Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Texas, Dec., 2009. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2007. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 190-200). Also available on the World Wide Web.

In this paper we investigate how well residents of the Andaman coast in Phang Nga province, Thailand, are prepared for earthquakes and tsunami. It is hypothesized that formal education can promote disaster preparedness because education enhances individual cognitive and learning skills, as well as access to information. A survey was conducted of 557 households in the areas that received tsunami warnings following the Indian Ocean earthquakes on 11 April 2012. Interviews were carried out during the period of numerous aftershocks, which put residents in the region on high alert. The respondents were asked what emergency preparedness measures they had taken following the 11 April earthquakes. Using the partial proportional odds model, the paper investigates determinants of personal disaster preparedness measured as the number of preparedness actions taken. Controlling for village effects, we find that formal education, measured at the individual, household, and community levels, has a positive relationship with taking preparedness measures. For the survey group without past disaster experience, the education level of household members is positively related to disaster preparedness. The findings also show that disaster-related training is most effective for individuals with high educational attainment. Furthermore, living in a community with a higher proportion of women who have at least a secondary education increases the likelihood of disaster preparedness. In conclusion, we found that formal education can increase disaster preparedness and reduce vulnerability to natural hazards.

This thesis explores three topics relating to price transmission in economic theory. The broad aim is to understand the price adjustment processes of the domestic and export coconut markets of Sri Lanka during the 1980 to 2012 period. The three topics investigated were the changing role of coconut oil exports due to changes in the global oil markets. Second the functioning of the domestic district coconut markets and finally the impact of the tsunami 2004 on the coastal district coconut markets. The analytical framework for the study is the economic theory of the Law of One Price. The first issue was examined using cointegration, vector error correction and impulse response methodologies. To address the function of the domestic district coconut markets at wholesale, retail and vertical levels Hansen and Seo econometric model was used. To test the effects of the tsunami on the coastal district coconut markets and to assess whether “rockets and feathers” phenomenon rose as a result of the tsunami Enders and Siklos econometric model was applied. The results confirmed that cointegration pattern of vegetable oils in the international market changed with the emergence of bio fuel around 2000. Cointegration of coconut oil with other oils also did change with the emergence of biofuel. The results of the domestic market showed that Colombo market was cointegrated with district coconut markets. . The results of market structures at all levels showed mixed results with more symmetrical markets at wholesale level and more asymmetric markets at the vertical level Results of the impact of tsunami showed that markets were disrupted unevenly with highest disruption in the vertical markets due to tsunami. The tsunami does not seem to have lead to rocket and feather phenomenon.

Recent natural disasters, such as major tsunamis, have prompted researchers and practicing engineers to improve their understanding of the impacts of bore-like waves on structures and their foundations. The high velocity and the relatively short duration of hydraulic bores causes local scouring which is different from that generated by river flows and waves. The present study uses an experimental model to simulate the propagation of a hydraulic bore over a movable sediment bed placed around a circular pier-like structure. Measurements of water surface elevation, bore propagation velocity and scour distribution were taken. The linear relationship between reservoir depth and bore depth led to an increase in flow acceleration, and thus to an increase in flow velocity. Final scour bed elevations indicated that scour depth was highly dependent on the bore velocity. The scour depth ratios suggested in current design guidelines were significantly lower than those obtained in this study.

