Sensitivity Analysis of Seismic Source Parameters on Tsunami Wave Heights Based on COMCOT Model in South China Sea

This paper presents a study of sensitivity analysis of several typical seismic source parameters on simulated maximum wave heights in the area of South China Sea, based on the Cornell COMCOT tsunami model. In the study, the parameters of magnitude, focal depth and fault dimensions of an earthquake were selected to perform the analysis. The tsunami numerical simulation were conducted repeatedly by varying only one parameter at a time respectively, and the wave heights in 19 sites along China's coast were recorded and analyzed. The results indicated that variations in focal depth and fault dimensions would cause a moderate change of maximum wave heights with same magnitude, while slight deviation of magnitude would introduce a much greater change of maximum wave heights. Meanwhile, the maximum wave height changes with seismic parameters deviation showed some regularity with the locations of recorded sites.