Developing Tsunami Fragility Curves Due to the 2009 Tsunami Disaster in American Samoa

Abstract

Abstract. Fragility functions in terms of flow depth, flow velocity and hydrodynamic force are developed to evaluate structural vulnerability in the areas affected by the 2009 Samoa earthquake and tsunami. First, numerical simulations of tsunami propagation and inundation are conducted to reproduce the features of tsunami inundation. To validate the results, flow depths measured in field surveys and waveforms measured by Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART) gauges are utilized. Next, building damage is investigated by manually detecting changes between pre- and post-tsunami high-resolution satellite images. Finally, the data related to tsunami features and building damage are integrated using GIS, and tsunami fragility functions are developed based on the statistical analyses.