Tag Archives: Papua New Guinea

Bougainville PNG Quake

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Very Strong earthquake in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea – 1 girl killed by collapsing house

Last update: April 13, 2014 at 3:22 pm by By

Update 12:32: A 4 years old girl was killed by a collapsing house. At least 14 houses were destroyed. More damage reports are expeted to come in the early morning (local time). At least 5 villages are affected.

Update 08:52: Nearby Cities
MMI City Population
VI Kieta 4k
VI Arawa 40k
VI Panguna 3k
IV Gizo 6k
IV Kokopo 26k
IV Rabaul 8k
III Namatanai 1k

Screen Shot 2014-04-13 at 18.20.38

Update 08:45: Two water tanks of a school in Buin, a village on Bougainville, were damaged by the quake.

Update 08:30: The earthquake was followed by a strong shallow aftershock of  M 6.7 – with a depth of 40 km,  which occured at 8:16 UTC.

Update:  Due to heavy rainfall in the recent days landslides are possible in the area near the earthquake epicenter and this may worsen the damage.

Update: According to PTWC:  NO DESTRUCTIVE WIDESPREAD TSUNAMI THREAT EXISTS BASED ON HISTORICAL EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI DATA. HOWEVER – EARTHQUAKES OF THIS SIZE SOMETIMES GENERATE LOCAL TSUNAMIS THAT CAN BE DESTRUCTIVE ALONG COASTS LOCATED WITHIN A HUNDRED KILOMETERS OF THE EARTHQUAKE EPICENTER. AUTHORITIES IN THE REGION OF THE EPICENTER SHOULD BE AWARE OF THIS POSSIBILITY AND TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION

Update:  A major earthquake measuring M 7.3 at a focus depth of  60 km – preliminary data –  rocked the region of Papua New Guinea.

Most important Earthquake Data:

Magnitude : 7.1

Local Time (conversion only below land) : 2014-04-11 17:07:19

GMT/UTC Time : 2014-04-11 07:07:19

Depth (Hypocenter) : 65 km

from:    http://earthquake-report.com/2014/04/11/very-strong-earthquake-solomon-islands-on-april-11-2014/
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Papua New Guinea Area Earthquake

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Very strong earthquake out of the coast of P.N.G

Last update: October 12, 2012 at 2:06 pm by By

–Very strong earthquake out of the South Coast of Papua
 A Very strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.7 struck 103km of Dobo, Indonesia at a depth of 25km. This earthquake, if preliminary reports are confirmed, should not be dangerous creating a max. shaking of IV (light shaking) for at least 206,000 people.
Tsunami statement from the PTWC (Pacific Tsunami Warning Center):

A DESTRUCTIVE WIDESPREAD TSUNAMI THREAT DOES NOT EXIST BASED ON
 HISTORICAL EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI DATA.

 HOWEVER - THERE IS A VERY SMALL POSSIBILITY OF A LOCAL TSUNAMI
 THAT COULD AFFECT COASTS LOCATED USUALLY NO MORE THAN A HUNDRED
 KILOMETERS FROM THE EARTHQUAKE EPICENTER.
from:    http://earthquake-report.com/2012/10/11/major-earthquakes-list-october-12-2012/

New Ireland, PNG Strong Earthquake

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Very powerful earthquake east of New Ireland, PNG

Last update: August 2, 2012 at 6:29 pm by By

Very powerful earthquake east of New Ireland, PNG

USGS New Ireland Region, Papua New Guinea Aug 02 09:56 AM 6.3 70.6

A very strong earthquake at intermediate depth to the east of New Ireland, Papua New Guinea. The earthquake was felt as a light shaking 180 km to the north. Theoretical calculations from USGS did expect a moderate shaking (MMI V) at the closest populated areas at Southern New Ireland. PNG people are experiencing often very strong to massive earthquakes. Earthquake-Report.com does not expect any serious damage or injuries from this earthquake.  This is the second very strong earthquake in the area in only a couple of days. The Magnitude was to weak and the depth to deep to generate even a small tsunami.

from:    http://earthquake-report.com/2012/08/01/major-earthquakes-list-august-2-2012/

Papua New Guinea Earthquake

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 Very strong to massive (deep) earthquake in Papua New Guinea

Last update: April 17, 2012 at 9:38 am by By 

Very strong to massive (deep) earthquake in Papua New Guinea
The earthquake struck at a depth of 202 km is therefore probably harmless.
130 km (81 miles) N (10°) from Lae, New Guinea, PNG
156 km (97 miles) ESE (104°) from Madang, New Guinea, PNG
This earthquake will be felt by millions of people in a very wide area because of the depth of the hypocenter
Update 07:33 UTC : Geofon reports a Magnitude of 6.6 at a depth of 199 km. EMSC a Magnitude of 7.1 at a depth of 190 km.
All data captured so far are confirming the probably harmless character of this earthquake
Update 07:38 UTC : The epicenter of this earthquake is on the coast of  Long Island, an island to the north of Eastern PNG. The epicenter is however of less importance in deep earthquakes as the seismic waves are radiating to the surface from deep within the hot solid earth.
Update 07:41 UTC : There absolutely NO risk for a tsunami for the same reason as described above.
Update 07:42 UTC : Due the energy in this quake USGS expects that 108,000 people will have experienced a moderate MMI V shaking, 2.6 million people a light shaking.

from:   http://earthquake-report.com/2012/04/16/major-earthquakes-list-april-17-2012/

Papua New Guinea Earthquake

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Strong shallow earthquake below the rain-forest of Eastern Papua New Guinea

Last update: February 15, 2012 at 4:54 pm by By 

Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude :  5.8
UTC Time :  Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 14:07:51 UTC
Local time at epicenter : Thursday, February 16, 2012 at 12:07:51 AM at epicenter
Depth (Hypocenter) : 10.1 km
Geo-location(s) :
88 km (54 miles) S of Lae, New Guinea, PNG
137 km (85 miles) ENE of Kerema, New Guinea, PNG
216 km (134 miles) N of PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea

Earthquake overview : A strong but shallow and thus moderately dangerous earthquake occurred just after midnight inland Eastern Papua New Guinea.

