The Tsunami hazard in Sri Lanka: A strategic approach for the protection of lives, ecosystems and infrastructure

Abstract

The Indian Ocean Tsunami devastated the coastline of Sri Lanka. This paper summarises the initial efforts in understanding the tsunami wave and its hydraulic impact on the Sri Lankan coastline. It focuses attention on the hydraulic processes which led to large scale inundation, analysis of wavecurrent measurements recorded offshore of the Colombo Harbour and describes post tsunami field investigations to assess the overall impact on the coastline. The paper also identifies the need for modeling of potential tsunamis and discusses briefly issues relating to the planning of countermeasures.