Investigation of earthquake tsunami sources, capable of affecting Vietnamese coast

Based on the analysis of tectonic feature and geodynamic characteristics of regional faults systems in the southeast Asia, 9 source zones capable of generating tsunamis affecting Vietnamese coast were delineated in the South China Sea and adjacent sea areas. Statistical methods were applied to estimate the seismic hazard parameters for each source zone, which can be used for the detail tsunami hazard assessment in the future. Maximum earthquake magnitude is predicted for the Manila Trench (8.3?C8.7), the Sulu Sea (8.0?C8.4), and the Selebes Sea source zones (8.1?C8.5). Among the source zones, the Manila Trench, west of the Philippines is considered as a most potential tsunami source, affecting the Vietnamese coast. The estimated M _max values were used to develop simple scenarios (with a point source assumption) to calculate the tsunami travel time from each source zone to the Vietnamese coast. The results show that for the Manila Trench source zone, tsunami can hit the Vietnamese coast in 2?h at the earliest.