In this study, a three-dimensional two-phase (air and water) numerical solver is applied to investigate free surface flows. The first component aims to improve the overall understanding of the underlying physical mechanisms that occur during the interaction between turbulent hydraulic bores and simple structures. Data collected during large-scale physical experiments based on generating dam-break waves in a horizontal rectangular channel is used for comparing to the numerical results. An extensive sensitivity analysis on numerical parameters including spatial discretization and turbulence models is presented. Quantitative comparisons of numerical and experimental time series of water surface elevations, pressure, and net streamwise force exerted on the structure are used to validate the model. In the in-depth analysis, it is demonstrated that the model is able to simulate the pertinent aspects of the flow behaviour that occur during the interaction with good agreement. The numerical impulsive force generated at initial impact shows excellent agreement with the experimental results, particularly for the larger magnitudes bores considered. Since the numerical model treats the air as an incompressible media, the level of agreement observed between the experimental and numerical results suggests that the compressibility of the air in the leading edge of the bore during the physical testing had no significant effect on the measured impulsive force. The two-phase model was also able to capture the occurrence of a second transient spike in the force exerted on the structure when the initial runup collapsed back onto the incoming flow, trapping a pocket of air in the process. The model was further applied to investigate the effect of an initially quiescent layer of water in the downstream channel section on bore propagation characteristics and the subsequent interaction with the structure. It is demonstrated that for small nonzero values of initial downstream depth a substantial increase in bore depth occurs. However, further increases in the downstream depth did not appear have any significant effects. For the greatest downstream depth simulated, a considerable reduction in the hydrodynamic force is observed as a result of a more rapid closing of the wake that develops on the leeside of the structure. The second component of the study applies the same numerical solver to investigate a novel long wave generation technique for producing laboratory-scale tsunami waves. The concept is based on removing the air from the inside of a tank with a submerged outlet at the upstream end of the basin and releasing the water in a controlled manner. A similar procedure as described above was used to calibrate the numerical parameters to experimentally-measured wave heights and periods. To model the influence of the pneumatic valves mounted on top of the upstream chamber, time-varying pressure boundary conditions are developed to regulate and control the pressure inside the tank. Quantitative and qualitative comparisons of the numerical and experimental results show good agreement and a high potential for the solver to be used for similar investigations. An analysis is performed to improve the existing understanding of the wave formation process. The model is also applied to modify test configurations that influence the waveform for which the results may be used to aid in making operating decisions for future tests or in the design of similar wave generating devices.

The North American Pacific coast, located within the Ring of Fire, is at risk of severe subduction tsunamis. This danger has pushed the United States to make a strong push in tsunami research. Recent advancement has resulted in the implementation of a new chapter in the ASCE 7-16 standards focusing on tsunami structural loads and effects. Within the scope of this new standard, the tsunami inundation hazard of the US West coast has been mapped. However, no such work has been completed in Canada, leaving the tsunami hazard and vulnerability for most of the Canadian West coast uncertain. The life safety vulnerability from the most hazardous source, the Cascadia Subduction Zone, is evaluated in terms of pedestrian evacuation capabilities. Using a static distance-only model, the ability of individuals to evacuate to safety in natural high grounds is computed for all communities in British Columbia and compared by Tsunami Notification Zone. A new variable – the available time – for tsunamis life safety vulnerability assessment is proposed. This variable considers both tsunami arrival time and time to safety, resulting in a life safety threshold value of 0. Zone E has the largest surface area and population within the hazard zone, even though it has the smallest probable run-up range because of the large number of communities in this zone and the low-laying areas of the Lower Mainland. All communities within Zones A, B, D, and E have low life safety vulnerability at the maximum probable run-up of their respective zone, suggesting that pedestrian evacuation should be possible. Zone C has the highest vulnerability of all zones, as it has the lowest available times. With a 9 m run-up and over 25% of its communities lying within the moderate- or high-vulnerability categories, it has an available time of below 30 min and 15 min, respectively. Zone C also has the highest percentage of its surface area inundated at its maximum probable run-up (39.7%). The most vulnerable communities are identified, including 45 First Nation and 5 non-indigenous communities: Tofino, Winter Harbour, Ucluelet, Port Renfrew, and Bamfield. The life-safety threshold is surpassed in Barlett Island 32, Grassy Island 17, Hesquiat 1, and Tofino. Delta and Richmond, in Zone E, also have a minimum available time below the life safety threshold at run-ups between 5 and 7 m, at or above the probable run-up of their zone, as they have large low-lying areas. As the tsunami arrival time is very large here, the merits of vehicle evacuation should be evaluated. Additionally, they are likely to be more vulnerable to landslide tsunamis, as the tsunami arrival time would be much shorter than one from a Cascadia tsunami. A more detailed vulnerability study using anisotropic path-distance modeling was performed in Tofino. This more complex model found lower available times than the distance-only model. Maximum differences ranging between 14.4 to 29.9 minutes were found for three pedestrian velocities. The minimum available time was found to be -29.0 minutes within the official municipality boundary and -40.1 minutes within one of the beaches. Two vertical evacuation structures are required to reduce the time to safety below the tsunami arrival time of 28.1 minutes for run-ups between 13 and 19 m. Run-ups above 19 m required three vertical evacuation structures. No configuration could be found to sufficiently reduce the time to safety on Frank Island.

