1970 New Guinea earthquake

Last updated

1970 New Guinea earthquake
Papua New Guinea relief location map.jpg
Green pog.svg
Port Moresby
Bullseye1.png
UTC  time1970-10-31 17:53:14
ISC  event 791579
USGS-ANSS ComCat
Local dateNovember 1, 1970 (1970-11-01)
Local time03:53:14 AEST
Magnitude6.9 Mw [1]
Depth60 km (37 mi) [1]
Epicenter 5°00′S145°24′E / 5°S 145.4°E / -5; 145.4 [1]
Type Strike-slip
Areas affected Papua New Guinea
Total damage US$1.75 million [2]
Max. intensity MMI VIII (Severe) [2]
Tsunami3 m (10 ft) [2]
Casualties5–18 deaths [2]
20 injured [2]

On October 31 at 17:53 UTC (November 1 at 03:53 AEST) the island of New Guinea was shaken by an earthquake of magnitude 6.9 Mw that particularly affected the city of Madang on the north coast of Papua New Guinea. Causing between five and eighteen fatalities, it triggered landslides that ran down steep hills into poorly reinforced wooden huts. The area that experienced the most powerful intensity extended 20 kilometers (12 mi) out from the epicenter. Underwater landslides caused minor tsunami over about 100 km of coast and severed underwater cables in several places. [3]

Contents

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 took place near Madang, approximately 350 miles (563 km) northwest of Port Moresby. Generally, it was on the northeast coast. [5] The earthquake was the result of strike-slip faulting. [4] [6]

Damage and casualties

Up to eighteen deaths and twenty injuries occurred. Felt throughout the entire island of New Guinea, it caused extensive damage in the city of Madang, where it killed three people. [7] Several homes buckled and cracks appeared in streets. [8] On the coast of the island, a cable connecting telephone units for Australia and Guam was cut. [7] Initially, officials were worried of a tsunami risk though the earthquake did not produce any. [5] This was due to a dramatic recession of water levels near the epicenter, followed by a rise that at one point measured 3 meters (10 ft). [9] When a canoe was inverted by this change, three people were killed. [9]

Its maximum intensity of VIII (Severe) was restricted to a zone 20 kilometers (12 mi) from the epicenter (including the epicenter). Up to 70 kilometers (43 mi) away from the epicenter, damage measuring intensity VII (Very strong) was recorded. Landslides caused most of the deaths (which the Catalog of Tsunamis in the Pacific, 1969–1982 lists as 15), which occurred in wooden huts damaged by the shock and crushed by rock. [9] The number of huts damaged totaled more than 800. [9] The city most damaged was Madang. Houses with poor earthquake engineering such as those with weakly reinforced frames performed poorly. Forty-five percent of the city's steel water tanks were beyond repair. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

The 1998 Papua New Guinea earthquake occurred on July 17 with a moment magnitude of 7.0 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). The event occurred on a reverse fault near the north coast region of Papua New Guinea, 25 kilometers (16 mi) from the coast near Aitape and caused a large submarine landslide which caused a tsunami that hit the coast, killing between at least 2,183 and 2,700 people and injuring thousands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1976 Moro Gulf earthquake</span> Earthquake in the Philippines

The 1976 Moro Gulf earthquake and tsunami occurred on August 17, 1976, at 00:11 local time near the islands of Mindanao and Sulu, in the Philippines. It measured 8.0 on the moment magnitude scale occurring at a depth of 20 km (12 mi). The earthquake was accompanied by a destructive tsunami that resulted in a majority of the estimated 5,000 to 8,000 fatalities. It was the deadliest and strongest earthquake in the Philippines in 58 years since the 1918 Celebes Sea earthquake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2002 Denali earthquake</span> 7.9 magnitude; November 3, 2002

The 2002 Denali earthquake occurred at 22:12:41 UTC November 3 with an epicenter 66 km ESE of Denali National Park, Alaska, United States. This 7.9 Mw earthquake was the largest recorded in the United States in 37 years. The shock was the strongest ever recorded in the interior of Alaska. Due to the remote location, there were no fatalities and only one injury.

