Posible inundación por tsunami en Puntarenas, Costa Rica

Abstract

We present results of possible tsunami impact at the city of Puntarenas caused by an earthquake in the Pacific Ocean of Costa Rica. This coastal city is located on a sandbar characterized by a very flat topography along the Gulf of Nicoya. This project arises from the need to assess the exposure of this city considered vulnera- ble to coastal hazards due to its location in the gulf. The aim of this study is to de- termine the potential generation of a tsunami due to an earthquake on the gulf of Nicoya. We used the Okada model (1985) to estimate the coseismic deformation which is the initial condition of the tsunami. The HyFlux2 numerical code was used to estimate propagation and wave height along the coast. Among the most im- portant results we highlight the fact that a tsunami could flood the city reaching maximum height of 1.8 meters at the northern edge of the sandbar of Puntarenas. These results could bring a framework to plan the future coastal development, and facilitate the preparation and response to a possible event.