The seismic zone of the Papuan Fold Belt  

Authors / CoAuthors

Ripper, I.D. | McCue, K.F.

Abstract

Improved regional seismograph coverage in the 1970s has enhanced the resolution of the seismicity of the southern highlands of Papua New Guinea. Two zones can be defined. The Southern Highlands Seismic Zone follows the Papuan Fold Belt and extends from Kerema on the Gulf of Papua through the Star Mountains region into Irian Jaya. A second zone, the Mount Hagen Seismic Zone, plunges to the north-northeast from the Southern Highlands Seismic Zone south of Mount Hagen to intersect the intermediate-depth seismicity beneath the Ramu-Markham Valley. The southern highlands earthquakes reflect continuing Pliocene-Quaternary thrust faulting in the crust of the Indo-Australian Plate , brought about by the collision of the Indo-Australian and South Bismarck Plates over the sinking Solomon Sea Plate. Relief of compressive stress is through fracturing of the continental plate margin. The zone of fracture is now manifest in the Papuan Fold Belt. Seismic risk in the Southern Highlands Seismic Zone is less than that of the north coast, New Britain, and Bougainville, but is still high. The once-a-year largest earthquake is of magnitude 4.7, the ten-year earthquake magnitude 6.2, and the 30-year earthquake magnitude 6.9, which compare with the Californian figures of 5.7, 6.9, and 7.4, respectively. Large earthquakes are expected to occur along the zone in the future and their effects could be severe.

Product Type

document

eCat Id

81143

Contact for the resource

Keywords

• GA PublicationJournal

• PNG

Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)

• Earth Sciences

• Published_External

Publication Date

1983-01-01T00:00:00

Creation Date

Security Constraints

Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem    

Classification - unclassified

Legal Constraints

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence    

Access - license

Use - license

Status

Purpose

Maintenance Information

unknown

Topic Category

geoscientificInformation

Series Information

BMR Journal of Australian Geology and Geophysics 8:2:147-156

Lineage

Unknown

Parent Information

Extents

[-9.81, -2.63, 137.94, 147.12]

Reference System

Spatial Resolution

Service Information

Associations

Downloads and Links

Journal article (pdf)  

Source Information

Source data not available.