The 2000 New Ireland earthquakes occurred off the coast of New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea on November 16 and 17.

The 1996 Biak earthquake, or the Irian Jaya earthquake, occurred on 17 February at 14:59:30 local time near Biak Island, Indonesia. The earthquake, which occurred on the New Guinea Trench, had a moment magnitude of 8.2 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). The run-up height of the generated tsunami reached 7.7 m (25 ft). The disaster left at least 108 people dead, 423 injured, and 58 missing. It damaged or destroyed 5,043 houses which subsequently made another 10,000 homeless. At Korim, 187 houses were destroyed. Various countries and organizations provided aid and relief in the aftermath of the earthquake.

The 1999 Ambrym earthquake occurred on November 27 at 00:21:17 local time with a moment magnitude of 7.4 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII. The back arc thrust event occurred within the Vanuatu archipelago, just to the south of the volcanic island of Ambrym. Vanuatu, which was previously known as New Hebrides, is subject to volcanic and earthquake activity because it lies on an active and destructive plate boundary called the New Hebrides Subduction Zone. While the National Geophysical Data Center classified the total damage as moderate, a destructive local tsunami did result in some deaths, with at least five killed and up to 100 injured.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 Craig, Alaska earthquake</span> Earthquake in Alaska and British Columbia

The 2013 Craig, Alaska earthquake struck on January 5, at 12:58 am (UTC–7) near the city of Craig and Hydaburg, on Prince of Wales Island. The Mw 7.5 earthquake came nearly three months after an Mw  7.8 quake struck Haida Gwaii on October 28, in 2012. The quake prompted a regional tsunami warning to British Columbia and Alaska, but it was later cancelled. Due to the remote location of the quake, there were no reports of casualties or damage.

The 1993 Finisterre Range earthquakes began on October 13 with a Mw  6.9 mainshock, followed by Mw  6.5 and 6.7 earthquakes. These earthquakes struck beneath the Finisterre Range, north of Markham Valley in Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea. The complex earthquake sequence seriously damaged many villages in the rural Eastern Papua New Guinea region, generating landslides and killing at least 60 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2002 Sandaun earthquake</span> Earthquake in Papua New Guinea

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.

On April 1, 2002, a Mw  5.3 magnitude earthquake struck near the coast of Moro Province in Papua New Guinea. It struck at a depth of 80.5 km beneath the surface and had a focal mechanism corresponding to reverse faulting. The earthquake triggered a landslide that killed 36 people and injured 11.

The 1997 Bojnurd earthquake occurred on 4 February at 14:07 IRST in Iran. The epicenter of the Mw 6.5 earthquake was in the Kopet Dag mountains of North Khorasan, near the Iran–Turkmenistan border, about 579 km (360 mi) northeast of Tehran. The earthquake is characterized by shallow strike-slip faulting in a zone of active faults. Seismic activity is present as the Kopet Dag is actively accommodating tectonics through faulting. The earthquake left 88 dead, 1,948 injured, and affected 173 villages, including four which were destroyed. Damage also occurred in Shirvan and Bojnord counties. The total cost of damage was estimated to be over US$ 30 million.

On 29 November, at 14:10 UTC, a magnitude 7.7 Mw earthquake struck off the southern coast of Taliabu Island Regency in North Maluku, Indonesia. At least 41 people were killed on the nearby islands and a tsunami was triggered. Several hundred homes, buildings and offices were damaged or destroyed.

The 1979 Yapen earthquake occurred on September 12 at 05:17:51 UTC. It had an epicenter near the coast of Yapen Island in Irian Jaya, Indonesia. Measuring 7.5 on the moment magnitude scale and having a depth of 20 km (12 mi), it caused severe damage on the island. At least 115 were killed due to shaking and a moderate tsunami.

The 1979 Saint Elias earthquake affected Alaska at 12:27 AKST on 28 February. The thrust-faulting Mw 7.5 earthquake had an epicenter in the Granite Mountains. Though the maximum recorded Modified Mercalli intensity was VII, damage was minimal and there were no casualties due to the remoteness of the faulting. Damage also extended across the border in parts of Yukon, Canada.

