Reconnaissance Survey of the September 9, 2002 Papua New Guinea Earthquake and Tsunami

University Of Southern California, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

This action is to support a reconnaissance survey of the September 9, 2002 Papua New Guinea earthquake and tsunami, with a team of US and PNG engineers and scientists. The tsunami reportedly killed 2 people as opposed to the 1998 PNG tsunami that killed 2200. The 2002 earthquake was a stronger earthquake with epicenter located at approximately the same relative distance off the most impacted coastline as compared to the 1998 event. The question arises as to why the 2002 tsunami had a smaller impact than the 1998 event. This is particularly important for the western coast of the United States where offshore earthquakes of similar magnitudes are possible. The reconnaissance survey includes a significant public outreach component, with lectures and talks planned in numerous locales and schools in the affected areas. In terms of technology transfer, the team will implement standard tsunami hazard mitigation numerical tools on servers at the University of Papua New Guinea, as well as field train PNG university students in tsunami field survey techniques. The team will also participate in local seminars discussing earthquake hazard mitigation in PNG. The team will work entirely in PNG, and the budget will support both US and PNG scientists as participants. The results of the survey will be available as a work in progress on the principal investigator's USC web site.