Scientists investigate how to defend Europe against tsunamis
2016-10-12 (IPMA)
The damage that tsunamis could cause is expected to rise due to climate change, say researchers who are developing a tsunami early warning system for Europe and investigating the best way to reduce their impact on people and buildings.
Tsunamis are a series of waves mainly caused by undersea earthquakes which can leave huge death tolls and destruction in their wake, and can only be predicted after the occurrence of the earthquake. They claimed the lives of approximately 230 000 people in Indonesia in 2004, 525 people in Chile in 2010, and 15 000 people in Japan in 2011.
Rising sea levels may mean that future tsunamis will have a greater impact when they happen, as more water will flood the affected area.
What’s more, while headlines in recent years have come from outside of Europe, our coastlines have also experienced tsunamis in the past, particularly around the north-east Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Researchers say these areas face an increasing level of risk due to the year-round presence of millions of tourists and the placement of critical infrastructure along the shores.
As a result, scientists on the EU-funded ASTARTE project are helping to develop a tsunami warning system that is able to more accurately forecast when Europe is at risk and will allow authorities to take swift action.
Professor Maria Ana Baptista, who coordinates ASTARTE, said: ‘We would like to be able to save all lives in every single event, to reach zero casualties.
‘Tsunamis are a global problem, not a local problem, and European scientists should be in the forefront of research.’
Scientists have gotten faster at predicting tsunamis in recent years, though there haven’t been many opportunities to test this.
The challenge is that tsunamis can only be predicted after the undersea earthquake occurs, and in the Northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean areas, that could mean only 10-30 minutes before they hit the shore.
-
Lisboa:
UTC:
Copyright © Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere 2025
-
