Local date | November 22, 1815 |
---|---|
Local time | 22:00-23:00 WITA |
Magnitude | Mw 7.3 [1] [2] |
Depth | 27 km (17 mi) |
Epicenter | 8°00′S115°00′E / 8.0°S 115.0°E |
Fault | Flores back-arc thrust fault |
Max. intensity | MMI IX (Violent) [3] |
Tsunami | Yes [4] |
Casualties | 11,453 dead [5] |
The 1815 Bali earthquake occurred on November 22 between 22:00 and 23:00 local time (WITA), affecting the Bali Kingdom. The estimated moment magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off the north coast of Bali at a shallow depth. It was assigned a maximum intensity of IX (Violent) on the Mercalli intensity scale, causing severe damage in Buleleng and Tabanan. The earthquake caused a landslide and tsunami that killed 11,453 people.
Off the north coast of Bali is the Flores back-arc thrust fault, located in the back-arc region. It formed due to the convergence between the Sunda and Australian plates, accommodating compression. The two plates converge northward at a rate of 80 mm (3.1 in)/yr, in which the Sunda megathrust takes 70 mm (2.8 in)/yr of the movement. The remaining 10 mm (0.39 in)/yr rate is accommodated by the Flores Back Arc Thrust Fault. It runs off the north coast of the Lesser Sunda Islands, in the Banda Sea. [6] The fault extends east–west for 800 km (500 mi) off the north coast of Bali to Wetar. [7] Geologists postulate the fault is divided into two segments; the 450 km (280 mi)-long Flores Thrust, and 450 km (280 mi)-long Wetar Thrust. Its origin has been attributed to several causes proposed by researchers; magmatic intrusion, gravitational sliding, reverse subduction or active spreading in the back-arc. [7] It is a complex zone of thrust faults that are connected at depth.
The earthquake and tsunami is thought to be the result of a thrust fault rupture on the Flores back-arc thrust fault. [8] The fault was the source of approximately 26 magnitude 6.0+ earthquakes since 1960. These earthquakes were calculated to be at depths of up to 40 km (25 mi) beneath the crust. It was also the source of the 1992 and 2018 earthquakes that caused many fatalities. [7] The 1815 event is the earliest documented earthquake along the fault. [9] Modelling of a moment magnitude 7.3 earthquake at 10 km (6.2 mi) depth could produce Modified Mercalli intensity VIII–IX along the north central and eastern parts of Bali. Modified Mercalli intensity V in Surabaya corresponded to the historical descriptions of the event. [10] On Lombok, the earthquake was felt VII.
The earthquake occurred at 22:00 local time. In Buleleng shaking was described as violent; then followed by aftershocks that persisted for an hour. Shaking was felt in Bima, Surabaya, and Lombok. A massive "explosion" was observed along the coastal ranges which triggered a landslide. The landslide buried Singaraja and Buleleng, resulting in at least 10,253 fatalities. A large On Lake Tamblingan, a fissure extended from Buleleng to Tabanan. This agitated the lake and caused flooding. [3]
These reported explosions were due to the mountainside collapsing during the earthquake. Heavy rainfall prior to the earthquake also destabalized these mountain slopes which contributed to the landslide. The landslide carried rocks 15 to 30 m (49 to 98 ft) across; it travelled down the Banyumala River and increased its volume while gathering river debris. Dutch official Bloemen Waanders reported the flow depth at 3 to 3.6 m (9.8 to 11.8 ft) while Gusti Panji Sakti said it was 6 to 12 m (20 to 39 ft). According to Waanders, 17 villages were engulfed by the flow. [1]
A destructive tsunami also washed onto the Balinese coast, killing an additional 1,200 people. [4] [5] The tsunami was triggered by the flows entering the sea along the coast. It devastated several villages but no tsunami was reported on nearby Lombok and Java. Sakti estimated the tsunami run-up at 2 to 3 m (6 ft 7 in to 9 ft 10 in). The coastal buildings of Buleleng harbor in Pabean District were swept away. [1]
Mount Rinjani is an active volcano in Indonesia on the island of Lombok. Administratively the mountain is in the Regency of North Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara. It rises to 3,726 metres (12,224 ft), making it the second highest volcano in Indonesia. It is also the highest point in the Indonesian province of West Nusa Tenggara. Adjacent to the volcano is a 6-by-8.5-kilometre caldera, which is filled partially by the crater lake known as Segara Anak or Anak Laut, due to the color of its water, as blue as the sea (laut). This lake is approximately 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) above sea level and estimated to be about 200 metres (660 ft) deep; the caldera also contains hot springs. The lake and mountain are sacred to the Sasak people and Hindus, and are the site of religious rituals. UNESCO made Mount Rinjani Caldera a part of the Global Geoparks Network in April 2018. Its catastrophic eruption in 1257 was the largest volcanic eruption in the last 2000 years.
