Damage to coastal villages due to the 1992 Flores Island earthquake tsunami

Abstract

A field survey of the 1992 Flores Island earthquake tsunami was conducted during December 29, 1992 to January 5, 1993 along the north coast of the eastern part of Flores Island. We visited over 40 villages, measured tsunami heights, and interviewed the inhabitants. It was clarified that the first wave attacked the coast within five minutes at most of the surveyed villages. The crust was uplifted west of the Cape of Batumanuk, and subsided east of it. In the residential area of Wuring, which is located on a sand spit with ground height of 2 meters, most wooden houses built on stilts collapsed and 87 people were killed even though the tsunami height reached only 3.2 meters. In the two villages on Babi Island, the tsunami swept away all wooden houses and killed 263 of 1,093 inhabitants. Tsunami height at Riang-Kroko village on the northeastern end of Flores Island reached 26.2 meters and 137 of the 406 inhabitants were killed by the tsumani. Evidence of landslides was detected at a few points on the coast of Hading Bay, and the huge tsunami was probably formed by earthquake-induced landslides. The relationship between tsunami height and mortality was checked for seven villages. The efficiencies of trees arranged in front of coastal villages, and coral reefs in dissipating the tsunami energy are discussed.