A. Piatanesi et al., Finite-element simulations of the 28 December 1908 Messina Straits (Southern Italy) tsunami, PHYS CH P A, 24(2), 1999, pp. 145-150
Citations number
12
Categorie Soggetti
Earth Sciences
Journal title
PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY OF THE EARTH PART A-SOLID EARTH AND GEODESY
The earthquake we are dealing with occurred on December 28, 1908: because o
f the number of victims (about 60,000) and the extension of the destroyed a
rea (6,000 km(2)), this earthquake with the epicentral MCS intensity XI may
be considered the strongest event ever reported for Italy along with the 1
693 eastern Sicily earthquake. The shock produced a large tsunami that caus
ed severe damage and many victims. In all places the first sea movement was
a withdrawal for a few minutes, followed by a flooding of the coast with a
t least three big waves. A post-event survey allowed to estimate flooding a
nd run-up heights (more than 10 m in some places). In this work we perform
some numerical simulations of the tsunami generation and propagation, takin
g into account different source faults: the model is based on the shallow w
ater equations, solved numerically by means of a element method. The comput
ational domain, covered by a mesh consisting of triangular elements, includ
es the Messina Straits and the sea facing the northeastern coast of Sicily
and southern Calabria. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.