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Characteristics of wave amplitude and currents in South China Sea induced by a virtual extreme tsunami

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Abstract

This paper investigates the potential extreme tsunami hazards of the worst case scenario of the magnitude M w = 9.30 in South China Sea (SCS) as the Manila Trench is becoming one of the most hazardous tsunami source regions. Using nonlinear shallow water equations model, the time series of surface elevation, arrival time, spatial distributions of maximum wave amplitude and velocity distribution are presented. The characteristics of wave and currents are analyzed. The numerical results indicate that most of the energy of tsunami wave distributes in central and north part of SCS. The offshore regions around SCS will be influenced significantly by the tsunami currents generated by an earthquake in the Manila subduction zone. The maximum wave amplitude near Guangdong Province, Hainan Island, and Taiwan Island exceeds 4 m and velocities at the majority of measured locations near coast exceeds 2 m/s. Nested grid with high resolution is used to study the impacts of the tsunami on Hainan Island, Taiwan Island, and Lingding Bay. The regions with high hazard risk due to strong currents are identified. Finally, a fast tsunami warning method in SCS is developed and discussed, which can provide tsunami warning information in 5 min.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MOE Key Laboratory of Hydrodynamics, School of Naval Architecture, Ocean and Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China

    Zhi-yuan Ren  (任智源), Xi Zhao  (赵曦), Ben-long Wang  (王本龙) & Hua Liu  (刘桦)

  2. National Marine Environmental Forecasting Center, Beijing, 100081, China

    Zhi-yuan Ren  (任智源)

  3. School of Mathematics and Statistics, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Frédéric Dias

Authors
  1. Zhi-yuan Ren  (任智源)
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  2. Xi Zhao  (赵曦)
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  3. Ben-long Wang  (王本龙)
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  4. Frédéric Dias
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  5. Hua Liu  (刘桦)
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hua Liu  (刘桦).

Additional information

Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11632012, 51379123).

Biography: Zhi-yuan Ren (1986-), Male, Ph. D.

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Ren, Zy., Zhao, X., Wang, Bl. et al. Characteristics of wave amplitude and currents in South China Sea induced by a virtual extreme tsunami. J Hydrodyn 29, 377–392 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1016/S1001-6058(16)60747-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1001-6058(16)60747-3

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