L'humanitaire représente dans le monde une activité énorme en raison de la multiplication des conflits armés et des catastrophes naturelles, La mise en œuvre de l'action humanitaire et sa médiatisation donnent lieu à un débat important au sein de la communauté internationale. Cette recherche vise à analyser les rapports des médias aux questions de solidarité internationale. Nous partons de l'hypothèse que le discours médiatique, de façon générale, est partiel et déséquilibré parce qu'il ne reflète pas toute la diversité et toute la réalité des crises humanitaires. Certaines grandes crises humanitaires font l'objet d'une médiatisation importante. Mais de nombreuses autres ont une visibilité médiatique faible, voire nulle. En 2005, il a été beaucoup question du tsunami en Asie du Su-Est, de l'ouragan Katrina aux États-Unis. Mais pendant cette année, selon les organisations humanitaires, d'autres crises humanitaires graves ont suscité peu l'intérêt des médias (exemples : la famine au Niger, conséquences d'intempéries en Amérique latine, situations diverses en Afrique australe, etc.). L'objectif principal de ce travail est de mettre en évidence les facteurs et enjeux essentiels qui participent de la mobilisation des médias et de la solidarité internationale autour des crises. Pour ce faire, quatre crises humanitaires survenues entre décembre 2004 et octobre 2005 sont prises en exemples : le tsunami en Asie et dans l'océan Indien, l'ouragan Katrina aux États-Unis, la famine au Niger et le séisme du Cachemire au Pakistan. Elles sont comparées dans leur couverture médiatique par la presse française et dans leur appréhension par la communauté internationale / As a result of the growing conflicts and natural catastrophes, humanitarian relief work serves a significant role and activity with several implications. The setting of humanitarian action, along side with the activity by the media has fostered an important debate in the international community. The objective of this particular research is to analyze the relationship between the media and humanitarian questions. It focuses in particular, on the issues surrounding the mobilization of the media and repercussions of media press release of humanitarian crisis. It argues from the hypotheses that the media speeches on humanity are partial and strewn with disequilibrium, as it does not reflect the diverse views and all the realities of the humanitarian crisis. Critics have been said not only from international solidarities but also from volunteer groups, academic scholars, pragmatic specialists of information and communication sciences field, political sciences and sociologist. All the humanitarian situations are not handled at the same level by the media. For instance, there were a lot of questions surrounding the tsunami, hurricane Katrina, in the United States of America. But in this same year, there were other serious humanitarian crisis which captured little interest of the media, which were ignored. This work aims to reflect the exploratory factors of this disequilibrium, of this partial press release of humanitarian questions. Four humanitarian crisis which occurred between december 2004 and october 2005 are used as examples. The tsunami in the Asia at the Indian ocean, the hurricane Katrina in the United States of America, the famine in Niger and the earthquake in Cachemire region in Pakistan

No description available.

This study used variables from the Protective Action Decision Model to guide data collection about 262 residents' responses to the 2009 Samoa M8.1 earthquake and tsunami. The results show that earthquake shaking, combined with knowledge that this can cause a tsunami, was the most common source of first awareness about a possible tsunami and that broadcast media were the most common first social sources of warnings. Radio was an important source of additional information, as were face-to-face contacts and phone calls. Contrary to previous research, few of the recommended elements of a warning message were communicated to those at risk and none of these message elements was significantly correlated with evacuation. Nonetheless, two thirds of coastal residents and half of inland residents began evacuations within 15. min after the earthquake. Those who had participated in earthquake hazard awareness meetings had higher risk perceptions but were no more likely to evacuate to higher ground or evacuate promptly. This study's results are broadly consistent with previous findings on disaster response but raise a number of unresolved questions about behavioral response to rapid onset disasters.