An earthquake occurred on July 17, 2006, at 15:19:27 local time along a subduction zone off the coast of west and central Java, a large and densely populated island in the Indonesian archipelago. The shock had a moment magnitude of 7.7 and a maximum perceived intensity of IV (Light) in Jakarta, the capital and largest city of Indonesia. There were no direct effects of the earthquake's shaking due to its low intensity, and the large loss of life from the event was due to the resulting tsunami, which inundated a 300 km (190 mi) portion of the Java coast that had been unaffected by the earlier 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami that was off the coast of Sumatra. The July 2006 earthquake was also centered in the Indian Ocean, 180 kilometers (110 mi) from the coast of Java, and had a duration of more than three minutes.
The 1938 Banda Sea earthquake occurred on February 2 at 04:04 local time with an estimated magnitude of 8.5-8.6 on the moment magnitude scale. Shaking was intense with an assigned Rossi–Forel intensity of VII and intensity of VI (Strong) on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale. This oblique-slip event generated a destructive tsunami of up to 1.5 metres in the Banda Sea region, but there were no deaths.
The 1992 Flores earthquake and tsunami occurred on 12 December on the island of Flores in Indonesia. With a magnitude of 7.8 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), it was the largest and also the deadliest earthquake in 1992 and in the Lesser Sunda Islands region. The earthquake was caused by slip on the Flores Thrust fault. This fault dips to the south underneath Flores Island. The epicenters of most earthquakes on the Flores Thrust are on Flores Island.
The 1917 Bali earthquake occurred at 06:50 local time on 21 January. It had an estimated magnitude of 6.6 on the surface-wave magnitude scale and had a maximum perceived intensity of IX (Violent) on the Mercalli intensity scale. It caused widespread damage across Bali, particularly in the south of the island. It triggered many landslides, which caused 80% of the 1,500 casualties.
The 1901 Black Sea earthquakewas a 7.2 magnitude earthquake, the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in the Black Sea. The earthquake epicenter was located in the east of Cape Kaliakra, 30 kilometres (19 mi) off northeast coast of Bulgaria. The mainshock occurred at a depth of 15 km (9.3 mi) and generated a 4–5-metre (13–16 ft) high tsunami that devastated the coastal areas of Romania and Bulgaria. In Romania, the earthquake was felt not only throughout Northern Dobruja, but also in Oltenia and Muntenia, and even in southern Moldova.
The 1979 Bali earthquake occurred at 03:58 local time on 18 December with a surface-wave magnitude of 6.3. The shock occurred southeast of the coast of Karangasem Regency in the Lombok Strait, and about 60 kilometres (37 mi) east-northeast of Denpasar. Up to 80 percent of the buildings in Karangasem Regency were damaged, between 15,000 and 500,000 people were displaced, and road links to the provincial capital of Denpasar were briefly severed.
The 1976 Bali earthquake occurred at 15:13 local time on 14 July with a surface-wave magnitude of 6.5. The shock occurred 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) south of the Bali Sea coast of the Buleleng Regency, and about 65 kilometres (40 mi) northwest of Denpasar. Up to ninety percent of houses in Buleleng Regency were seriously damaged or destroyed and the Seririt sub-district was almost completely destroyed, where a school building collapsed and trapped at least 200 students. 573 people are believed to have died; at least 544 in Buleleng Regency, 24 in Jembrana and 5 in Tabanan. Four thousand more suffered injuries and an estimated 450,000 were left temporarily homeless.
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The Flores back-arc thrust fault is a major system of west–east trending thrust faults that extend eastwards from west of Lombok just south of where Sunda Shelf ends at Bali Sea, towards the islands of Sumbawa, Flores, and Alor, with a total length of at least 800 km., entering the Weber Basin and Aru Basin adjacent Sahul Shelf of the Australian plate. The thrust faults are south-dipping and lie within the back arc region of the Sunda–Banda Arc, which is related to the ongoing subduction of the Australian plate beneath the Sunda and Banda Sea plates. The thrust fault system developed as a result of the onset of continental collision as continental crust of the Australian plate reached the Sunda Trench. The eastern part of the fault system is also known as the Wetar thrust. Above the main thrust fault are a series of imbricate (overlapping) thrust faults. These imbricate thrust faults are shallower in depth than the main Flores thrust. Although the exact thrust faults have not been established, these faults were thought to be responsible for the 2018 Lombok earthquakes.
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