Special Session: Tsunami Modeling and Hazard Assessment
Type: Oral
Day: 5/15/2018
Time: 11:45 AM
Room: Hibiscus A
Abstract
In the past decade, the world has witnessed of numerous tsunamis and earthquakes in different parts of the world such as Indonesia (2004), Peru (2007), Haiti and Chile (2010), Japan (2011) and the most recent one in Chile (2015) with waves close to 4.6 m and substantial damages. In Puerto Rico, the last tsunami that affected the island was in 1918, with waves greater than 5 m in height, causing damage and deaths, particularly in the western region, where first waves arrived in a matter of minutes. Pedestrian evacuation analysis permits evaluation of the travel time of an evacuation route taking into account different rates of pedestrian movement. According to data from the Puerto Rico TsunamiReady program, more than 249,000 people reside within the tsuanami evacuation areas. It is important to know an estimate of the time of pedestrian evacuation of our exposed communities to demonstrate the danger of these and look for possible solutions to these cases. Here we present case study results of pedestrian analysis performed using Pedestrian Evacuation Analyst Tool in ArcGIS for three municipalities (counties) in Puerto Rico, Aguadilla, Arecibo, and Ponce. Based on these analysis, it is apparent that there are communities in Puerto Rico that their evacuation time is longer than the estimated arrival time of the tsunami. These regions require further consideration for additional mitigation including identifying alternate evacuation routes or identifying vertical evacuation sites. Results of the pedestrian analyses are publicly available through the Puerto Rico Tsunami Program Map Tool (TDST). This project provides valuable information for the emergency management officers and the residents to evaluate the risk and look for alternatives in order to lower the evacuation times of said exposed communities.
Author(s):
Severino V. E. University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez
Maldonado J. USDA-NRCS
Ruiz R. Puerto Rico Seismic Network
Vanacore E. A. Puerto Rico Seismic Network
Gonzalez W. Puerto Rico Seismic Network
Pedestrian Evacuation Analysis in Case of Tsunami for the Puerto Rico Municipalities of Aguadilla, Arecibo and Ponce
Category
Tsunami Modeling and Hazard Assessment