Tsunami hazard and sand dune protection in West Naxos Isl. SafeCorfu 2019 – 6th International Conference on Civil Protection & New Technologies, 6-9 November 2019, Ionian Academy, Corfu, Greece.

The west coast of Naxos Isl. was hit in 1956 by the Amorgos tsunami. This study aims to: a) determine the impact of a potential tsunami similar to the one that occurred in 1956, based on the island's contemporary residential and tourist development, and b) explore whether the natural geomorphs (sand dunes) in the 3 study areas (Glyfada, Agios Prokopios, Chora of Naxos) can reduce the tsunami risk.

Risk assessment was based on processing field data (differential GPS) and satellite images with GIS software. Furthermore, the dunes potential risk reduction has been evaluated.

Results show that taller sand dunes and vegetation provides better tsunami protection to the coast of Glyfada, than the one of Agios Prokopios. Uncontrolled tourism development without any sand dunes protection measures undermine their development and, consequently, increases the tsunami risk.