Sensor Network Warns of Stealth Tsunamis

Fry, B.; McCurrach, Sarah-Jayne; Gledhill, Ken; Power, William; Williams, M. K.; Angove, Mike; Arcas, D.; Moore, Chris

doi:10.1029/2020eo144274

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…Depending on the relative location of the event epicentre to the stations' location, this could be done within a relatively short time using only the first 20-25 min of recorded tsunami waveforms. Considering that the New Zealand DART network is now fully operational with stations located close to the Hikurangi-Kermadec-Tonga and southern VSZ (three additional DART stations J, K, and L have been positioned closer to the VSZ in July 2021), with the capability to detect a tsunami within 30 min after an earthquake occurred in those two regions (Fry et al, 2020), it would be possible to invert tsunami waveforms to achieve a good estimation of the initial surface displacement within 50-55 min. This delay is unfortunately still too long to accurately confirm the threat for neighbouring regions, e.g.…”

Section: Comparison Of the Slip Models Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential tsunami hazard of the southern Vanuatu subduction zone: tectonics, case study of the Matthew Island tsunami of 10 February 2021 and implication in regional hazard assessment

Roger

Pelletier²,

Gusman

et al. 2023

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. The Vanuatu subduction zone (VSZ) is known to be seismically very active, due to the high convergence rate between the Australian and Pacific tectonic plates for the majority of the margin. However, this is not the case on its southernmost part south of latitude 22.5∘ S and east of longitude 170∘ E, which is neither highly tectonically active nor has it produced large tsunamis over the past 150 years. It has also not been widely studied. On the 11 February 2021 (10 February UTC), a magnitude Mw 7.7 earthquake triggered a tsunami warning in New Caledonia and Vanuatu 20 min after midnight (local time). With an epicentre located close to the volcanic islands of Matthew and Hunter, this shallow reverse-faulting rupture (< 30 km depth) was able to deform the seabed and produce a tsunami. This was confirmed 45 min later by the coastal gauges of the Loyalty and the south Vanuatu islands, which recorded the first tsunami waves. Showing a typical recorded amplitude of less than 1 m, with a maximum of ∼ 1.5 m in Lenakel (Tanna, Vanuatu), it was observed on most coastal gauges and DART stations in the south-west Pacific region as far as Tasmania to the south and Tuvalu to the north at distances of ∼ 3000 and ∼ 1800 km from the epicentre. In this study, the tsunamigenic potential of the southernmost part of the VSZ and the implications in terms of regional hazard assessment are discussed through (1) the presentation of the complex tectonic settings of this “transition zone” between the Solomon–Vanuatu and the Tonga–Kermadec trenches, (2) the case study of the 10 February 2021 tsunami at a south-west Pacific regional scale using three different tsunami generation scenarios computed with the COMCOT modelling code on a set of 48 nested bathymetric grids, and (3) the simulation of a plausible Mw 8.2 scenario encompassing the active part of this “transition zone”. The validation of the Mw 7.7 parameters for tsunami modelling provides the means to further assess the hazard from potential tsunamis triggered by higher magnitude earthquakes in this region. Tsunami records highlight that > 28 cm wave amplitudes were recorded at eight different coastal gauges, including one with an amplitude of more than 1 m (Lenakel, Tanna, Vanuatu). The tsunami threat at that location would be large enough to warrant an onshore evacuation. Finally, it helps to highlight the significant role played by the numerous submarine features in the region, the Norfolk Ridge being the most important, which acts like a waveguide from the north to the south.

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Section: Comparison Of the Slip Models Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential tsunami hazard of the southern Vanuatu subduction zone: tectonics, case study of the Matthew Island tsunami of 10 February 2021 and implication in regional hazard assessment

Roger

Pelletier²,

Gusman

et al. 2023

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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“…The Kaikōura tsunami also reinforced the ongoing efforts to advance tsunami mitigation and warning in Aotearoa-NZ through the deployment of a local DART buoy network (Fry et al 2020;NEMA 2020b). With the first buoys deployed in late 2019, the network currently extends up the Hikurangi and Kermadec Trenches to the Tonga Trench.…”

Section: Evacuation Surveys and Response Planningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Five years after the 14 November 2016 Kaikōura Tsunami in Aotearoa-New Zealand: insights from recent research

