In situ Measurements of Tide Gauge Response and Corrections of Tsunami Waveforms from the Niigataken Chuetsu-oki Earthquake in 2007.

Linear and nonlinear responses of ten well-type tide gauge stations on the Japan Sea coast of central Japan were estimated by in situ measurements. We poured water into the well or drained water from the well by using a pump to make an artificial water level difference between the outer sea and the well, then measured the recovery of water level in the well. At three tide gauge stations, Awashima, Iwafune, and Himekawa, the sea-level change of the outer sea is transmitted to the tide well instantaneously. However, at seven tide gauge stations, Nezugaseki, Ryotsu, Ogi, Teradomari, Banjin, Kujiranami, and Naoetsu, the sea-level change of the outer sea is not always transmitted to the tide well instantaneously. At these stations, the recorded tsunami waveforms are not assured to follow the actual tsunami waveforms. Tsunami waveforms from the Niigataken Chuetsu-oki Earthquake in 2007 recorded at these stations were corrected by using the measured tide gauge responses. The corrected amplitudes of the first and second waves were larger than the uncorrected ones, and the corrected peaks are a few minutes earlier than the uncorrected ones at Banjin, Kujiranami, and Ogi. At Banjin, the correction was significant; the corrected amplitudes of the first and second upward motion are +103 cm and +114 cm, respectively, while the uncorrected amplitudes were +96 cm and +88 cm. At other tide gauge stations, the differences between the uncorrected and corrected tsunami waveforms were insignificant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]