Investigations on the possible source of the 2002 landslide tsunami in Rhodes, Greece, through numerical techniques

The island of Rhodes (Aegean Sea, Greece) has been repeatedly hit by tsunamis in the past due to the numerous tsunamigenic sources present in the area, most of which are seismic. Here an investigation is made on the most recent event that occurred on March 24, 2002 in the northeast of the island: unexpected waves affected a 2 km long coastal segment, overtopping part of the sea-wall (3-4 m high) that runs along the littoral road a few km away from the city of Rhodes. Data on the tsunami are poor. Due to the lack of evidence of seismological or meteorological causes, the hypothesis of a landslide source for the tsunami is here explored by means of numerical codes implementing models both for the landslide dynamics and the tsunami propagation. The reconstructed failing mass is located at about 100 m sea depth with a volume of 30 million m3. A sensitivity analysis is further run by varying the source volume, to evaluate the effects on the tsunami impact.