FIELD SURVEY OF THE DECEMBER 26, 2004 TSUNAMI AT KANYAKUMARI, INDIA

The tsunami of 26th December 2004 in the Indian Ocean impacted the town of Kanyakumari at the very southern tip of India. On a coastline of about 4.8 km in length, the tsunami amplitudes varied from about 1.5 m to about 9.5 m. The horizontal extent of inundation ranged from a few meters to about 1,000. The large tsunami run-up variations over such a short distance were caused by wave convergences and divergences due to local shoreline geometry, its orientation and the near shore bathymetric gradients. Apparently, the physical process of quarter wave resonance amplification also played a significant role in enhancing the tsunami run-up at certain locations. The present study reports on the results of the field survey as well as on information gathered through eyewitness accounts.