Very strong earthquake close to the Papua, Indonesia coast
Last update: September 8, 2012 at 11:29 am by By Ashish Khanal
Very strong earthquake close to the Papua, Indonesia coast
56km (35mi) WNW of Nabire, Indonesia
The earthquake is not strong enough to generate a tsunami. As this is no subduction quake, the depth is measured to be 20 km.
Due to the close distance to the coast, a moderate shaking is expected in a radius of 50 km (will be felt by approx. 3000 people). As Papua New Guinea and Papua people are more or less accustomed to earthquakes, and if the earthquake parameters are correct, this earthquake is not considered as dangerous by ER. Update 11:22 UTC : BMKG, the Indonesian seismological agency, reports a Magnitude of Ml6.3 but at a depth of 55 km. Update 11:27 UTC : we can only locate a few very small settlements close to the epicenter, which confirms our initial expectations that this earthquake will be probably harmless
Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude : Mw7.6 (USGS), Ml7.7 (PHIVOLCS)
UTC Time : 31st August, 2012 – 12:47:34 UTC
Local time at epicenter : 31st August, 2012 – 20:47:34 UTC
Depth (Hypocenter) : 34.9 km (USGS), 10km (PHIVOLCS)
Geo-location(s) : 96km (60mi) E of Sulangan, Philippines
Phivolcs was predicting:-
Intensity 7 in Guian, Oras, Sulat, Borongan City, Eastern Samar;
Intensity 6 in Siargao, Surigao del Norte; Tacloban City; Palo Leyte; Saint Bernard, S. Leyte;
Intensity 5 in Mati City; Compostela; Compostela; Legaspi City; Iloilo City; Beilig City; Iligan City;
Intensity 4 in Butuan City, Catbalogan City, Butuan City, Cagayan De Oro City;
Intensity 3 in Cotabato City, Mambajao, Camiguin, General Santos City; and
Intensity 2 in Marawi, Sipalay City
UPDATE:- NDRRMC is expecting damage from an earthquake of this size, but still waiting on more damage reports.
1 person has been killed through a house collapse in Southern Cagayan de Oro city on the South Island of Mindanao killing a 54-year-old woman and injuring her 5-year old grandson.
The center in Philippines said that very small tsunami waves of 3 centimeters meters (just over an inch) were recorded along the eastern Philippine coast near Legazpi city and another nearby location indicating a possible escape from a major tsunami.
The quake knocked out power in several other towns and cities across the central and southern Philippines, though it was restored in some areas later Friday.
SUMMARY:- A massive earthquake has hit off the East coast of the Philippines. It has been felt up to an intensity VII onshore through USGS.
The tsunami was due to hit Eastern Samar Island and also the following other locations – Northern Samar, Leyte, Southern Leyte, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur. It was due to have hit already and we are waiting on reports.
The latest PTWC ratings:- Only a local tsunami warning was enforced. Eyewitness reports in the east have seen 1.2m waves.
SEA LEVEL READINGS CONFIRM THAT A TSUNAMI WAS GENERATED. THIS TSUNAMI MAY HAVE BEEN DESTRUCTIVE ALONG COASTLINES OF THE REGION NEAR THE EARTHQUAKE EPICENTER. AUTHORITIES IN THE REGION SHOULD TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION IN RESPONSE TO THIS POSSIBILITY. THIS CENTER WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR SEA LEVEL GAUGES NEAREST THE REGION AND REPORT IF ANY ADDITIONAL TSUNAMI WAVE ACTIVITY. THE WARNING WILL NOT EXPAND TO OTHER AREAS OF THE PACIFIC UNLESS ADDITIONAL DATA ARE RECEIVED TO WARRANT SUCH AN EXPANSION.
FOR AFFECTED 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 CLE
for more information and updates, go to: http://earthquake-report.com/2012/08/31/massive-earthquake-hits-philippines-with-tsunami-warning/
Magnitude : Mw6.6
UTC Time : 13:43:24 UTC on August 30th, 2012
Local time at epicenter : 12:43:24 UTC on August 30th, 2012
Depth (Hypocenter) : 8km
Geo-location(s) : 93km NW away from Olonkinbyen, Svalbard and Jan Mayen
There has been reports of some damage and a rockslide, but no injuries among the 44 people living there.
A M5.2 aftershock also hit around 8 mins after the mainshock.
UPDATE:- This is reported to be one of the largest Norwegian earthquakes on record.
In 2008, a M6.2 was reported in Svalbard.
