Abstract:
Tsunami vulnerability assessment is the initial step for effective planning and implementation of tsunami risk
reduction. Whilst the high tsunami risk of the Galle coastal area is well known, the structural vulnerability to
tsunami hazards has never been assessed. This paper presents tsunami vulnerability for structures, relative
vulnerability indexes, and vulnerable areas in Galle city, Sri Lanka. To develop the relative vulnerability index
map, data on 705 buildings in terms of attributes of the building, protection of the building, and depth of the
water flow at the building location were obtained from field surveys. The results of the structural vulnerability
assessment show that if the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami were to occur today, 35% of the buildings would be
affected in the Galle coastal area and when we consider the 100 m buffer zone, this value increases to 56%.
Buildings with minor vulnerability constituted around only 3% inside the 100 m buffer zone.
