Seismic Risk Assessment and Modelling alongside Coastal Territories

Dear Colleagues,

The spatial distribution of the world population is uneven, concentrating in coastal regions that are simultaneously prone to seismic and tsunami hazards, which expose coastal territories all over the world to acute ecological, social, and economic seismic and tsunami risks that are aggravated by climate change with intensifying storm patterns and rising sea levels. Extreme events such as the Tohoku-Oki, 2011, earthquake and tsunami contributed not only to complement the scarce databases of instrumentally recorded quantities of tsunamigenic events, but also raise awareness of the need for integrated hazard assessment, mitigation, and adaptation, including comprehensive planning, policymaking, engineering, and a better understanding for the complementarity of hazards and ecosystems. Integrated hazard assessments include the modeling of the built environment and natural or natural-based features that can inform early warning systems and evacuation plans. Moreover, integrated risk assessments allow for the development of policies for the mitigation of risk that minimize loss of life and economic and social impacts. Overall, improved assessment and modeling of the seismic and tsunami risks are needed to guide local and state stakeholders and governments on policies related to economic and urban development that incorporate sustainable solutions for coastal regions.

The aim of this Special Issue is to collect recent developments regarding the risk assessment and mitigation of the effects of earthquakes and tsunamis on coastal territories at the component scale (building, bridge, lifelines, industrial facilities, ports, and quays) and at the system scale (strategic areas, community, and region). Potential topics of interest in this Special Issue include, but are not limited to:

• Seismic, tsunami, and cascading seismic and tsunami hazards, including:
  • 3D Fault Models—Tsunami and Ground Shaking Sources;
  • Recurrence Rates for Earthquake Shaking and Tsunami Inundation;
  • Hazard mapping.
• Tsunami action characterization and impacts:
  • Structural tsunami mitigation;
  • Natural tsunami mitigation;
  • Climate change (effects on tsunami hazard);
  • Engineering for tsunami hazard mitigation;
  • Experimental and numerical test cases;
  • Geotechnical conditions;
  • Natural and natural-based features for tsunami hazard mitigation;
  • Tsunami debris;
  • Urban density.
• Seismic, tsunami, and cascading seismic and tsunami risk:
  • Response of the built environment to cascading seismic and tsunami actions;
  • Coastal infrastructure and built environment;
  • Early warning systems;
  • Vertical evacuation buildings;
  • Emergency response;
  • Debris;
• Social, economic, and engineering policy and perspectives on the mitigation of risk and risk management;
• Decision support tools to evaluate localized mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Dr. Mário Lopes
Dr. André R. Barbosa
Dr. Cláudia Reis
Guest Editors

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