Strong moderately dangerous earthquake.
1,000 people will experience a very strong shaking and 33,000 people a strong shaking. The main reason for this high impact is the very shallow hypocenter. PNG is however well prepared for very strong to even massive earthquakes. Since 1000ths of years, the islands are regularly shuddered by massive earthquakes. The earthquake’s epicenter is below the rain forest where only primitive villages are located. These villages have NO brick or concrete houses which make them less vulnerable for destruction.
The main dangers during these earthquakes are landslides and mining accidents. 
Emergency services will normally not react to this kind of earthquakes. Additionally, as they have no helicopters and as the hills are mostly saturated by clouds, they have to walk to the epicenter areas via normal walking trails. They often need many days to reach the epicenter area.
These are the facts of life at PNG. We would be very surprised if a report would ever be published on this earthquake by the PNG authorities or by the local PNG press.

Update :  nearest populated place to the epicenter is : Were Were (18km).
The closest civilian airport is Sim (18km).

for more information and updates, go to:    http://earthquake-report.com/2012/02/15/strong-shallow-earthquake-below-the-rainforest-of-eastern-papua-new-guinea/

 

Landslide Risk fr/PNG Massive Earthquake

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Massive but deep earthquake below Eastern Papua New Guinea – main concern : landslides

Last update: December 14, 2011 at 10:01 am by By 

Earthquake overview :A strong but very deep earthquake happened at 03:04 PM (15:04) below eastern Papua New Guinea. The depth of the earthquake will have weakened the shaking even just above the epicenter. Our main concern are possible landslides.

Update 14/12 – 09:55 UTC :   TJ Charlton, a person knowing the epicenter area very well, wrote a few minutes ago : Lots of legal and illegal gold mining in the Wau area. I am fearful of avalanches (ER : so are we) and some mine shafts collapsing…I was in Wau just a few months ago. Talk in Wau town (after a phone call) was that “trees were swaying from side to side” during the quake.  (ER : the good news is that the phone was still working)

Update : From James Daniell CATDAT database :
On 26th, February 1963, a M7.3 earthquake, 171km depth struck at -7.5, 146.2 (around 50km west of this epicenter), with only very minor damage reported and intensities of up to 7.
Other earthquakes to have hit the region have occurred in 2001 and 2010, although these are around 80km away, both being M6.2 and only causing minor damage. These were also shallower.
Generally PNG builds of materials that resist earthquakes well and it is unlikely that major damage occurred from this one.

Landscape in the greater area of the epicenter – picture courtesy Grant I. Tebbutt

Update : Mc Adam National park was at a relatively close distance from the epicenter (approx. 40 to 60 km).

Update : The closest settlements are Were Were, Winima, Kaisenik, Kwembu, Kudjeru and Wau

Update : The greater area of the epicenter has almost NO roads but a lot of small settlements . Based on our own experience with PNG earthquakes we do not expect to receive a lot of additional information from the inland settlements. They have NO phone lines (neither fixed or cell) and can mostly be reached by trails or dirt roads only.

Update : A 7.3 earthquake who occurred in 1987 at a distance of 193 km from the current epicenter had NO shaking deaths (focal depth unknown)

Update : USGS is expecting that 506,000 people will have experienced a VI (strong) MMI shaking, 973,000 people a moderate V MMI shaking

Update : WAPMERR, a specialized theoretical damage calculator expects NO fatalities and a max. of 30 injured people as a result of this earthquake.

Update : GDACS, who has great demographic number has calculated that 1,376 people are living within a radius of 10 km. 8,212 within a radius of 20 km and 314,609 within a radius of 100 km from the epicenter.

Update : The exact place of the epicenter is of lesser importance for these deep earthquakes. Even living above the epicenter one can compare it (simplified) with living at 121 km from the epicenter of the earthquake (depth was 121 km)

Update : This was the official NOAA message confirming our own estimate :
BASED ON ALL AVAILABLE DATA A DESTRUCTIVE PACIFIC-WIDE TSUNAMI IS NOT EXPECTED AND THERE IS NO TSUNAMI THREAT TO HAWAII.

for more information and updates, go to:    http://earthquake-report.com/2011/12/14/massive-but-deep-earthquake-below-eastern-papua-new-guinea/

Strong Earthquake – Papua New Guinea

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Papua New Guinea 01/08/2011 earthquake : 2,000 people living on Bam (Biem) volcano island at extreme risk + videos

Last update: August 1, 2011 at 2:32 pm by By Armand Vervaeck and James Daniell

Earthquake Overview : A very strong shallow magnitude 6.8  earthquake occurred close to the coast of Papua New Guinea on Monday August 1 at 9:38 local time.  Soon after the earthquake, the Pacific tsunami and Warning Center issued a statement that NO widespread tsunami is expected from this earthquake. The epicenter of the earthquake is only 6 km from Bam (Biem) volcano island, an island populated by approx. 2,000 indigenous people.

to read more, including a first hand report, go to:    http://earthquake-report.com/2011/08/01/very-strong-shallow-earthquake-close-to-the-coast-of-papua-new-guinea/