Tsunami heights on the Korean east coast from submarine active faults along the eastern margin of the Sea of Japan

Abstract

Large earthquakes along the eastern margin of the Sea of Japan, such as the 1983 Central Japan Sea Earthquake (M 7.7) or the 1993 Southwest Off Hokkaido Earthquake (M 7.8) generated tsunamis that reached and caused damage on the east coast of Korea, whereas tsunamis from the recent 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake (M 7.6) were much smaller. In this study, we computed tsunamis on the Korean east coast from 60 fault models proposed by a Japanese committee in 2014 (MLIT model). The maximum tsunami height at many locations is produced by the F24 fault (Mw 7.9, corresponding to the 1983 earthquake) and the F17 fault (Mw 7.8, a model of the 1993 earthquake). In addition, the F20 (Mw 7.8), F28 (Mw 7.7), and F30 (Mw 7.8) faults, located off Aomori, Akita, and Yamagata Prefectures, also produce large tsunamis on the Korean coast, because of their fault strike and propagation effects through Yamato Rise. The tsunami heights from fault models of the 1940 Off Shakotan Peninsula Earthquake (F07), the 1964 Niigata Earthquake (F34), and the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake (F43) are smaller, as they are located further to the north or on the continental shelf with shallower water depth.