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Characteristics of the 2011 off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake Tsunami

Publication year Port and Airport Research Institute Report 050-04-01 2011.12
Author(s) Hiroyasu KAWAI,Makoto SATOH,Koji KAWAGUCHI,Katsumi SEKI
Department
/Divison
Marine Information Field Research Director (Storm Surge Disaster Mitigation)
Executive Summary

 The profile of the tsunami triggered by the 2011 off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake Tsunami, at 14:46, 11 March 2011 at the Japanese Standard Time, observed with the GPS buoys, coastal wave gauges and coastal tide gauges of NOWPHAS (Nationwide Ocean Wave information network for Ports and HArbourS), has been investigated. The major results as follows:
 (1) Six GPS buoys, drifting on the sea surface at the location of 125-204m in depth, on the Tohoku District coast recorded the highest tsunami crest of 2.14-6.13 m at 15:12-15:19. The South Iwate GPS buoy recorded major seven tsunami crests. The first crest looks the composition of a sharp short crest with a mild long crest. The Central Miyagi GPS buoy recorded the tsunami trough of 6.00 m following the highest crest.
 (2) The coastal wave gauge at the spot of 21.3 m in depth in Sendai-Shiogama Port, Tohoku District recorded the tsunami profile until its height and current speed reached 6.65 m and 3.22 m/s respectively.
 (3) The tsunami arrived at GPS buoys earlier than their nearby coastal wave gauges and coastal tide gauges. The tsunami height increased on the coast.
 (4) The tsunami reached locations far from the source on the Tohoku coast, such as the Kanmon Strait, Ariake Bay, and Yatsushiro Bay coast, on the Kyushu Island; the Pacific Ocean and East China Sea coast of the Ryuku (Okinawa) Islands; and the Okhotsk Sea and the Sea of Japan coast of the Hokkaido Island. The tsunami began with a negative wave on the Pacific coast of Hokkaido and Tohoku Districts and with a positive wave on the other.
 (5) The Doppler-type Wave Directional Meter, named Kaisho-kei in Japanese, detected a vertically constant distribution of the tsunami current speed and direction.

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