Cyclone risk mapping for critical coastal infrastructure: Cases of East Asian seaports

Seaport is a critical coastal infrastructure serving important economic purposes but at the same time is exposed to a wide range of natural hazards including tropical cyclones. Mapping of cyclone risk for seaports is a primary step in risk planning and mitigation which remains a gap in the literature. Since East Asia is among the most affected areas of cyclone risk, and also the region where the world's top container ports are located, cyclone risk mapping for major seaports in East Asia is carried out. The objective of this paper is to develop a scientific methodology of cyclone risk mapping for critical coastal infrastructures, taken East Asian seaports as illustration. The risk maps are created by the integration of cyclone hazard maps showing historical cyclone tracks, wind intensity distributions and frequency distributions, with port container throughout data map. Results show that there were a considerable number of cyclone events, especially along the coastal seas extending from Vietnam to Japan. In South East Asia, cyclone risk is generally low in terms of both wind intensity and frequency but not completely zero. The ports of Shanghai, Kaohsiung, and Keelung are more exposed to cyclone risk in North East Asia.