DEFINICIÓN DE ZONAS DE INUNDACIÓN POR TSUNAMIS: PROPUESTA PARA LAS LOCALIDADES DE VIENTO FRÍO Y PALENQUE, PROVINCIA DE COLÓN, PANAMÁ

On September 7, 1882, off the coast of Comarca Guna Yala occurred an earthquakeof Ms =7.9, originated in Deformed Belt North of Panama, which notonly was felt throughout the country, but generated a tsunami with waves of atleast 3 meters high, which killed 75 people. The purpose of this research was tomodel numerically this historic tsunami, but considering an earthquake of greatermagnitude Mw=8.5, taking into account some exercise guidelines CaribeWave/ Lantex in March 2015; in order to know the scope of a possible tsunamiinundation in a sector of the Costa Arriba of Colon, specifically in the coastaltowns of Viento Frio and Palenque. The numerical modeling was performed inthe ComMIT interface based on the MOST model NOAA, and allowed todefine the line of maximum tsunami inundation in the two locations, knowingthe arrival time of the first wave, estimated between 15 to 20 minutes andgenerating maps using Geographic Information Systems, the maximum heightof the tsunami, flood depth, current speed and safe areas.Modeling results of this tsunamigenic event with extreme magnitude, indicatingthat if a tsunami inundation happened, the towns of Viento Frio and Palenquecould be flooded completely and reach depths exceeding two (2) meters abovethe ground and current speeds that would represent a high level of danger forpeople and existing homes.