\nlast March.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Associate Professor Hermann Fritz and his research\nteam are studying the impact of the tsunami on the Sanriku coast. Using\neyewitness video and terrestrial laser scanners from atop the highest buildings\nthat survived the tsunami, Fritz has mapped the tsunami\u2019s height and flood zone\nto learn more about the flow of the devastating currents.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EFritz\u2019s measurements and observations could produce flooding\nforecasts that influence future evacuation plans and building designs, preventing\nloss of life and property damage in Japan and in other areas of the world\nsusceptible to tsunamis.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe ultimate goal is to save lives,\u201d Fritz said. \u201cIn order\nto do so, we have to have a better understanding of what worked and didn\u2019t\nwork. This is the first time we\u2019ve been able to look at the structural\ninfrastructure designed to protect coastal towns from tsunamis and examine why\nit didn\u2019t work. There\u2019s a lot to learn in terms of surviving tsunamis and\nprotecting, evacuating and ultimately saving lives.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFritz led a reconnaissance team surveying the impact of the\ntsunami on a fishing town in Kesennuma Bay, where 1,500 people perished. The\nbay has been hit by historic tsunamis in 1896, 1933, 1960 and 2010\u2014making it\nthe most vulnerable in Japan to both near- and far-field tsunamis. The coastal\nstructures and other mitigation measures on the coast were designed based on\nconservative, historic high-water marks, rather than probable maximum tsunamis.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFrom two atop vertical evacuation buildings where eyewitnesses\ngathered during the tsunami, Fritz and his team used lasers to scan the port\nand bay entrance, creating a three-dimensional, topographic model of the flood\nzone.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EUsing this data, they reconstructed eyewitness videos to\ndetermine the varying heights and flow velocities of the tsunami. They\ndetermined that the tsunami reached a maximum height of 9 meters, followed by\noutflow currents of 11 meters per second less than 10 minutes later \u2013 a speed\nwhich Fritz says is impossible to survive or navigate by vessels.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhat we can learn from the hydrograph is confirmation that\nthe water goes out first, drawing down to more than negative 3 meters on the\nlandward side of the trench, which can make vessels hit ground inside harbors,\u201d\nFritz said. \u201cDuring the subsequent arrival of the main tsunami wave, the water\nrushing back in changed the water level by 40 feet, engulfing the entire city\nin 12 minutes.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EUnderstanding tsunami impacts will help prepare for future\ndisasters\u2014whether its designing buildings high enough to serve as vertical\nevacuation points or sea walls and breakwaters strong enough to control the\nflow of water.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EAlong with such mitigation measures, Fritz says educating\npeople about tsunamis is key.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cJapan was probably the best prepared for a tsunami,\u201d Fritz\nsaid. \u201cIndonesia, on the other hand, had no knowledge of tsunamis and it caught\npeople by surprise in 2004. The outcomes of the tsunamis were very\ndifferent\u2014200,000 killed versus 20,000 killed. That shows educational awareness\nand preparedness and civil defense mechanisms can work to reduce the death\ntoll. People need to be tsunami-aware.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EFritz worked with researchers from the University of\nSouthern California and Japanese researchers from the University of Tokyo, the\nTokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, and the Port and Airport\nResearch Institute, in coordination with the UNESCO-organized International\nTsunami Survey Team and the Tohoku University in Sendai.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThis project was supported in part by the National Science\nFoundation (NSF) (Award No. 1135768). The content is solely the responsibility\nof the principal investigators and does not necessarily represent the official\nviews of the NSF.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EFor more on the anniversary of the Japan disaster, visit \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/experts\/japan-anniversary\u0022\u003Ewww.gatech.edu\/experts\/japan-anniversary.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUsing eyewitness video and terrestrial laser scanners from\natop the highest buildings that survvived the tsunami, Associate Professor Hermann Fritz has mapped the tsunami\u2019s\nheight and flood zone to learn more about the flow of the devastating currents.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Using eyewitness video and terrestrial laser scanners, Associate Professor Herman Fritz has mapped the devastating tsunami."}],"uid":"27462","created_gmt":"2012-03-05 17:59:23","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:11:48","author":"Liz Klipp","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-03-05T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2012-03-05T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"114581":{"id":"114581","type":"image","title":"Mapping the tsunami","body":null,"created":"1449178241","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:30:41","changed":"1475894733","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:33","alt":"Mapping the tsunami","file":{"fid":"194212","name":"kess1-rgb.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/kess1-rgb_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/kess1-rgb_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":865325,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/kess1-rgb_0.jpg?itok=Qr74iqjV"}}},"media_ids":["114581"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"26121","name":"Japan anniversary; tsunami; Hermann Fritz"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["klipp@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}