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In the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake Tsunami, run-up of the tsunami along rivers expanded the damaged area into more inland areas far from the coast. High water level in rivers was kept for more than several times of the wave period in the 2011 event, while more simple periodical oscillations of the water level superposed on the tidal motion was observed in the 2010 Chile Tsunami event. The difference of behaviors of tsunami in rivers was discussed with related to the magnitude of tsunami and river mouth morphology through two numerical experiments in this paper. In the first numerical experiments, the run-up of historical tsunamis was simulated along Kitakami River. It was found that the discharge of tsunami flow across the river mouth was proportional to third power of water depth if overflow of the sand spit occurred, and that caused unbalance of water volume coming into and going out from the river channel. Through the second numerical experiment with simple model bathymetry and sinusoidal waves, it was found that discharge during both tsunami run-up and run-down across river mouths is reduced by sand spits at the river mouths and the reduction effect is more significant during flow rushing into the rivers than that during return flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011 triggered not only giant tsunami waves, but also caused significant land subsidence followed by land rise in the Sendai Coastal Plain areas. These impacts resulted in severe damages to the coastal infrastructure and induced coastal morphology changes along Japan's northeast coast. It was observed that the maximum downward deformation in the Sendai Coastal Plain was initially about - 0.3 m. Immediately after the earthquake, the land started to rise and it has already recovered back to its original position at some locations after 10 years. Thus, the high-quality measured beach profile data sets after the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake are valuable for exploring the impact of sea level rise (SLR) on shoreline position evolution, since the bed level change is inversely related to the sea level rise process. The data also provide a unique opportunity to evaluate the Equilibrium Beach Profile (EBP) theory and validate the Bruun concept. In the present study, a new simple analytical solution for time-dependent shoreline position response to the tectonic recovery process is developed based on the convolution method. The model results are able to predict the time-dependent shoreline evolution, including the maximum potential response and the characteristic erosion time scale at which the profile evolves towards a new equilibrium state. • New analytical solutions were developed based on the convolution method, assuming that the beach profile functions as a linear-dynamic system. • The co-seismic subsidence resulted in erosion, while the post-seismic land level rise rates resulted in beach recovery process in the Sendai Coastal Plain. • High-quality measured beach profile data sets after the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake are valuable for exploring the impact of sea level rise (SLR) on shoreline position evolution. • Both the convolution method and Bruun Rule provided reasonable estimates of the maximum erosion response due to sea level rise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Great East Japan tsunami, which occurred on 11 March 2011 (the 2011 tsunami), caused significant changes to the coastal and estuarine morphology along the Sendai coast, Miyagi prefecture, Japan. The recovery process, which took place subsequently after the tsunami, is investigated using aerial photographs, bathymetry data, and Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) method. Results from the aerial photograph analysis indicate that the shoreline was in the dynamic equilibrium condition in the period before the tsunami (Period 1). The recovery of the shoreline was very fast in the period of two years post event (Period 2). However, it was more stable for the period of the next 4.5 years (Period 3). The analysis on the bathymetry data indicates that, besides the sediment supply from adjacent coasts, eroded sediment of the offshore seabed was transported onshore and led to a mass recovery of the shoreline at the lagoon areas. The littoral system of the Sendai coast also changed significantly between the periods before and after the tsunami, as well as between Periods 2 and 3. The sediment deposited inland and in the lagoon areas is perceived as the main reason that caused the retreat inwardly of about 70 m–80 m of the shoreline after the tsunami. Regarding the EOF analysis, the reflected coastal processes of the first three dominant components from the EOF analysis for two shoreline data sets after the tsunami can be explained. In Period 2, the morphological recovery at severely damaged areas (lagoons) was the most dominant process, whilst the second one was the cross-shore variety of shoreline which was the most dominant process preceding tsunami. The contribution rate of the first and second components in Period 2 is about 4 times different. In the period of the next 4.5 years (Period 3), the cross-shore variety of shoreline which was induced by high waves came back to be the most dominant process, whilst the second component reflects the longshore sediment transport. These two dominant components are similar to the ones before the tsunami. The contribution rates of the first two components before and after the tsunami are relatively close as well. That confirms that the coastal processes have returned back to the conditions before the tsunami. This is an important finding which is deduced from this study because a strong tsunami such as the 2011 tsunami could have been a major disturbance, tipping the "normal" cross-, long-shore variability of shoreface water interface towards a different regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the changes in coastal topography of the Rikuzen-Takata Coast in Iwate Prefecture, Japan before and after the 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku Earthquake Tsunami and the effects of coastal structures on these changes. The changes in coastal topography were analyzed using bathymetry data and aerial photographs before and after the tsunami in addition to aerial video during the tsunami. The bathymetry data were obtained from 1989 to 2002 during the construction of three submerged breakwaters and from after the 2011 tsunami until 2013. The aerial photographs were acquired from 1947 to 2015, and the aerial videos were acquired during the tsunami run-up and backwash. The results demonstrated that the coast was eroded mainly due to the tsunami backwash, and the submerged breakwaters trapped the seaward transport of sediment from the coast. Erosion was partly prevented in locations where the seawall was not washed away. The coastal structures had significant effects on the behavior of the coastal tsunami and on sediment transport. We also found that the coast did not recover naturally at the desired speed after the tsunami because the coast had been stable before the tsunami. Coastal restoration five years after the 2011 tsunami are also summarized in the Appendix to illustrate the future reconstruction plan for the study coast. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iida, T.; Kure, S.; Udo, K.; Mano, A., and Tanaka, H., 2016. Prediction of the 2011 Tohoku Tsunami scouring near structures. In: Vila-Concejo, A., Bruce, E., Kennedy, D.M., and McCarroll, R.J. (eds.), Proceedings of the 14th International Coastal Symposium (Sydney, Australia). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue, No. 75, pp. 872-876. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. The 2011 Tohoku Tsunami left innumerable sites with large scale scouring near failed coastal structures. This was a major cause of failure, and the reconstruction of these structures in a robust way requires determination of the mechanisms and prediction of the scouring. Two mechanisms are known for tsunami scouring: erosion by the bottom shear stress and liquefaction by the pore pressure, however, these mechanisms have not been compared yet in their effects. This study aims to quantify these mechanisms and predict the scouring by the 2011 Tohoku tsunami. For this approach, we developed a numerical model by the quasi-3D finite volume method by meshing horizontally in water and vertically in ground. After validating our model, we have applied it to the breach point of a coastal levee hit by the tsunami. We can conclude that erosion by the bottom shear stress has the major role, however, the fluidisation still has innegligible effect in 28% to the maximum erosion depth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]