According to NORSAR “The largest earthquakes in historical times in Norway and surrounding offshore areas occurred in the Rana region in 1819, M 5.8, in the Vøring Basin in 1866, M 5.7, in the outer Oslofjord in 1904, M 5.4 and in the Viking Graben in 1927, M 5.3. The last earthquakes above M 5 include an M 5.3 event in the Vøring Basin in 1988, in an area with almost no earlier seismicity, and an M 5.2 event in the northeastern North Sea in 1989.”
The Oslofjord earthquake of 1904 is the best known earthquake causing damage in Norway.
So it looks like another earthquake record has been broken – as will continue to occur as better recording of earthquakes through time continues worldwide leading to better hazard maps in the future.
Further damage is yet to be confirmed as well as a possible tsunami caused by underwater landslide.
Beerenberg Volcano – over 2200m above sea level (Wiki Commons) – erupted in 1970 and 1985.
SUMMARY:-
A major earthquake has hit off Jan Mayen Island in Norway in the Arctic Ocean.
The Amazing coastline of Jan Mayen with the Beerenberg Volcano
44 people currently live on the small island of which the main export is gravel and also doubles as a telecommunications base for Norway.
A strange set of earthquake data occurred following the El Salvador earthquake a few days ago with various agencies giving very different magnitudes for the event.
A tsunami alert was also triggered and then was cancelled.
We have brief reports that have encircled the globe that the following damage occurred due to 3 strong waves after the earthquake:
– A Zoological foundation has said that 3 waves up to 3m high (not 8m as stated in some reports) washed onshore and destroyed around 45000 just hatched turtle eggs. This is around 6% of the total endangered eggs saved in the last 1.5 years. These were all of the Ridley turtle variety which is very much endangered. It also destroyed the hatcheries for turtle protection.
– The tsunami waves washed up on about 150 people collecting the eggs to protect them in special pens
– The waves injured 6 of the people who were all saved.
– No other reports of damage or a felt tsunami have been made. The earthquake was barely felt in El Salvador.
– Over 200 aftershocks have since been registered.
Kemps Ridley Sea Turtle (Wikipedia Commons)
Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude : Ml6.7 (SNET), Mw7.3 (USGS)
UTC Time : 04:37:20 UTC on the 27th August, 2012
Local time at epicenter : 22:37:20 on the 26th August, 2012
Depth (Hypocenter) : 51km (SNET), 20.3km (USGS)
Geo-location(s) : 110km from the South coast of El Salvador
Massive earthquake far out of the El Salvador coast
Last update: August 27, 2012 at 9:17 pm by By Ashish Khanal
Massive earthquake along the coast of El Salvador ??
Preliminary Magnitude and depth : M7.4 @ 52.9 km
Approx. 125 km out of the coast
NOAA reports : BASED ON THE EARTHQUAKE MAGNITUDE… LOCATION AND HISTORIC TSUNAMI RECORDS A DAMAGING TSUNAMI IS NOT EXPECTED ALONG THE CALIFORNIA/ OREGON/ WASHINGTON/ BRITISH COLUMBIA AND ALASKA COASTS.
Max. wave height along the Central America coast : 0.1 meter or NO danger
NO people are living within a radius of 100 km Important Update : Confusion in seismic land : The 3 main international agencies are reporting very conflicting numbers. Geofon reports a Magnitude of M6.6 and EMSC only a M5.2
Our attention was attracted to the fact that we had very few readers from Central America which is opposite on what we see otherwise. Hard to believe that a massive quake at 50 km at 125 km out of the coasr would not be felt by people on land.
The central american agencies are simply not reporting an earthquake at the time of occurrence. This data looks more and more being a hoax Update : All the agencies are now showing 7+ magnitudes for the El Salvador earthquake, EMSC and Geofon even at shallower depths Update 05:40 UTC : We are still confused about this massive earthquake as the local agencies still do not list it including El Salvador’s SNET and as we had no abnormal number of Central American readers in the website (Almost) Final update 06:47 : The mystery has finally been solved. SNET (El Salvador) has also listed the earthquake as an M6.7 earthquake at a depth of 50 km but more than 200 km out of the coast. Additionally, the hypocenter of the earthquake was located in the oceanic plate and not in the North American plate. This event was in other words an intra-plate event and not a subduction earthquake like most of the earthquakes are in the area. Update 07:17 : A couple of 5+ aftershocks occurred in the greater epicenter area. USGS has located the epicenter of all events in the subduction zone below the continental plate while snet was putting it more into the ocean.
