Numerical Simulations of the 1960 Chilean Tsunami Propagation and Inundation at Hilo, Hawaii

Abstract

An explicit staggered leap-frog finite difference model is used to simulate the transoceanic propagation of the 1960 Chilean tsunami and the associated inundation at Hilo, Hawaii. In computing the transoceanic tsunami propagation, linear shallow water equations with Coriolis force are solved. However, spatial grid sizes and time step sizes are chosen in such a way that the numerical dispersion introduced by the leap-frog finite difference scheme is almost the same as the frequency dispersion in the linear Boussinesq equations. Because the grid size and the time step depend on the local depth, a nested multiple-grid system is developed for the numerical model.