Potential large tsunami hazards associated with landslide failure along the West coast of India: from uncertainties to planning decisions
PI: Prof. Serge Guillas (UCL)
Co-I’s: Dr. Mohammad Heidarzadeh (Brunel, Civil Engineering), Dr. Cassidy Johnson (UCL, Development Planning Unit).
Collaborator: Indian Institute of Human Settlements (IIHS) – Bangalore, India.
Project Overview: India is planning several industrial and urban development on its Western coast. Hence it is important to take into consideration possible hazards threatening populations and infrastructure. Submarine landslide failure is potentially a source of tsunamis for the region, as evidence of past events have shown; a major source for such failures is the Indus Canyon. The potential hazards associated with the failure of the Indus Canyon slopes have yet to be addressed. In this study, we propose to study such tsunami hazards using a documented geophysical understanding of the source, advanced numerical modeling and novel statistical emulation. The results will be specifically tailored to help our partners in India now advising policy makers on coastal development and settlement. Indeed, the current work on urban planning and decision-making for earthquake-generated tsunamis in our NERC-ESRC-AHRC GCRF grant will be a conduit for the investigation of the links between policy and practice to tsunami hazard (and risk) mapping for India, especially for this new type of low probability and possibly high impact events.