Experimental Study on the Generation and Attenuation of Landslide Tsunamis

Abstract

Landslide tsunamis, triggered by large earthquake-induced submarine landslides, have the potential to devastate coastlines. The submarine topographies around Taiwan and Japan are similar, with both island nations located in fault zones and earthquake-prone regions; therefore, the effective dissipation of submarine landslide-induced tsunamis warrants investigation. In this study, the formation and attenuation characteristics of landslide tsunamis were experimentally investigated through hydraulic model tests. In particular, the effects of landslide geometry and kinematics on wave characteristics, as well as the effects of volume, slope of the sliding bed, and landslide height on the characteristics of the initial wave, were experimentally studied. In addition, the performance of two types of breakwaters (undulating and screen pipe) in attenuating the wave energy and impact forces of solitary waves was examined.