ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Damage to Mangrove Forest by 2004 Tsunami
at Pakarang Cape and Namkem, Thailand
H. Yanagisawa1, S. Koshimura1, K. Goto1, T. Miyagi2, F. Imamura1,
A. Ruangrassamee3, C. Tanavud4
More details
Hide details
1Tsunami Engineering Laboratory, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University,
Aoba 06-6-11, Aramaki, Sendai 980-8579 Japan
2Department of Regional Management, Tohoku-Gakuin University, Tsuchitoi 1-3-1, Sendai 980-8511, Japan
3Department of Civil Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Phayathai Road, Patumwan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
4Faculty of Natural Resources, Prince of Songkhla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla 90112, Thailand
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2009;18(1):35-42
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
We investigated damage to mangroves from the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami at Pakarang Cape and
Namkem, Thailand. Visual inspection of remotely sensed images revealed that 12 and 20 ha of mangrove
forests were damaged, respectively, at Pakarang Cape and Namkem. Field surveys revealed that mangrove
trees were destroyed particularly around the river mouths and channels. Numerical simulation indicated that
the flow concentrated at the river mouth and inundated mangrove forests through river channels. We concluded
that the tsunami flow pattern was largely affected by local river mouth and channel topography.
Damage to mangroves might be severe in such areas.