The Influence of Tsunamis on Moored Ships and Ports

Planning for the construction of ports and harbors usually takes place without the consideration of tsunamis because of their rare occurrence, approximately once every 100 years. However, recent warnings indicate that massive earthquakes could occur in Japan within the next 30 years. Earthquakes may generate large-scale tsunamis. Therefore, any tsunamis in the vicinity of Japan would also be expected to affect eastern Korea. Therefore, with the looming concerns of tsunamis and earthquakes, immediate attention must be given to the planning of ports and harbors. The warnings deserve an immediate response. The threatened regions cover a very large territory, and the degree of severity of the tsunamis is forecasted to be varied. Therefore, any modeling of the potential scenarios will require a broad array of possibilities. The objective of this paper is to consider the potential damage from tsunamis to ports and moored ships in Japan and Korea. In addition, consideration will be given to how the construction plans of ports and harbors should be changed to cope with the threats from earthquakes and tsunamis.