Tsunami vulnerability functions from field surveys and Monte Carlo simulation

Abstract

Data on tsunami damaged houses, collected and compiled by the Department of Census and Statistics, Sri Lanka, was used to construct vulnerability curves with tsunami height as the demand parameter. A common curve could be used for all administrative divisions where a majority of houses had permanent walling materials, whether these divisions were on the southwest coast or the north and east coast. A Monte Carlo simulation was carried out for a typical building using varying tsunami inundation depths, and the resulting vulnerability curve was found to be similar, but lie just below, the survey-based curve, because all the buildings used for the simulated curve had permanent walling materials. This paper focuses only on the ‘complete damage’ state for vulnerability.