Author(s): K. Nakatsuji; S. Watanabe; H. Kurita; N. Yamane

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Abstract: Located in an area where typhoons often pass,Japan has long been subjected tofrequent damage from surge disasters,especially in Osaka.This is because Osaka issituated not only in the path of typhoons,but also in the innermost part of Osaka Baywhere the energy from a storm surge tends to concentrate.The maximum surge in this areawas recorded during Typhoon Muroto in 1934;the maximum high tide level was OP+4.20m with an anomaly due to the storm surge of 2.92m.Several powerful typhoons havevisited this area since then,as shown in Table 1.There have been 21 typhoons so far thiscentury causing anomalies greater than 1m in Osaka Bay.Significant land subsidencestarted to be observed during the 1930s,caused by excessive extraction of ground water byindustry and for air conditioning.Between 1935 and 1972 the cumulative land subsidencewas some 2.8m.This increased the land area below the mean sea level,which led in turnto greater surge disasters.The population and assets along Osaka Bay are the second mostdense in Japan after Tokyo Bay because of Osaka's dynamic business activities.

DOI:

Year: 1993