14 DAY TRIAL // This March 29, at precisely 23:48 UTC, a major earthquake struck Papua New Guinea in the Pacific Ocean. Latest information made public by the US Geological Survey says the shake had a recorded magnitude of 7.5.
It is understood that the earthquake was followed by a series of aftershocks, of which one had a magnitude of 5.7. Tsunami waves were also documented following the massive tremor and the smaller shakes accompanying it, albeit not threatening ones.
How the earthquake came to happen
In a report detailing the incident, US Geological Survey researchers say the 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck at a depth of approximately 40 kilometers (25 miles), about 55 kilometers (25 miles) south-east of the town of Kokopo.
The shake, triggered by interactions between the subducting Australian plate and the overriding Pacific plate in the region, is said to have been powerful enough to be felt by people 2,000 kilometers ( roughly 1,240 miles) away from the epicenter.
“At the location of the earthquake, the Australian plate moves towards the east-northeast at a velocity of 105 mm/yr [millimeters per year] with respect to the Pacific plate, and begins its subduction into the mantle beneath New Britain and New Ireland at the New Britain Trench south of the earthquake.”
“The moment tensor and depth of the event are consistent with thrust-type motion on the interface between these two plates,” US Geological Survey scientists explain in their analysis of the March 29 earthquake in Papua New Guinea.
Apparently, this region in the Pacific is especially prone to earthquakes. Thus, word has it that, over the past century, a total of 36 earthquakes with a magnitude of at least 7 were recorded within 250 kilometers (155 miles) of this latest event.
As mentioned, the earthquake was followed by a tsunami. The wave, documented in Rabaul's harbor, had a height of less than 0.5 meters (1.5 feet) so, although birthed by an earthquake and therefore identified as a tsunami, it wasn't all that scary.
There are no reports of damages or injuries
Although the ground in Papua New Guinea kept shaking for about 5 minutes, it looks like both people and infrastructure made it through the experience unscathed. Thus, DM tells us that, for the time being at least, there are no reports of damages or injuries.
Some feared that massive waves could hit the country following the earthquake and its subsequent aftershocks, and take their toll on coastal communities. Luckily, this did not happen.
