Associate Professor Tatsuto Aoki, at the Faculty of Regional Development Studies, Institute of Human and Social Sciences, Kanazawa University, a member of a research group consisting of Fukuoka University of Education, Hiroshima University, Chubu University, Chiba University, and Kanazawa University, has determined the detailed distribution and height of the tsunami generated by the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake.
Associate Professor Aoki provided the research group with information from the field surveys he had been conducting continuously since the disaster, contributing to the smooth execution of the research group's field surveys. He also participated in the field surveys as a member of the research group, contributing to the elucidation of the distribution and height of the tsunami.
The results of this survey revealed that the damage caused by the tsunami that followed the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake depended on regional differences in topographical conditions within the peninsula, the location of settlements, and the presence or absence of coastal structures. The tsunami height was higher on the western coast of the Noto Peninsula, and tsunami-driven debris was observed at an elevation of 8 m or higher in Togi, Shiga Town and Kuroshima, Wajima City. These characteristics were in harmony with the results of the tsunami inundation estimation conducted by Ishikawa Prefecture in 2012, which identified the epicenter of the earthquake.
On the other hand, the damage caused by the tsunami was mainly large on the east coast of the Noto Peninsula, which is different from the feature that the tsunami height was higher on the west coast. Despite the higher tsunami height on the west coast, the tsunami did not reach the settlements because they are located on marine terraces, which are one step higher than the coast, and because of the uplift caused by crustal deformation during the earthquake. In contrast, on the eastern coast of the Noto Peninsula, settlements were located on lowlands directly facing the sea, and there were almost no coastal structures such as wave breakers or seawalls, which may have contributed to the large tsunami damage.
The results of this research have been published in the international journal Earth, Planets and Space.
Figure 1: Tsunami inundation area and survey points
Click here to see the press release【Japanese only】
Journal : Earth, Planets and Space
Researcher's Information： Tatsuto Aoki
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