At 7:40 on April 2nd, 2007, a M8.1 earthquake and its-inducedtsunami occurred in the west of Solomon Islands. Disasters due to the earthquake and tsunami were severe resulting in the death of 52 people. In general, tsunamis are affected by local geographical features, and the induced disasters depend on the characteristics of
society, economy and culture as well as topography and bathymetry. To understand the characteristics of the tsunami and its-induced damages, Port and Airport Research Institute conducted field survey soon after the disaster occurrence. This report summarizes the results of the field survey, and the results of numerical
simulations which are carried out to understand overall features of the tsunami. Major conclusions are as follows:
・Severe tsunami damages were caused particularly in the west part of Solomon Islands. Tsunami inundation height was approximately 4-5 m at the north part of Simbo Island and at the south coast of Ghizo Island. On the contrary, tsunami inundation height was less than 2 mat the east coast of the south part of Vella Lavella Island and at the north coast of the east part of Ghizo Island.
・Tsunami disasters were mitigated by coral reefs, small islands, high ground elevation and high-floored houses. Places with high ground elevation were located near to the shoreline, so vertical evacuation was easier, and many persons could evacuate successfully.
・The result of tsunami numerical simulation showed that the energy of the tsunami was propagated mainly to the northeastward and southwestward, which corresponded the direction of the shorter side of the fault.
・The numerical simulations showed that the tsunami was trapped around the islands near the epicenter and hardly propagated behind the islands.