TSUNAMI EVACUATION PLAN FOR THE CITY OF TANGIER-MOROCCO BASED ON GIS TOOLS

Morocco is located in convergence zone between two major plates, the Eurasian and the African plates. Moroccan coastal regions are prone to tsunami hazard caused by major earthquakes located along this boundary. The rapid growth of population and expansion in infrastructures and economic settlements in Moroccan coastal areas make them more vulnerable to tsunami threat. Tsunami evacuation plan is an important tool to mitigate the tsunami impact, it's the most efficient way to save human lives before the waves reach the hazard zone areas. In this study, we propose a tsunami evacuation plan for the city of Tangier-Morocco for horizontal evacuation. This plan is designed considering the tsunami threat from tsunamigenic source located in the SW Iberian margin and using the inundation maps of the worst case scenario to define the flooding area. The evacuation plan is elaborated through modeling evacuation routes using Closet Facility tool implemented in ESRIS's ArcMap 10.2 geographic information system (GIS) software. The proposed evacuation plan give valuable information to local government authorities and emergency managers in order to implement an official evacuation plan for Tangier city. It also provides practical support to increase community resilience