Providing detailed tsunami inundation modelling to gain a better understanding of risk

New South Wales Tsunami Inundation Modelling and Risk Assessment

Keeping the community safe against unforeseen threats is challenging—the more information we have, the better we can protect our people. Recognising this, the New South Wales (NSW) Office of Environment and Heritage, and the NSW State Emergency Services looked to our team for help understanding the local tsunami risk profile, and to explore measures they could take to safeguard the surrounding community.

Funded by the Attorney-General’s Department Natural Disaster Mitigation Program, this project involved detailed tsunami inundation modelling, hazard mapping and exposure assessments for specific sites along the NSW coastline. The team used our inputs for planning and assisting the development of their tsunami emergency planning response, and community education. This study expands the current understanding of nearshore tsunami behaviour and how it’s affected by different variables such as earthquake source location, rupture magnitude and the impact of coastline types.

By using data from past events and identifying the ‘high hazard’ areas, we were able to support future decision making and consideration of tsunami impacts in coastal zone management.