Modelling a Composite Tsunami Scenario for Karpathos Island (Aegean Sea)

Karpathos is one of the biggest Greek islands, located between Crete and Rhodes in Aegean Sea. As the most of the islands in the area Karpathos is prone to earthquakes and tsunamis. The event of 9 February 1948 (M 7.1) near the eastern coast of the island caused local tsunami with damages in the area of Pigadia bay, nevertheless tsunamis also from regional sources are expected. The tsunami hazard for the Karpathos Island, focusing on the city of Karpathos and the Airport area, is modelled merging the data from simulation of tsunamis generated by three seismic sources: Eastern Hellenic Arc (EHA referring the 1303 A.D. event, Mw = 8.0); near Rhodes (hypothetical scenario earthquake, Mw = 7.3); and near the coast of Karpathos, based on the 1948, Mw = 7.3 earthquake. Numerical calculations are made using the code UBO-TSUFD on a set of nested grids. Tsunami observables, such as maximal water column height, maximum velocity flux, inundation, are computed for each individual scenario and merged to individuate the areas most exposed to tsunami. The seismic source EHA dominates in the tsunami hazard maps: moreover, the impact over the southern part of Karpathos has biggest risk since the airport and the main city of the island are located in this part.