– To make the confusion complate, also USGS has now updated the hypocenter from a +50 km to a depth of 20.3 km.
– Ineter Nicaragua is reporting the mainshock as a Mc5.9! Update 09:19 UTC : A new strong aftershock struck closer to the El Salvador coast.
Update 12:14 UTC : Tsunami calculations greatly depend upon the underlying earthquake parameters. In a first tsunami report GDACS based their calculations on a depth of 52.3 km (data according USGS preliminary report). A max. waveheight of 0.1 m was the result. After that USGS changed the depth of the hypocenter to 20.3 km a totally different calculation resulted in a max. wave pattern of 0.5 meter, a huge difference. As it was evening in the epicenter area, we guess that almost nobody would have seen the waves. This event is a reminder that seismology is not an exact science and has still a quiet important error margin.
Last update: August 20, 2012 at 3:07 pm by By Ashish Khanal
Moderate earthquake close to Tokyo
A moderete M5.1 earthquake has struck close to Tokyo. Max. shaking was a 3 JMA while Earthquake-Report.com uses 5+ as a minimum to be dangerous for damage.
The earthquake occurred at 20:42 Japanese time.
Update 20/08 – 14:58 UTC
The following information should make the 08:58 information more complete (courtesy Jakarta Post)
Due to the area being a national park, the government has forbidden to from construct roads to provide access to the area. To reach the villages, one has to either walk for around six hours, or ride a motorcycle for around three hours. The area also has limited telecommunication access. For all these reasons helicopter deployment is super-urgent. Helicopters can easily distribute aid to the isolated quake victims.
– The Sulawesi Lindu earthquake has killed six people, damaged 1097 houses, seven places of worship, three schools and one government office. Dozens of people suffered minor injuries during the earthquake.
Update 20/08 – 08:58 UTC
– The death toll has unfortunately climbed to 6
– Some reports are talking about 1000+ houses damaged some severely
– The landslides blocking the main road have not been removed completely, making it impossible for Rescue and aid transports to reach a lot of villages (Indonesian reports do speak about dozens of settlements). The landslide area is about 10 km long.
– A lot of villages around the Lindu lake (also a National Park) are still cut off from civilization which means that a complete assessment of the situation has not been done yet and also means that the toll of this earthquake can further increase. The current account of dead, injured and damage is thus far from complete.
– Red Cross Indonesia has promised to send an helicopter on Tuesday … to reach these remote villages.
– The Indonesian army has a big fleet of helicopters. Deploying 5 or 10 helicopters when the weather allows it, would be a great peacefull task. Where are they waiting for ? (comment ER)
Image courtesy mediaindonesia.com
Very Important Update 19/08 – 22:00 UTC
BPBD, the government agency responsible for following up and managing disasters in Indonesia came with a long awaited first official assessment report. Unfortunately bad news.
– 4 people have been killed during this earthquake.
– 7 people were seriously injured
– 51 houses have been reported as severely damaged
The wordt impact occurred in 9 villages in 3 districts Kulawi (Namo, Bolapapu, Boladangko, Tangkulowi, and Saluwa), Lindu (Tomado) and Gumbasa (Pakuli, Tuva and Omu)
– The report is not yet complete as at least 10 landslides are still blocking the main road. Heavy equipment has been send to the landslide areas (bulldozers, trucks, etc)
– Victims with minor injuries have been treated in their respective villages.
– Buildings who have not been affected by the earthquake are used as shelters
Update 19/08 – 12:05 UTC
Avalanches occurred from kilometer 50 to kilometer 60 of on the main road to Kulawi (border between the District and District Gumbasa Kulawi, Sigi Regency).
Update 19/08 – 12:05 UTC : a classic example of epicenter uncertainty
– The image below made by our colleagues of eqarchives.wordpress.com is showing what a difficult task it is to determine the location of the epicenter and accordingly the place to look at for SAR and AID workers to find the most damaged areas. Imagine that you are a rescue authority and that a massive earthquake strikes. Where to go to or to look at first. Telecommunications and power are down, so nobody can tell you what the exact situation of the earthquake is. Additionally, the seismological agencies are doing their best to provide the epicenter location as accurate as possible but they are differing often in tens of km’s for distant quakes, just like we have witnessed here in Sulawesi. Earthquake science is making big steps forward but is far from being 100% accurate. ER tends to give the benefit of the doubt for the local well organized seismological agencies, but as could be read below, also this is far from accurate as they are often nationally structured and as some equipment is installed and read locally, like in this case in Palu. The orange sign is an aftershock. We know that the buttons are hard to read, but the story behind the buttons is that they are far from accurate.
