Tohoku University · Earth and Planetary Sciences
Professor Kwanchai Pakoksung's research lab specializes in tsunami hazard assessment, with a focus on numerical modeling of tsunami generation, propagation, and inundation from volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and underwater landslides. The lab employs advanced simulation tools such as the TUNAMI-N2 model to evaluate structural countermeasures and probabilistic risk in coastal regions, drawing on real-world events like the 2018 Anak Krakatau tsunami and the 2022 Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai eruption. Research also extends to river basin management, particularly examining the impacts of land use change on water quality in Southeast Asian river systems. The lab emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches combining geohazards, hydrodynamics, and environmental monitoring for disaster resilience and sustainable water resource management.
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
On 15 January 2022 at 04:15 UTC, the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai (HTHH) volcano in Tonga produced a massive eruption that triggered a transoceanic tsunami generated by the coupled ocean and atmospheric shock wave produced during the explosion. The tsunami first reached the coast of Tonga and eventually reached many coasts around the world. This volcano previously underwent a massive eruption in 1100 AD, and an eruption occurs approximately every 1000 years. The 2022 HTHH event provides an opportun
The aim of this study is to assess the performances of different infrastructures as structural tsunami countermeasures in Sendai City, based on the lessons from the 11 March 2011, Great East Japan Tsunami, which is an example of a worst-case scenario. The tsunami source model Ver. 1.2 proposed by Tohoku University uses 10 subfaults, determined based on the tsunami height and the run-up heights measured for all tsunami affected areas. The TUNAMI-N2 model is used to simulate 24 cases of tsunami de
The Chi and Mun River Basins, the primary tributary of the Mekong River Basin in Thailand, is undergoing significant land use changes that impact water quality. Understanding the relationship between land use and water quality is crucial for effective river basin management, providing insights applicable to global water systems. While past studies have examined water quality in the Mekong River Basin, research specifically focusing on the Chi-Mun River Basin remains limited. This study analyzes
A probabilistic hazard analysis of a tsunami generated by a subaqueous volcanic explosion was performed for Taal Lake in the Philippines. The Taal volcano at Taal Lake is an active volcano on Luzon Island in the Philippines, and its eruption would potentially generate tsunamis in the lake. This study aimed to analyze a probabilistic tsunami hazard of inundated buildings for tsunami mitigation in future scenarios. To determine the probabilistic tsunami hazard, different explosion diameters were u
In this study, the January 1, 2024, earthquake and tsunami that struck the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, with a magnitude of 7.6 was investigated. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the geological context, faulting mechanisms, and tsunami propagation of this event to gain insights into the complex dynamics of tsunami generation and amplification. The research involves simulation models based on two fault scenarios provided by the Geospatial Information Authority of J
Abstract Following the eruption of Mount Anak Krakatau, a considerable landslide occurred on the southwestern part of the volcano and, upon entering the sea, generated a large tsunami within the Sunda Strait, Indonesia, on December 22, 2018. This tsunami traveled ~ 5 km across the strait basin and inundated the shorelines of Sumatra and Java with a vertical runup reaching 13 m. Following the event, observed field data, GPS measurements of the inundation, and multibeam echo soundings of the bathy
Understanding the impacts of tsunamis, especially in terms of damage and losses, is important for disaster mitigation and management. The aim of this study is to present our estimations of the potential losses from tsunami damage on Okinawa Island. We combine the use of a tsunami hazard map and our proposed economic loss model to estimate the potential losses that would be sustained by Okinawa Island in the event of a tsunami. First, to produce the tsunami hazard map, we calculated tsunami flow
In hydrological processes, rainfall is one of the important components of water supply for human life. We considered how well the statistical distribution simulates rainfall intensity. We propose an asymmetric statistical probability distribution joined by zeroinflated to fit the daily continuous record of rainfall data in Thailand. The candidate statistical probabilities are General Pareto, Exponential, Beta, Gamma, Generalize extreme value, Extreme Value, Normal, Lognormal, Weibull and Rayleig
This study aims to investigate the impact of spatial rainfall distribution scenarios from ground observation stations on runoff simulation using hydrological modeling specific to the Rainfall-Runoff-Inundation (RRI) model. The RRI model was applied with six different spatial distribution scenarios of input rainfall, including Inverse Distance Weight (IDW), Thiessen polygon (TSP), Surface Polynomial (SPL), Simple kriging (SKG), and Ordinary kriging (OKG), to simulate the runoff of a 13,000 km2 wa
The massive eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai (HTHH) volcano in Tonga on 15 January 2022 at 04:15 UTC had a global impact and triggered an atmospheric wave and a tsunami. We first analyzed observation data from meteorological stations and tide gauges at 12 locations. Low-frequency trends in the observation data were removed by using a high-pass filter. Fourier and wavelet spectral analyses were applied to determine the frequency characteristics of the filtered data. Modal analysis was de
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