Researchers from Tsinghua University Provide Details of New Studies and Findings in the Area of Geophysics (Seiche Effects In Lake Tekapo, New Zealand, In an Mw8.2 Alpine Fault Earthquake)

2020 NOV 09 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Physics Daily News -- Investigators discuss new findings in Physics - Geophysics. According to news reporting originating in Beijing, People’s Republic of China, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “This study investigates the potential for seismic seiches in Lake Tekapo, New Zealand, triggered by ground shaking from an Mw8.2 Alpine Fault earthquake. Synthetic ground motions are used as a forcing boundary to drive lake water motions by further developing a tsunami simulation model-COMCOT-and coupling it with earthquake simulation model outputs.”

Financial supporters for this research include Strategic Science Investment Fund (SSIF) from GNS Science, National Natural Science Foundation of China.

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from Tsinghua University, “Our modelling results reveal that lake water oscillations are mobilised immediately by the ground movement and further amplified by cross-lake seiches. Amplitudes of lake oscillations can reach up to 4.0 m in the lake’s narrow southern arm, over 1.0 m along the shore of Lake Tekapo township, and about 1.5-2.5 m along many other parts of the lake shore. Large-amplitude water oscillations quickly attenuate in the first 5-10 min after the earthquake due to their relatively short periods, while long-period oscillations continue for a long time, albeit with much smaller amplitudes. Spectral analysis clearly reveals that the ground motions trigger both fundamental and higher modes in the lake whose oscillation periods are consistent with theoretical estimates. We find that large-amplitude lake water oscillations are better correlated with low-frequency, less energetic ground motion content than with high-frequency large-amplitude ground motions. Ground motion-triggered lake oscillations are large enough to pose potential threat to tourists, residents, boats and infrastructure both in the lake water and onshore near the waterfront.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “In contrast, vertical co-seismic displacements in the lake area, the conventional mechanism for tsunami generation, are too small to trigger tsunami waves of concern.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Seiche Effects In Lake Tekapo, New Zealand, In an Mw8.2 Alpine Fault Earthquake. Pure and Applied Geophysics, 2020. Pure and Applied Geophysics can be contacted at: Springer Basel Ag, Picassoplatz 4, Basel, 4052, Switzerland. (Springer - www.springer.com; Pure and Applied Geophysics - http://www.springerlink.com/content/0033-4553/)

Our news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Yaoru Liu, Tsinghua University, State Key Lab Hydrosci & Engn, Beijing 100084, People’s Republic of China. Additional authors for this research include Xiaoming Wang, Caroline Holden, William Power and Joshu Mountjoy.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-020-02595-w. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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