2002 Sandaun earthquake
UTC time | 2002-09-08 18:44:23 |
---|---|
ISC event | 3362959 |
USGS-ANSS | ComCat |
Local date | 9 September 2002 |
Local time | 04:44:23 (UTC+10:00) |
Magnitude | 7.6 Mw |
Depth | 13 km (8 mi) |
Epicenter | 3°18′07″S 142°56′42″E / 3.302°S 142.945°E |
Type | Reverse |
Areas affected | Papua New Guinea |
Max. intensity | MMI IX (Violent)[1] |
Tsunami | 5 m (16 ft) in Victoria Bay[2] |
Casualties | 6 dead, 70 injured[3] |
On September 9, 2002, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck off the coast of Wewak, Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea. The shallow reverse earthquake triggered a local tsunami measuring 5 meters high. The disaster resulted in at least 6 deaths, 70 injuries and building damage.
Tectonic setting
The island of New Guinea lies within the complex zone of collision between the Australian Plate and the Pacific Plate. Within this overall setting, the active tectonics of northern Papua New Guinea is dominate by the effects of continuing collision between the Huon–Finisterre island arc terrane with the edge of the Australian continental margin. The overall shortening is concentrated into two zones of thrust faulting, the Ramu–Markham fault zone, which forms the southwestern boundary of the Huon–Finisterre terrane, and the Highlands Thrust Belt, which lies further southwest and deforms the Australian margin.[4] The hanging wall of the Ramu–Markham thrust system is broken up by a series of strike-slip faults. The orientation of these faults, parallel to the direction of thrusting, suggests that they accommodate distortion of the Huon–Finisterre block. Most of the seismicity in northern Papua New Guinea is associated with the Ramu–Markham fault system, with a smaller number of earthquakes occurring on the strike-slip faults and on the Highlands Thrust Belt.
Earthquake
The earthquake was the largest in the Aitape region since 1938.[5] The overall magnitude ranges from 7.2 to 7.7.[3] The United States Geological Survey estimates a magnitude of 7.6. It was caused by a rupture on a low-angle thrust fault in the New Guinea Trench. A fault measuring 72 km in length, and 36 km wide ruptured with a maximum slip of 2.1 meters.[6]
Tsunami
A tsunami warning was issued in the region. In
Damage and casualties
In
See also
- List of earthquakes in 2002
- List of earthquakes in Papua New Guinea
- 1998 Papua New Guinea earthquake
References
- ^ "PAGER" (PDF). United States Geological Survey. 25 February 2018.
- ^ a b c "Tsunami Event - PAPUA NEW GUINEA". National Geophysical Data Center.
- ^ a b c "M 7.6 - 68 km ESE of Aitape, Papua New Guinea". United States Geological Survey.
- .
- ^ "M 7.7 - eastern New Guinea region, Papua New Guinea". United States Geological Survey. 12 May 1938. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
- ^ a b c Ryan Ruddick (2005). Analysis of the 2002 Mw = 7.6 Wewak Earthquake, Papua New Guinea, using Global Positioning System Observations (PDF) (Honours). Australian National University.
- ^ a b "Huge quake hits Papua New Guinea". BBC News. 9 September 2002.
- ^ a b "Wewak schools closed". Papua New Guinea Post-Courier. Archived from the original on 12 September 2002.
- ^ a b "Papua New Guinea - Earthquake OCHA Situation Report No. 2". Reliefweb. Archived from the original on 6 December 2004.
- ^ "Earthquake leaves 3,000 homeless". The Sydney Morning Herald. 10 September 2002.