The 2010 Papua earthquake occurred on June 16 at 12:16 local time (03:16 UTC) in

Papua province Papua is a province of Indonesia, comprising the northern coast of Western New Guinea together with island groups in Cenderawasih Bay to the west. It roughly follows the borders of Papuan customary region of Tabi Saireri. It is bordered by the ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. The magnitude 7.0 mainshock was preceded by an 6.2

foreshock A foreshock is an earthquake that occurs before a larger seismic event (the mainshock) and is related to it in both time and space. The designation of an earthquake as ''foreshock'', ''mainshock'' or aftershock is only possible after the full se ...

10 minutes earlier, and was followed 42 minutes later by an 6.6 aftershock.

Geology

This part of Indonesia is an area of complex

tectonic Tectonics (; ) are the processes that control the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time. These include the processes of mountain building, the growth and behavior of the strong, old cores of continents ...

s. The

epicenter The epicenter, epicentre () or epicentrum in seismology is the point on the Earth's surface directly above a hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or an underground explosion originates. Surface damage Before the instrumental pe ...

of the earthquake lies close to the boundary between two proposed microplates, the

Bird's Head The Bird's Head Peninsula ( Indonesian: ''Kepala Burung'', nl, Vogelkop) or Doberai Peninsula (''Semenanjung Doberai''), is a large peninsula that makes up the northwest portion of the island of New Guinea, comprising the Indonesian provinces ...

and Maoke microplates. The motion along this boundary has been modelled as about 80 mm/year sinistral (left lateral) strike-slip. The computed focal mechanism is consistent either with movement on this boundary or on a dextral (right lateral) strike-slip structure conjugate to it.

Damage

The earthquake destroyed nine villages, namely Aiyari, Randawaya, Hamtimoi, Karowaiti, Waita, Waridoni, Tare, Larelahiti and Wabudayar, killed 17 people and injured 75 others, 6 seriously. More than 2,500 houses were destroyed. While Mercalli intensities of VI (''Strong'') affected the island of

Biak Biak is an island located in Cenderawasih Bay near the northern coast of Papua, an Indonesian province, and is just northwest of New Guinea. Biak is the largest island in its small archipelago, and has many atolls, reefs, and corals. The large ...

, intensities of more than VII (''Very strong'') affected Serui (on

Yapen Yapen (also Japan, Jobi) is an island of Papua, Indonesia. The Yapen Strait separates Yapen and the Biak Islands to the north. It is in Cenderawasih Bay off the north-western coast of the island of New Guinea. To the west is Mios Num Island ...

) and on the neighbouring coast of the mainland. Many buildings were damaged on

Yapen Island Yapen (also Japan, Jobi) is an island of Papua, Indonesia. The Yapen Strait separates Yapen and the Biak Islands to the north. It is in Cenderawasih Bay off the north-western coast of the island of New Guinea. To the west is Mios Num Island a ...

References

External links

Rnzi.com: "Indonesia Yapen Quake death toll rises to 22"
* {{Earthquakes in Indonesia 2010 Papua Papua Papua earthquake Papua earthquake Papua June 2010 events in Indonesia

Geology

Damage

See also

References

External links