IMIS

A new integrated search interface will become available in the next phase of marineinfo.org.
For the time being, please use IMIS to search available data

 

[ report an error in this record ]basket (0): add | show Print this page
The Dwarskersbos, South Africa local tsunami of August 27, 1969: field survey and simulation as a meteorological event
Okal, E.A.; Visser, J.N.J.; de Beer, C.H. (2015). The Dwarskersbos, South Africa local tsunami of August 27, 1969: field survey and simulation as a meteorological event, in: Vilibic, I. et al. Meteorological tsunamis: The U.S. East Coast and other coastal regions. pp. 251-268. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12712-5_14
In: Vilibic, I.; Montserrat, S.; Rabinovich, A.B. (Ed.) (2015). Meteorological tsunamis: The U.S. East Coast and other coastal regions. Previously published in Natural Hazards, Volume 74, Issue 1, 2014. Springer: Cham. ISBN 978-3-319-12711-8. 303 pp. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12712-5, more
Available in  Authors 
Keyword
    Marine/Coastal
Authors  Top 
  • Okal, E.A.
  • Visser, J.N.J.
  • de Beer, C.H.
Abstract
    We investigate the hitherto unexplained wave which inundated the village of Dwarskersbos, South Africa, in the early hours of August 27, 1969, in the absence of any seismic disturbance or major meteorological storm. A field survey, based on the interview of nine elderly witnesses still residing in the community, documented maximum run-up of 2.9 m, concentrated on an extremely short segment of coastline, less than 2 km in length. These characteristics are incompatible with generation by a seismic source (which, at any rate, should have been felt by the population). A landslide source, located at the only canyon featuring a steep enough ocean floor, is also ruled out since a numerical simulation fails to reproduce the concentration of the wave at Dwarskersbos. By contrast, the wave can be explained as a “meteo-tsunami” resulting from resonance between a meteorological squall propagating at 18 m/s in the azimuth N101°E and a gravity wave propagating in the shallow waters off the eastern shore of St. Helena Bay. This is confirmed by numerical simulation under the formalism of Proudman (Dynamical oceanography. Methuen, London, 1953), which provides a satisfactory model of the distribution of run-up along the beach.
All data in the Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS) is subject to the VLIZ privacy policy Top | Authors