Characteristics of Tsunamis Propagating over Oceanic Ridges: Numerical Simulation of the 1996 Irian Jaya Earthquake Tsunami

The 1996 Irian Jaya earthquake tsunami was simulated by using the numerical model based on the linear long wave theory including Coriolis force in the spherical coordinate system. The numerical modeling result at Chichijima is in good agreement with the observed tide gauge data. The distinctive oscillation at Chichijima can be interpreted as the formation of boundary waves, so called ridge waves that are excited on the South-Honshu ridge. The mechanism of tsunami propagation trapped on an oceanic ridge is analyzed with the simple ridge model. The result explains the characteristics of ridge waves excited on theSouth-Honshu ridge. Copyright Kluwer Academic Publishers 2001