Based on the instruments which are monitored in Palu, the epicenter was located in the Sigi regency. BMKG matched the epicenter best (just north of the Lindu lake)
Epicenter location as reported by the different seismological agencies – image courtesy eqarchives.wordpress.com – Click on the map for the interactive version
Very important update 19/08 – 07:45 UTC (ongoing update):
– a 9 year old boy was killed during the earthquake (some (international) press is talking about 3 killed people, but this could not be confirmed locally at this moment
– 12 people have been seriously injured
– at least 40 houses have been seriously damaged or collapsed
– Houses have been seriously damaged houses in the following villages : Namo, Boladangko, Bolapapu and Tangkulowi (Sigi district)
– There is still some confusion on where the epicenter was located of the mainshock. Soon after the earthquake epicenter was said to be in the Regency Parigi Moutong. After further investigation BMKG had admitted that the epicenter was located in the Sigi regency (sub-province Kulawi, Gumbasa and Lindu). the update has been reported by BMKG after that the data from the regional BMKG office at Palu was analyzed.
– 200 rescue workers have been mobilized to asses the damage in the villages and to help the people
– The power was off moments after the earth started to shake
for more information and updates, go to: http://earthquake-report.com/2012/08/18/extremely-dangerous-shallow-earthquake-below-sulawesi-indonesia/
Update : The population versus the epicenter radies is as follows (courtesy GDACS) :
Radius Population
100 km 1.2 million people
75 km 1 million people
50 km 900000 people
20 km 41000 people
10 km 1600 people
5 km <1000 people
2 km <1000 people
Based on these data and based on our experiences, about 50,000 people are having damage and injuries risks. To the positive side we have to explain that the building style in the area is mostly of wood and bamboo which is very earthquake resistant.
Shaking map courtesy USGS
Theoretical calculations are reporting that 120000 people may have experienced a potential damaging strong shaking!
In 1985 a similar M6.6 earthquake made no fatalities at 85 km from the current epicenter. Although this is looking good, earthquakes are hard to compare and almost never have the same output.
We are currently writing at this article, please refresh every couple of minutes.
Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude : Mw 6.6
UTC Time : Saturday, August 18, 2012 at 09:41:54 UTC
Local time at epicenter : Saturday, August 18, 2012 at 05:41:54 PM at epicenter
Depth (Hypocenter) : 20.2 km
Geo-location(s) :
56 km (34 miles) SSE of Palu, Indonesia
72 km (44 miles) W of Poso, Indonesia
pdate 16:57 UTC : Landslides have blocked the important road to Kulawi.
Update 16:41 UTC : The earthquake scene includes the districts of Sigi and Gumbasa. Hundreds of people have chosen to spend the night in tents (or self made tents or tents from the disaster authorities) as they are afraid to stay overnight is sometimes already damaged houses. Putting a tent in their own garden is guarding at the same time their property.
At present we can report that at least 30 houses have been seriously damaged and 100 slightly damaged.
Important update 16:15 UTC : Unfortunately we have to report that a 9 year old boy was killed by falling debris during the M 6.2 earthquake in Sulawesi. Dozens have been injured. (source Indonesian media stating BPBD)
Update 15:25 UTC : At least 23 houses have been damaged in Paragi Mountong district, close to the epicenter. The villages where the damaged houses are located are Desa Namo, Bolapapu, and Tangkolowi.
Update 15:05 UTC : A BPBD spokesman said that 2 people have been injured by falling debris in the village of Parigi Mountong, a district close to the epicenter.
Update 14:45 UTC : The American seismological agency USGS has updated the earthquake data and decreased the Magnitude from 6.6 to 6.3. The hypocenter depth has been changed from 20.2 to 19.9, not a real difference.
Update 14:30 UTC : The earthquake happened during the last hours of the Ramadan. The end of the Ramadan is a great feast for all the families.
Update 13:43 UTC : We are trying to obtain more news from the earthquake area but so far without a lot of details. As the night has fallen and as a lot of people do not want to go inside, we will need to wait until a calmer period. Electricity has been restored shortly before 7 PM in many populated areas.
Update 12:59 UTC : People in Palu have mentioned that the shaking lasted about 15 seconds. Darkness has fallen in Indonesia now, so it may take a lot of hours before we will have reports from the epicenter area. The current reports are arriving from the bigger cities at tens of km from the epicenter. As said before, the radius we have called very dangerous for injuries and serious damage is approx. 20 km around the epicenter. The locations were damage was reported are outside this radius !
