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Field Survey of the 2015 Chile Tsunami with Emphasis on Coastal Wetland and Conservation Areas

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Abstract

The September 16th 2015 Illapel M8.3 earthquake, Chile, generated a tsunami that affected a sparsely populated region, causing 15 casualties and destroying 1069 houses (USGS 2015). A maximum surface elevation of +4.5 m was observed in Coquimbo's tide gauge while in other sites of the tide network, the tsunami did not exceed +2.0 m. A post-tsunami survey team comprised by local researchers was deployed from September 17th to November 14th 2015. The survey covered approximately 80 sites along 500 km of the primary impact zone, from the northernmost site where damage was reported, Bahía Carrizalillo (29.11°S; 71.46°W), southward to El Yali  National Reserve (33.75°S; 71.73°W) beyond which no tsunami damage occurred. The results of the survey in coastal towns with evident damage and isolated sites where the tsunami signature remained almost intact are summarized in this paper. A large amount of quantitative material is presented; including (1) inundation lines in five coastal sites, (2) 157 profiles including wave runup and flow depths and (3) 47 interviews to eyewitness, generally 2–3 per site. About two-thirds of the data were collected in isolated areas to guarantee spatial homogeneity along the impact zone. The type of damage in specific areas of biological interest and in coastal cities such as Concón, Tongoy and Coquimbo is also reported. A maximum runup of 13.6 m was recorded in La Cebada (30.97°S; 71.65°W). The information presented herein provides spatial completeness in places that may have not been surveyed by other teams, and redundancy in areas surveyed by others.

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Acknowledgments

The field survey was sponsored by Fondo Desarrollo Disciplinario, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad de Playa Ancha. Ministerio del Medio Ambiente de Chile. The authors would like to thank S. Abadie for collaborating with interviews in Los Vilos; F. Sepúlveda for his support during the survey in La Serena area and to M. Molina, R. Castillo, M. Álvarez, J. Herrera, R. Campos, A. Lobos, D. Manosalva, D. Becerra, P. Figueroa, J. Gómez and K. Sepúlveda for collecting data. Rangers from CONAF provided valuable data on protected areas. The authors appreciate valuable suggestions given by the editor D.Sc. Alexander Rabinovic and two anonymous reviewers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Facultad de Ingeniería, Centro de Estudios Avanzados, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Valparaíso, Chile

    Manuel Contreras-López

  2. Escuela de Ingeniería Civil Oceánica, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile

    Patricio Winckler & José F. Beyá

  3. School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, USA

    Ignacio Sepúlveda

  4. Programa Ingeniería Civil Oceánica, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile

    Adolfo Andaur-Álvarez

  5. Ingeniero Civil Ambiental, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Valparaíso, Chile

    Fernanda Cortés-Molina

  6. Programa Ingeniería Civil, Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Valparaíso, Chile

    Camila J. Guerrero

  7. Programa Magister en Oceanografía, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile

    Cyntia E. Mizobe

  8. Escuela de Arquitectura y Diseño, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile

    Felipe Igualt

  9. Facultad de Arquitectura y Diseño, Universidad Andrés Bello, Santiago, Chile

    Wolfgang Breuer

  10. Facultad de Ciencias del Mar y de Recursos Naturales, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile

    Hernán Vergara

  11. Instituto de Geografía, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile

    Rodrigo Figueroa-Sterquel

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  1. Manuel Contreras-López
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  2. Patricio Winckler
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  3. Ignacio Sepúlveda
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  6. Camila J. Guerrero
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  7. Cyntia E. Mizobe
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  8. Felipe Igualt
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  9. Wolfgang Breuer
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  11. Hernán Vergara
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  12. Rodrigo Figueroa-Sterquel
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Manuel Contreras-López.

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This paper is part of the article collection on “Illapel, Chile, Earthquake on September 16th, 2015”.

Appendix

Appendix

Five survey groups documented tsunami runup, flow depth and inundation following UNESCO’s field guide (Dominey-Howes et al. 2014). The first group covered de municipalities of Concón, Quintero, La Ligua and Santo Domingo between September 17th and 20th. A second group surveyed the area between Zapallar and La Higuera from September 22nd to 28th. A third group operated between October 3rd and 4th covering between Coquimbo and Freirina. The fourth group covered Santo Domingo,  Casa Blanca, Concón and Puchuncaví between October 23rd and 25th. The fifth group focused on beach profiles in Valparaíso, Viña del Mar and Quintero between September 21st and 25th using Emery’s (1961) methodology.

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Contreras-López, M., Winckler, P., Sepúlveda, I. et al. Field Survey of the 2015 Chile Tsunami with Emphasis on Coastal Wetland and Conservation Areas. Pure Appl. Geophys. 173, 349–367 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-015-1235-2

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