Kim, D.S., Hong, S.J and Park, H.S., 2013. Analysis of evacuation system on tsunami disaster prevention in Korea.

The purpose of this study is to develop tsunami hazard maps by analyzing the coastal inundation characteristics on the eastern coast of Korea. The Korean peninsula is mistakenly considered to be a country safe from tsunamis as it is located next to Japanese islands which are believed to act as a barrier in various disaster situations. However, in reality, it is rather disaster-prone as it is located in the seismic zone along the western coast of Japan in the East Sea. To date, five tsunamis have affected Korea, including the Kanpo tsunami in 1741, the Shankotan tsunami in 1940, the Niigata tsunami in 1964, the Central East Sea tsunami in 1983, and the Hokkaido south western tsunami in 1993, of which the Central East Sea tsunami and Hokkaido south western tsunami resulted in casualties and caused property damages, especially in the Gangwon province. In this study, future tsunamis with a high probability of occurrence are investigated through an analysis of the seismic zone in the East Sea. For the analysis, hypothetical tsunami scenarios are developed to examine the inundation characteristics and create tsunami hazard maps of the eastern coast of Korea; tsunami inundation characteristics are analyzed for the subject areas based on the numerical simulation results using different scenarios. According to the analysis, tsunamis tend to land in the eastern coastal areas of the Korea peninsula due to bathymetric features of the East Sea. Furthermore, tsunami heights are calculated to be up to twelve meters above mean sea level (MSL). Finally, the tsunami hazard maps are developed based on the inundation analyses of the study areas. By developing tsunami hazard maps, inundation areas, evacuation routes, and shelters can be easily predicted, established, and selected. In non-emergency situations, tsunami hazard map can be used for education and promotion purposes and as a reference for risk assessment and disaster prediction.