Update 12:46 UTC : Shaking was felt until Palu City, Donggala, Poso, and Morowali which is about 100 kilometers from the epicenter. Panic broke out in a shopping mall in Palu city. A first overview is reporting many damaged buildings in Tavanjuka and Sigi
Update 11:51 UTC : 17 minutes after the mainshock a first strong M4.9 aftershock has been recorded.
Update 11:49 UTC : The earthquake occurred along the Palu Koro fault line who is moving at a speed of 3 cm per year! The Palu Koro fault stretches over a distance of 800 km. A BPBD (National Disaster Management Agency) spokesperson said that the fault is known as very dangerous. The epicenter following this agency was at only 40 km from the big city of Palu. First reports out of Palu are not mentioning serious damage to important buildings.
Update 11:40 UTC : As could be expected with this kind of strong earthquake, the power was down.
Update 11:30 UTC : BMKG reported that the epicenter of the earthquake was located at 27 km Southwest of Central Sulawesi Parigimoutong or 40 miles Southeast Sulawesi Tenggah Palu.
Update 11:18 UTC : In Palu, a city located 54 km from the epicenter, people ran in panic out of their houses. Palu has 282,000 inhabitants !
Lindu lake – image courtesy Mujiyanto
Update 11:09 UTC : Ranu Lindu or Lindu Lake is an Indonesian National Park. The hills surrounding the lake are quite low making landslides less evident, although they can also be generated in lower hills if the area has been saturated by rain. The area of the national park is 2,180 km² covering both lowland and montane forests. It provides habitat to numerous rare species, including 77 bird species endemic to Sulawesi. The national park is designated as part of the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves. In addition to its rich wildlife, the park also contains megaliths dating from before 1300 AD.
The easiest access to visit the national park is from Palu to Kamarora (50 kilometers in 2.5 hours drive). Due to a lot of rainfall up to 4,000 mm a year in the southern part of the national park, the best time to visit is from July to September. ER : luckily we are currently in the relatively dry season
Update 11:07 UTC : Indonesian sources report no casualties or damage but this of course far too soon to say something like that. The strongest shaking has been experienced in a very remote area and it may take many hours before that we get a decent report. Additionally darkness will fall in a few hours making eventual rescue and assessment tasks even more difficult.
Very Important Update 10:48 UTC : Totally different (and less dangerous) numbers at BMKG, the seismological agency from Indonesia. BMKG reports at Magnitude of 6.2 (a HUGE difference in energy) at a depth of 10 km. Nevertheless these better numbers, the earthquake remains dangerous. BMKG (which has the most seismological instruments installed in Sulawesi, puts the location of the epicenter to the north of the lake. Once more we see totally different data depending on the seismological reports. It will take a while before the conflicting data will be solved. BMKG also reported that nobody has to fear for a tsunami but we know from earlier experiences that everybode will have fled to higher grounds following the shaking.
Update 10:48 UTC : The nearest populated places are: Pangana (17km), Tomado (7km), Loeo (11km). The closest civilian airport is Mutiara (52km).
Update 10:43 UTC : People may have been very lucky to have experienced a M4.7 foreshock at the same area a little less than 2 hours before the main earthquake struck. Indonesian people have the habbit to auto-evacuate if a strong shaking happens and a lot of them may have been out of their houses.
Update : this earthquake is not a (less dangerous) subduction earthquake, but a transform earthquake. Transform earthquakes are far more dangerous because of the ground movement styles.
Update : There is a substantial wave risk on the very big Rano Lindu lake as the epicenter of the earthquake happened only a few km from the lakeshore
for more information and updates, go to: http://earthquake-report.com/2012/08/18/extremely-dangerous-shallow-earthquake-below-sulawesi-indonesia/
Last update: August 16, 2012 at 3:26 pm by By Ashish Khanal
Moderate earthquake close to Tahiti
A moderate earthquake with a Magnitude of M4.7 occurred close to the Mahaeana coast of Tahiti, French Polynesia. As the epicenter of the earthquake is below the sea bed, the shaking on the island was rather limited. Experience reports from people in Papeete, where the earthquake was also felt, are talking about a weak shaking.
Last update: August 14, 2012 at 3:09 pm by By Ashish Khanal
Moderate earthquake below Taiwan
The earthquake struck at a shallow 20 km depth and only at 12 km from Hualien, a city with more than 100,000 inhabitants. Hualien county is often shaken by earthquakes. The quake was felt all over the northern part of Twain, including in Taipeh.
