On Tsunami Risk Assessment and Mitigation

International Symposium

on Tsunami Risk Assessment and Mitigation

in South & Southeast Asia

1-2 December 2009, Manado, Indonesia

Background

The 26 December 2004 earthquake west of the Aceh Province of Indonesia generated a large tsunami which devastated large areas along the coastlines of Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, India and even some parts of the east African coast. It caused 220,000 casualties.The identifying tsunami risk and needs for mitigation measures for other countries in S&SE Asia that are considered most vulnerable to tsunamis have been studied by both national research institutes and international organizations.

Risk assessment is a recent practice in disasterrisk reduction in many countries. Assessmenttechniques are well developed for some hazards,such as floods, earthquakes and volcanic hazardsand they can be applied by using standard computersand readily available software. In addition, theapplication of geographic information systems hasexpanded the possibilities for risk assessment of

single and multiple hazards. The characteristics ofrisk are usually presented through risk mapping,frequency distributions, scenario plans andexercises, annualised risk mapping and qualitativemeasures.

The use of risk maps is the mostwidespread.Risk assessment should also consider thecumulative effects of multiple hazards andrelated vulnerability. At present, there arerelatively few truly comprehensive multi-hazardassessments including all potentiallydamaging natural hazards in a givenlocation. A few countries have developed multi-hazardmaps or expected to have total nationalcoverage of hazard maps. The general lack of multi-hazardassessments arises partly because thepreparation of hazard maps is rarely a legalrequirement.

Purpose of the Symposium

The purpose of the symposium is to disseminate the result of the study for identifying tsunami risk and mitigation measure of countries in South and Southeast Asia which are considered most vulnerable to tsunamis. The better understanding on current geotectonic and seismologic status in these regions is expected in order to synthesize these data for future deployment of warning systems especially with respect to optimizing locations of tidal gages and seismic stations.

The symposium will also enhance capacities of hazards assessment and risk reduction for regional, national and local institutions. Knowledge on tsunami hazard, risk assessment and mitigation measures will be transferred through local and regional participants.

Themes to be discussed

Tsunami risk of South and Southeast Asia; Background

Tsunami risk assessment and Tsunami modeling studies

Tsunami hazard mapping and possible mitigation measures

Implication for participating case-study countries; Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Sri Lanka

Regional and local tsunami warning centre networking

Organizers and Venue

Geological Agency, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources of Indonesia (GAI)

Coordinating Committee for Geosciences Programme in East and Southeast Asia (CCOP)

1-2 December 2009

Sintesa Peninsula Hotel, Manado, INDONESIA

FOR MORE INFORMATION/INQUIRES; PLEASE CONTACT

MR. NIRAN CHAIMANEE

Geo-Environment Sector Coordinator

CCOP Technical Secretariat

CCOP Building

75/10 Rama VI Road, Phayathai

Ratchathewi, Bangkok 10400, THAILAND

Tel: +66 (0) 2644-5468 ext 404, Fax: +66 (0) 2644-5431

E-mail: or

Website:

Enclosure 2) Symposium First Circular – Page 1 of 2