Effects of different boundary conditions and palaeotopographies on the onshore response of tsunamis in a numerical model - A case study from western Greece

Tsunami landfall related to N-waves is found to be considerably stronger compared to solitary waves. This phenomenon, known as the N-wave effect, is demonstrated for the first time in a specific study area. Inundation dynamics are even stronger affected by the different palaeotopographies, which is due to substantial vertical crust movements in the northern Gulf of Kyparissia considered in the palaeo-DEMs. By applying different waveforms and palaeotopographies, the model achieves close agreement with field observations, altogether revealing a significant tsunami hazard for the Gulf of Kyparissia, which is in contrast to conventional numerical studies of the area. The marked differences between the presented scenarios emphasise the need to consider a wide variety of possible hydrodynamic boundary conditions and probable topographical conditions in order to find scenarios in plausible accordance with palaeotsunami field traces. Once a plausible scenario is found it can be applied to the recent topography in view of a reliable modern hazard assessment.