Preliminary results of field survey, 2002 PNG earthquake at Wewak

We report on field observations taken in the immediate aftermath of the PNG earthquake of 08 Sept. 2002 (09 Sept. local time). This event occurred about 100 km ESE along the coast from the location of the 1998 tsunami disaster. The 2002 event had a significantly larger magnitude (7.4), but triggered a much more benign tsunami. Fortunately, it resulted in only a handful of casualties. The following is a summary of preliminary observations during field surveys taken in the week following the event: The islands facing the coast (Mussu, Kairiru, Walis) were uplifted from 20 to 50 cm, and suffered a number of local aerial landslides. By constrast, along the main New Guinea coast, sea level change was barely detectable, but that part of the coast suffered many instances of liquefaction. The runup of the tsunami is estimated at 1.5 to 2 meters along the coast and on the islands. A more complete report, inclusive of observations posterior to the abstract, will be presented.