A synoptic picture of the impact of the 26th December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami on the coast of Sri Lanka

A numerical simulation of the 26th December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami for the entire coast of Sri Lanka is presented. The simulation approach is based on a fully nonlinear Boussinesq tsunami propagation model and a robust coseismic source. The simulation is first confronted to available measured wave height. The agreement between observations and the predicted wave heights allowed a reasonable validation of the simulation. As a result a synoptic picture of the tsunami impact is provided over the entire coast of Sri Lanka. It is found that amplification due to shoaling applies mainly in the Eastern and Southern coast because, here, the wave is propagating across the sea floor slope, while propagating along the slope for the Western coast. Spots of high waves are due to wave focusing in some coastal areas while local submarine canyons in other areas inhibit the wave amplification.