Typhoon Jebi in 2018 caused severe damage along areas of Osaka Bay, Japan. After the storm, a Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE) coastal survey group surveyed the coastal impacts and recorded watermarks inside Osaka Bay and along the Pacific. The maximum storm tide recorded by a tide gauge was 3.29 m at the Osaka Tide Station, which is a historical high for Osaka Bay. Coastal flooding consisted of both storm surge and wave run-up in almost all locations, with flooding exceeding 5 m and 12 m in elevation from mean sea level in the inner parts of Osaka Bay and along the Pacific coast, respectively. Coastal damage was severe in areas located outside of coastal barriers, such as ports and harbors, while residential areas were mainly well protected and spared due to coastal protection systems. In addition, some inland flooding occurred in the Kobe-Ashiya regions due to the storm surge propagating up several small rivers. This survey report summarizes the findings of the post-event survey by JSCE and analyzes the relation between maximum water level and resulting damage.

The tsunami caused by the Tonga submarine volcanic eruption that occurred at 13:15 Japan Time (JST) on January 15, 2022, exposed a blind spot in Japan’s tsunami monitoring and warning system, which was established in 1952 for local tsunamis and expanded to distant tsunamis after the 1960 Chile tsunami. This paper summarizes how the warning system responded to the unprecedented tsunami, the actual evacuation process, and the damage it caused in Japan. Initially, the tsunami from the volcanic eruption was expected to arrive at approximately midnight with amplitudes of less than 20 cm. However, a series of short waves arrived at approximately 21:00, a few hours earlier than expected. The early arrival of these sea waves coincided with a rapid increase in atmospheric pressure; then, the short-period component was predominant, and the wave height was amplified while forming wave groups. After a 1.2 m tsunami was observed in Amami City in southern Japan at 23:55 JST, the Japan Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami warning/advisory. The tsunami continued, and all advisories were cleared at 14:00 JST on January 16. Information about this tsunami and the response to it are summarized here, including the characteristics and issues of the actual tsunami evacuation situation in each region. There were no casualties, but the issues that emerged included difficulty evacuating on a winter night and traffic congestion due to evacuation by car and under the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the coastal area, damage to fishing boats and aquaculture facilities was reported due to the flow of the tsunami. In addition, damage to aquaculture facilities, including those producing oysters, scallops, seaweed and other marine products, decreased the supply of marine products, and the economic impact is likely to increase in the future.

A post-event survey of the coastal impacts of Typhoon Hagibis was conducted in the Greater Tokyo and Shizuoka areas. The typhoon’s intensive landfall generated the highest-level storm surges recorded in the study area with a maximum sea-level anomaly of nearly 2 m at the head of Tokyo Bay. Highly populated coastal areas in the inner sheltered part of Tokyo Bay were subject to only minor damage partially because the peak storm surge occurred during a low spring tide. High water levels along the coastline facing the Pacific Ocean mostly measured 4–8 m above the mean sea level, the exception being the Seisho coast, where extreme wave runup reached over 10 m above the mean sea level. The high water levels predominantly caused by energetic swells were comparable with the crest heights of defense structures in a broad range of the study area. The intensive typhoon did not trigger catastrophic flood damage, but caused minor flooding due to wave overtopping, and there was substantial damage to coastal infrastructures along the coast. This paper presents both an overview of and detailed information regarding the coastal impacts of the intensive typhoon along the highly altered coastline with complex geometry.

Hurricanes Irma and Maria caused catastrophic damages across the Caribbean Islands during the 2017 hurricane season. After the storms, a joint United States–Japanese team investigated coastal impacts in the US Virgin Islands, which are composed of the islands of St. Thomas, St. John, Water Island, and St. Croix. Coastal inundation was dominated by wave run-up in almost all locations, with many locations showing inundation exceeding 4-m elevation from mean sea level. In contrast, maximum elevations recorded at tide gauges did not exceed 1 m at any location. Coastal damage was relatively minor for such strong hurricanes because of the lack of heavy development at low elevations on the most exposed coastlines. Many moored vessels were destroyed, and coastal structures and infrastructure within the inundation region suffered significant damage. However, few large structures experienced catastrophic losses from coastal inundation. In contrast, strong winds caused extensive structural damage throughout the US Territory. Evidence was seen for past inundation of the coastline, but could not be conclusively linked to any particular events.

An earthquake with a moment magnitude of 7.5 (Mw) struck the northern Noto Peninsula, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, at 16:10 local time on January 1, 2024. This earthquake triggered a tsunami that propagated along the coastline of Ishikawa, Toyama, and Niigata Prefectures facing the Sea of Japan and significantly damaged coastal communities and infrastructure. Approximately 70 researchers from 23 universities or other institutes throughout Japan formed a joint research group to conduct a post-tsunami survey along a 340 km stretch of the coast. Based on the watermarks and traces of the tsunami, the inundation and run-up heights were surveyed using total stations, automatic optical levels, laser range finders, and a real-time kinematic (RTK) Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). The tidal correction was adjusted using astronomical tidal tables. In total, 303 survey records have been compiled, generating the NP2024TS (Noto Peninsula 2024 Tsunami Survey) dataset. This dataset provides comprehensive information on the inundation and run-up heights of the tsunami, which is useful for understanding tsunami characteristics and validating numerical tsunami models.