Lane

Thomas

King

et al. 2021

New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics

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The complexity of the Kaikōura earthquake rupture and tsunami generation presented a unique opportunity to examine and learn from a modern event. This paper reviews how the five years of research following the Kaikōura tsunami have improved our understanding of the event and our knowledge of tsunami science across a range of disciplines. Teams of researchers and practitioners across disciplines of tsunami hazard modelling, palaeotsunami, risk and impact science, early warning, and emergency management learned from the event to calibrate models, enhance proxies for interpreting palaeotsunami deposits, and improve disaster risk readiness, reduction and response measures. While new scientific knowledge has been developed about the co-seismic hazard and risk facing Aotearoa-New Zealand, fundamental questions nonetheless remain about tsunami-generating sources and the likely return period for high impact events in Aotearoa-New Zealand. Further scientific endeavour is needed to investigate the onshore and offshore geological records to help improve understanding of tsunami hazard and history to underpin risk and impact assessments informing more effective disaster risk management. Lessons also emphasise a need for more effective partnership, participation, education, and engagement to increase local community capacity and capability to respond to local source tsunami events.

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“…Thus, the tsunami from the 2021 Loyalty Islands earthquake propagated in the southwestern region of the Pacific Ocean, and was recorded at local coastal gauges in New Caledonia and Vanuatu, and also at regional distances in places like Fiji, Western Samoa, Tuvalu, Australia (including Tasmania) and New Zealand, more than 3000 km away from the earthquake epicenter (Figures 1 and 2 and Table 1). The tsunami was also recorded by the New Zealand network of DART stations in the Hikurangi‐Kermadec‐Tonga subduction zone (Figure 2) (Fry et al., 2020). Deployment of this network was started by the government of New Zealand in December 2019 (DART NZA, B, C, E, and F), September 2020 (DART NZG, H, and I) and July 2021 (DART NZD, J, K, and L).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

The 2021 Loyalty Islands Earthquake (Mw 7.7): Tsunami Waveform Inversion and Implications for Tsunami Forecasting for New Zealand

Gusman

Roger

Kaneko

et al. 2022

Earth and Space Science

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A tsunamigenic earthquake with thrust faulting mechanism occurred southeast of the Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia, in the Southern Vanuatu subduction zone on the 10th of February 2021. The tsunami was observed at coastal gauges in the surrounding islands and in New Zealand. The tsunami was also recorded at a new DART network designed to enhance the tsunami forecasting capability of the Southwestern Pacific. We used the tsunami waveforms in an inversion to estimate the fault slip distribution. The estimated major slip region is located near the trench with maximum slip of 4 m. This source model with an assumed rupture velocity of 1.0 km/s can reproduce the observed seismic waves. We evaluated two tsunami forecasting approaches for coastal regions in New Zealand: selecting a pre‐computed scenario, and interpolating between two pre‐computed scenarios. For the evaluation, we made a reference map of tsunami threat levels in New Zealand using the estimated source model. The results show that the threat level maps from the pre‐computed Mw 7.7 scenario located closest to the epicenter, and from an interpolation of two scenarios, match the reference threat levels in most coastal regions. Further improvements to enhance the system toward more robust warnings include expansion of scenario database and incorporation of tsunami observation around tsunami source regions. We also report on utilization of the coastal gauge and DART station data for updating forecasts in real‐time during the event and discuss the differences between the rapid‐response forecast and post‐event retrospective forecasts.

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Sensor Network Warns of Stealth Tsunamis

Abstract: A next-generation network of seismic and wave sensors in the southwestern Pacific will warn coastal residents of an approaching tsunami before they see the wave.

Cited by 7 publications

References 0 publications

Potential tsunami hazard of the southern Vanuatu subduction zone: tectonics, case study of the Matthew Island tsunami of 10 February 2021 and implication in regional hazard assessment

Potential tsunami hazard of the southern Vanuatu subduction zone: tectonics, case study of the Matthew Island tsunami of 10 February 2021 and implication in regional hazard assessment

Five years after the 14 November 2016 Kaikōura Tsunami in Aotearoa-New Zealand: insights from recent research

The 2021 Loyalty Islands Earthquake (Mw 7.7): Tsunami Waveform Inversion and Implications for Tsunami Forecasting for New Zealand

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