Massive and very strong earthquake near Bougainville Island Papua New Guinea (April 19)
Last update: April 20, 2014 at 5:25 pm by By
Update April 20 : New Dawn news resource from Bougainville wrote on April 20 :
Reports from Torokina says that Tidal wave triggered by the 7.5 Earthquake which was felt all over Bougainville and including East New Britain just after 11.30 pm last night.
Reports from Buin and other centres said that they felt the strong earth quake and ran off their houses.
But report from Torokina said that the people were moving in land due to the rising seawater in their area.
A Officer from the Torokina District office PAUL TAKILA told New Dawn FM by phone that the tidal wave went straight inland after the Earthquake.
New Dawn FM managed to talk to the ABG President, DR. JOHN MOMIS who is spending his Easter weekend in Buin and was concerned at the fate of the people of Torokina.
Some reports from Saposa island also stated that the sea had risen some meters tonight.
In another reports New Damn added :
The people of Marowa and Koromokina on the beach at Torokina were shaken by the strong earthquake which occurred just after 11.30 pm last night and immediately after the tidal wave that also came into their villages.
According to fresh reports from Torokina, no one was injured however some houses and water tanks were destroyed.
The tidal wave went 3 meters into Marowa village and 5 meters into the Koromokina village.
The people packed whatever they could carry and moved inland into Piva Government station and returned in the early hours of this morning.
Paul Takila from the Torokina District Office also reported some food gardens were destroyed at Mawaraka in the Bana district.
Update : As the nearest island locations are very remote, the chance that we will get more information is unfortunately almost zero.
Earthquake M7.4
TSUNAMI EVALUATION (after issuing warnings)
SEA LEVEL READINGS INDICATE A TSUNAMI WAS GENERATED. IT MAY HAVE BEEN DESTRUCTIVE ALONG COASTS NEAR THE EARTHQUAKE EPICENTER. FOR THOSE AREAS – WHEN NO MAJOR WAVES ARE OBSERVED FOR TWO HOURS AFTER THE ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL OR DAMAGING WAVES HAVE NOT OCCURRED FOR AT LEAST TWO HOURS THEN LOCAL AUTHORITIES CAN ASSUME THE THREAT IS PASSED. DANGER TO BOATS AND COASTAL STRUCTURES CAN CONTINUE FOR SEVERAL HOURS DUE TO RAPID CURRENTS. AS LOCAL CONDITIONS CAN CAUSE A WIDE VARIATION IN TSUNAMI WAVE ACTION THE ALL CLEAR DETERMINATION MUST BE MADE BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES.
NO TSUNAMI THREAT EXISTS FOR OTHER COASTAL AREAS IN THE PACIFIC ALTHOUGH SOME OTHER AREAS MAY EXPERIENCE SMALL SEA LEVEL CHANGES. THE TSUNAMI WARNING IS NOW CANCELED FOR ALL AREAS COVERED BY THIS CENTER.
75km (47mi) SW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea
87km (54mi) SW of Arawa, Papua New Guinea
394km (245mi) SE of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea
545km (339mi) ESE of Kimbe, Papua New Guinea
629km (391mi) WNW of Honiara, Solomon Islands
Earthquake M6.6
59km (37mi) SW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea
71km (44mi) SW of Arawa, Papua New Guinea
404km (251mi) SE of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea
561km (349mi) ESE of Kimbe, Papua New Guinea
616km (383mi) WNW of Honiara, Solomon Islands
Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude : 6.6
Local Time (conversion only below land) : 2014-04-19 11:04:03
GMT/UTC Time : 2014-04-19 01:04:03
Depth (Hypocenter) : 24.4 km
from: http://earthquake-report.com/2014/04/19/very-strong-earthquake-panguna-papua-new-guinea-on-april-19-2014/