Seismological Aspects of the 2002 Papua New Guinea and Andaman Earthquakes and Tsunamis

On September 8 and 13, 2002, two earthquakes resulted in minor tsunamis with preliminary reports of a few casualties in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the Andaman Islands, respectively. Of particular interest is the PNG event which occurred just 100 km from the catastrophic 1998 tsunami. By contrast the 2002 source has a much larger moment, but generated only a moderate tsunami. We present the results of quasi-real time processing of its source characteristics (M_m = 7.4 and \Theta = Log₁₀ E^E / M₀ = -4.82) which characterizes the earthquake as having a regular source slowness. The minor 2002 tsunami gives additional support to the interpretation of the 1998 tsunami as generated by a triggered underwater landslide. We will present results of an ongoing survey of felt intensities. Preliminary results on the Andaman Island event of September 13th also confirms a regular source slowness (\Theta = -4.73). We will present updated results on the interpretation of the reportedly minor tsunami.