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On September 28th, 2018, a powerful earthquake (Mw 7.5) struck the Island of Sulawesi in Indonesia. The earthquake was followed by a destructive and deadly tsunami that hit the Bay of Palu. A UNESCO international tsunami survey team responded to the disaster and surveyed 125 km of coastline along the Palu Bay up to the earthquake epicentre region. The team performed 78 tsunami runup and inundation height measurements throughout the surveyed coastline. Measured values reached 9.1 m for the runup height and 8.7 m for the inundation height, both at Benteng village. The survey team also identified ten large coastal sectors that collapsed into the sea of Palu Bay after the earthquake. The distribution of the measured tsunami data within Palu Bay exhibits a clear localised impact suggesting the contribution of secondary non-seismic local sources to the generation of the tsunami. Findings of the field reconnaissance are discussed to provide an insight into the remaining debated source of the Palu tsunami. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 8 May 1939, an earthquake (Ms7.1) occurred near the Azores archipelago, with an epicentre located close to the western end of the Gloria fault. Previous studies present different epicentre locations spreading over a large area, and two different types of focal mechanisms. Given these uncertainties, the interpretation of the seismological information in a complex tectonic environment between the Gloria Fault and the Terceira Ridge is a matter of debate. The event caused a small tsunami recorded in the Azores Islands. In this study, we use the tsunami observations and tsunami numerical modelling to select the earthquake fault rupture that best fits the tsunami observations. We consider the different focal mechanism solutions, perform tsunami numerical modelling, and compute synthetic tsunami waveforms at the tide gauge locations. We find that an earthquake caused by a low-angle dipping fault with dominant strike–slip movement generates a tsunami that reproduces well the record at Ponta Delgada tide gauge. Finally, in areas where earthquakes are rare, the study of ancient earthquakes must use all information available, namely tsunami observations and mareograph data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The method presented here aims to assess the tsunami threat very rapidly after the occurrence of a large earthquake, using as input the parameters of the seismic source, and an approach based on Green's summation. We show that the main weakness of the approach (the need to consider only linear shallow water propagation) is largely compensated by the advantages in terms of computing performance and independence with respect to pre-computed scenarios. To test the approach and to illustrate its implementation in a real environment, we focus on the Sea of Oman, a tsunamigenic area characterized by Makran subduction zone which detailed structure is partially unknown and where secondary tsunami sources must also be taken into account, both for hazard studies and warning purposes. The potential source area is partitioned into a grid of unity water sources. A shallow water (SW) numerical model is used to pre-compute the corresponding empirical Green's functions on several points of interest located on the coasts of Iran, Pakistan and Oman. The comparison between Green's summation and the direct SW computation using the full resolution of the bathymetric grid shows that the accuracy is good enough for practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]