The impact of tsunami in coastal areas : Coastal protection and disaster prevention measures-Experiences from Japanese coasts

概要

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The experience of the recent Indian Ocean Tsunami was new to the people of India. Various assumptions were made on the damages to property, environment and the follow up coastal protection measures, but it was very difficult to predict due to lack of previous data and experiences. The tsunamis are frequent in Japan and various coastal protection measures were implemented such as hard solutions (sea walls, breakwaters, water gates, high rise river dikes), soft approaches (education and awareness, forecasting, communication, evacuation, preparedness) and natural barriers (coastal forests, mangroves, coral reefs) throughout the Japanese coasts. The field visits in the tsunami affected coastal areas from north to south Japan, covering six Prefs. provided hand-on experience and knowledge with detailed historical information on damages, coastal protection measures, successes and failures. The Japanese experiences could be taken as a model for any coastal conservation practices, however it is recommended as an integrated approach in the case of Indian Ocean region, particularly to India because of differences in the socio-economic nature of the coastal areas. The integrated approach could be practiced, involving soft solutions as a major strategy with the natural barrier concepts and the hard solutions only for required specific areas.
2006-06-25