Tsunami Mitigation: Natural and Artificial Barriers, and Public Participation

Tsunami may be defined as a series of long wavelength waves, having period from 30 min to a couple of hours, occurring due to the displacement of a large volume of water in ocean or a big lake. The various initiating events would include earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, underwater explosions, underwater landslides and meteorite impact. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami exemplified this hazard for the Indian coast, especially the eastern one. The Fukushima incident in 2011 drew fresh attention to tsunami analysis, early detection and tsunami protection among nuclear community. Tsunami protection may be in active form like seawall to resist the incoming wave. Investigators have also brought out the passive resistance offered by coastal features like sand dunes, mangroves, vegetation, coral reefs and artificial structures. The present article brings together the information regarding passive tsunami protection, available in recent literature.