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Nat Hazards (2012) 63:12731278 DOI 10.1007/s11069-012-0162-0
SHORT COMMUNICATION
Joaquin Rodriguez-Vidal Jose M. Rodriguez-Llanes
Debarati Guha-Sapir
Received: 8 June 2011 / Accepted: 23 March 2012 / Published online: 8 April 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012
Abstract Tsunamis have caused severe destruction to vulnerable populations through the ages. Commonly generated from oceanic subduction zones, they still remain difcult to predict. Recent instrumental record on risk of occurrence can be enhanced when complemented by historical, archeological, and geological studies. We assessed the coast at risk and overlaid civilian nuclear sites active, in expansion and under construction. The worldwide distribution of threatened nuclear sites revealed a clustering in South and South-East Asia. We identied four areas for urgent policy attention, including the need for funding to translate scientic risks assessment into effective policy.
Keywords Nuclear power Risk assessment Development Tsunami Earthquake
1 Tsunamis and human civilizations
A marine tsunami is a high-energy wave caused by the displacement of a large body of water, often leading to inundation of coastal areas by sea water with consequent disruption to vulnerable human populations (Noji 1997; Ziegler et al. 2009). The genesis of marine tsunamis can be terrestrial or extraterrestrial (i.e., bolides), and the former can be caused by marine earthquakes, volcanic explosions, and coastal or submarine landslides (Dawson and Stewart 2007). Seismic areas with the greatest potential to produce large tsunamis (i.e., Mw [8.0) are located in oceanic subduction zones with the capacity to activate reverse faults in the seabed (Moore et al. 2007). However, the various sources of tsunamis and the relatively recent instrumental record of earthquakes complicate the predictability of these phenomena, despite progress in predicting future ruptures in well-studied faults (Hergert and Heidbach 2010; Nalbant et al. 2005; Parsons et al. 2000). Historic, archeological, and geological records
J. Rodriguez-Vidal
Department of Geodynamics and Paleontology, University of Huelva, 21071 Huelva, Spain
J. M. Rodriguez-Llanes (&) D. Guha-Sapir
Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters, Institute of Health and Society, Universit catholique de Louvain, Box 1.30.15 Clos Chapelle-aux-Champs, 1200 Brussels, Belgiume-mail: [email protected]
Civil nuclear power at risk of tsunamis
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are not only useful to conrm what is known but also to identify undetected regions affected by large tsunamis in the past (Scheffers and...