Abstract

Coastal areas in general and Tamilnadu Coast in particular is experiencing rapid urbanization and put to
variety of uses. The threat of natural disaster for the shore based activities is ever increasing and the
susceptibility status of earthquake and Tsunami with respect to coastal tectonics for the ChennaiNagapattinam coast of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry is analysed regionally in this study. The study
revealed the requirement of on shore and offshore beach ridges mapping, dating and understanding its
emergence in combination with paleo seismicity. Further it is emphasised that the historical and paleo
tsunami deposits identification and using this data for the future prognosis is vital for managing the future
Tsunami disasters. Based on the available geological and tectonic information it can be inferred that even
though the offshore areas adjoining the Tamilnadu coast appears to be low to moderately susceptible for
earthquake and tsunami generation, understanding the neotectonism and detailed research in the gap areas
for the studied coastal sector have been highlighted in this study.