The 1977 Naghan earthquake struck Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province in Iran on April 6 at 13:36 UTC. The earthquake measuring 6.0 Mw  occurred at a depth of 15 km (9.3 mi) and had a maximum Modified Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). More than 2,100 homes were destroyed and at least 348 people died.

On 11 September 2022, an earthquake of moment magnitude 7.6–7.7 struck Papua New Guinea, in the northern part of Morobe Province. The normal faulting earthquake occurred with a hypocenter depth of 116.0 km (72.1 mi) beneath the Finisterre Range. A maximum perceived Modified Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe) was estimated. Shaking was widely felt across the country and even in neighbouring Indonesia. At least 21 people died and 42 were injured, mostly due to landslides.

The 1983 Kaoiki earthquake struck southern Hawaii Island on the morning of November 16, 1983. Measuring Mw  6.7, it was the largest to hit the island since 1975. The epicenter was located 50 km (30 mi) southeast of Hilo with an approximated depth of 12 km (7 mi). The shallow strike-slip earthquake was assigned a maximum intensity of IX (Violent) on the Modified Mercalli scale. 6 people were injured, widespread damage and landslides were reported across the island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1940 Shakotan earthquake</span> Earthquake in Japan

The 1940 Shakotan earthquake occurred on August 2 at 00:08:22 JST with a moment magnitude (Mw ) of 7.5 and maximum JMA seismic intensity of Shindo 4. The shock had an epicenter off the coast of Hokkaido, Japan. Damage from the shock was comparatively light, but the accomanying tsunami was destructive. The tsunami caused 10 deaths and 24 injuries on Hokkaido, and destroyed homes and boats across the Sea of Japan. The highest tsunami waves were recorded at the coast of Russia while along the coast of Hokkaido, waves were about 2 m.

A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck 38.3 km (23.8 mi) east-southeast of Ambunti in East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea on 3 April 2023.

On 24 March 2024, a Mw 6.9 earthquake occurred in the East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea, killing five people.

References

  1. 1 2 3 ISC (2015), ISC-GEM Global Instrumental Earthquake Catalogue (1900–2009), Version 2.0, International Seismological Centre
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 PAGER-CAT Earthquake Catalog, Version 2008_06.1, United States Geological Survey, September 4, 2009
  3. ↑ NGDC. "Comments for the Tsunami Event" . Retrieved May 14, 2010.
  4. 1 2 Abers, G.A.; McCaffrey, R. (1994). "Active arc-continent collision: Earthquakes, gravity anomalies, and fault kinematics in the Huon-Finisterre collision zone, Papua New Guinea". Tectonics. 13 (2): 227–245. Bibcode:1994Tecto..13..227A. doi:10.1029/93TC02940.
  5. 1 2 "Strong Earthquake Hits New Guinea Coast Area". The Victoria Advocate. Victoria Advocate Publishing Co. November 1, 1970. Retrieved May 2, 2010.
  6. ↑ Borrero, J.C.; Bu J.; Saiang C.; Uslu B.; Freckman J.; Gomer B.; Okal E.A. & Synolakis C.E. (2003). "Field Survey and Preliminary Modeling of the Wewak, Papua New Guinea Earthquake and Tsunami of 9 September 2002" (PDF). Seismological Research Letters. 74 (4): 393–405. Bibcode:2003SeiRL..74..393B. doi:10.1785/gssrl.74.4.393. ISSN   0895-0695 . Retrieved May 14, 2010.
  7. 1 2 "Today in Earthquake History: October 31". December 18, 2009. Retrieved May 2, 2010.
  8. ↑ "Earthquake Jolts New Guinea". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Journal Communications. November 2, 1970. Retrieved May 2, 2010.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Soloviev, S. L.; Go, C. N.; Kim, K. (1992), Catalog of tsunamis in the Pacific 1969–1982, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, p. 32, ISBN   9780788139314
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.