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Tsunamis Effects in Man-Made Environment

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Abbreviations

Bore:

A broken wave with an infinite wavelength that propagates into shallower quiescent water.

Buoyant force:

A net hydrostatic force on an object in the vertical direction.

Coastal armoring:

A human-made structure built to protect shorelines, e.g., seawalls, coastal dikes, and breakwaters.

Debris impact force:

Forces on an object caused by the impact of waterborne missiles.

Distant tsunami:

A tsunami created on a far away source; distant tsunami travel times can be on the order of hours.

Drag force:

Forces acting on a submerged object in the direction of a steady fluid flow.

Form drag:

A component of the drag force due to pressure difference between the front and back surfaces of the object.

Hydrodynamic force:

A force acting on a partially submerged structure by a steady free-surface flow around it.

Hydrostatic force:

Fluid forces under the uniform-flow condition with no vertical acceleration.

Local tsunami:

A tsunami created on a nearby source.

Momentum flux:

The steady portion of the net inertial forces.

Shallow-water-wave theory:

Water-wave theory with the assumptions of infinitesimal water depth relative to the wavelength for the irrotational fluid motion; alternatively, with the assumptions of hydrostatic pressure field and the inviscid-fluid flow with uniform horizontal velocity profile over the depth.

Shoaling effect:

Describes the increase in wave height as waves propagate into shallower water; it is a consequence of the conservation of wave energy flux.

Subduction zone:

A tectonic plate margin characterized by one plate going underneath (or subducting) of another tectonic plate; a plate dislocation in the subduction zone creates large tsunamis.

Surge force (impulsive force):

Initial water impact forces on an object caused by the leading edge of the wave’s upsurge motion on land.

Tsunami:

A water wave created by an impulsive disturbance in the ocean; the Japanese word “tsunami” translates directly to English as “harbor wave.”

Vertical evacuation structure:

A human-made structure that provides a high-elevation safe haven from floods.

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Yeh, H., Barbosa, A., Mason, B.H. (2015). Tsunamis Effects in Man-Made Environment. In: Meyers, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Complexity and Systems Science. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27737-5_623-1

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