A Practical Simplified Simulation for Predicting the Impact of a Meteorological Tsunami Caused by a Tongan Volcanic Eruption on the Japanese Coast

A coastal volcanic eruption in Tonga in January 2022 generated a tsunami when the eruption pushed seawater away. The tsunami caused significant damage to the Tongan coast. The eruption also generated atmospheric pressure waves that propagated to Japan. And the atmospheric pressure wave causes large fluctuations in water levels and damage along coast of Japan. In considering future coastal disaster prevention, it is necessary to understand the effects of tsunamis caused by meteorological phenomena on the Japanese coast. In this study, a computational model of tsunamis caused by atmospheric pressure waves was developed and the characteristics of water level changes along the Japanese coast caused by atmospheric pressure waves were examined. Sensitivity analysis of the amount of water level change to the propagation velocity of the pressure waves was conducted, and the conditions for pressure waves to cause large water level changes along the coast of Japan were indicated.