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Field Survey of the 1945 Makran and 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunamis in Baluchistan, Iran

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Abstract

We report the result of a 2010 survey of the effects on the Iranian coastline of the tsunami which followed the earthquake of 27 November 1945 (M 0 = 2.8 × 1028 dyn cm; M w = 8.2), the only large event recorded along the Makran subduction zone since the onset of instrumental seismology. Based on the interview of elderly survivors of the event, we obtained a database of nine values of run-up or splash amplitudes on a segment of shore extending 280 km from Souraf in the West to Pasabandar near the Pakistani border, and ranging in vertical amplitude from 2.3 to 13.7 m. Witness reports are consistent with a significant delay (estimated at ~2.5 h) of the tsunami waves, suggesting that they were generated by an ancillary phenomenon, such as a landslide triggered by the earthquake. None of our witnesses bore ancestral memory of comparable events in the past, suggesting that reported predecessors to the 1945 earthquake may have been smaller in size. The survey also allowed the compilation of previously unreported data concerning the effects of the 2004 Sumatra–Andaman tsunami.

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Acknowledgments

This project was made possible by a grant from UNESCAP. In addition, we gratefully acknowledge the support of the Iranian National Institute for Oceanography, particularly its Director, Dr. Vahid Chegini, as well as Mr. Majid Naderi, Mr. Nima Kiani and Ms. Fahimeh Foroughi in Tehran. In Chabahar, we are grateful to the Staff of Research Station of INIO, in particular to our driver, who took a personal interest in the project, and provided translation from the Balochi language during our interviews. Finally, we thank all our witnesses for their eagerness to share with us the precious memories of their unique experience during the 1945 tsunami. The paper was improved by the comments of reviewers.

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Author notes

  1. Mohammad Ali Hamzeh

    Present address: Department of Geology, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA

    Emile A. Okal

  2. School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA

    Hermann M. Fritz

  3. Iranian National Institute of Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences, Chabahar, Iran

    Mohammad Ali Hamzeh

  4. Department of Fisheries and Marine Sciences, Chabahar Maritime University, Chabahar, Iran

    Javad Ghasemzadeh

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  1. Emile A. Okal
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Okal, E.A., Fritz, H.M., Hamzeh, M.A. et al. Field Survey of the 1945 Makran and 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunamis in Baluchistan, Iran. Pure Appl. Geophys. 172, 3343–3356 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-015-1157-z

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