Catastrophe modelling firm Risk Management Solutions (RMS) on Tuesday launched a new tsunami model and a data sharing partnership with Fubon Insurance to help measure Taiwanese typhoon risk.
The firm said the new RMS Global Tsunami Scenario Catalog will provide global modelling information of potential tsunami events on major subduction zones around the world, according to a company statement. The RMS tsunami catalog was modeled the the “entire tsunami lifecycle, from initial wave generation, to deep ocean wave propagation and coastal inundation. “
The catalog will include high-resolution tsunami inundation footprints generated from magnitude 8.9 to 9.6 megathrust earthquakes in subduction zone global plate boundaries, as well as potential tsunami scenarios based on significant historical tsunami events and scenarios based on significant historical tsunami events. The modeling approach was validated using the tsunami water heights of five of the six largest magnitude earthquakes since 1900, including the 2011 Tohoku, Japan, 1964 Alaska, 1960 Valdivia, Chile, 2010 Maule, Chile and 2004 Indian Ocean events, according to RMS.
“Tsunami events have the potential to be highly catastrophic, and until recently, the industry has struggled to adequately assess this previously non-modeled and complex risk,” said Dr Renee Lee, tsunami expert and senior product manager at RMS in a statement. “The footprints provide the highest resolution available in combination with a numerically robust method of evaluating tsunami risk that exactly conserves the mass, momentum and energy of the tsunami to provide a more accurate prediction of the tsunami extent and inundation. ”
Separately, RMS announced a data sharing partnership with Taipei-based Fubon Insurance with a focus on typhoon risk. The partnership will help RMS in its development of a high-definition Taiwan typhoon model, which will include inland and coastal flooding components, the company said in a statement.
“Through the sharing of information, Fubon Insurance and RMS ensure the best science and data are incorporated into RMS’s Taiwan Typhoon model,” said Jessica Turner, director of model product management, RMS in a statement. “The collaboration underscores a commitment from both companies to develop a greater understanding of risk to manage it effectively.”
