Frequency Distributions of Tsunami Runups in Hawaii

Abstract

The coastal high hazard zone to be established under the National Flood Insurance Program is to be the 100-year tsunami inundation zone. Toward the delineation of the zone Houston et a1. (1977) have estimated frequency distributions of tsunami runups at over 500 sites along Hawaiian coasts. The distributions are based in general on synthesized run ups at each site of the tsunamis considered significant in Hawaii since 1837. The synthetic runups were based, for the most part, on runup patterns initially computed using a numerical analysis model from a typical tsunami source in each of several Pacific-rim source regions, but adjusted by comparison with the patterns of runups measured at many coastal sites since 1946, and further adjusted in accordance with the intensity of each tsunami in the historic record as indicated by the records since 1837 at a few sites.