The 1976 Papua earthquake occurred on 26 June with a
surface-wave magnitude of 7.1 in
Yahukimo Regency near the border with
Pegunungan Bintang Regency,
Highland Papua
Highland Papua () is a provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia, which roughly follows the borders of the Papuan customary region of Lano-Pago (often shortened to La Pago). It covers an area of and had a population of 1,467,050 according to ...
(then
Irian Jaya), Indonesia. Total deaths for the event amounted to 422, including 70 who died in subsequent
landslide
Landslides, also known as landslips, rockslips or rockslides, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, mudflows, shallow or deep-seated slope failures and debris flows. Landslides ...
s.
Background
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
lies within the Pacific
Ring of Fire
The Ring of Fire (also known as the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Rim of Fire, the Girdle of Fire or the Circum-Pacific belt) is a tectonic belt of volcanoes and earthquakes.
It is about long and up to about wide, and surrounds most of the Pa ...
, a sector of the Pacific where several
tectonic plate
Plate tectonics (, ) is the scientific theory that the Earth's lithosphere comprises a number of large tectonic plates, which have been slowly moving since 3–4 billion years ago. The model builds on the concept of , an idea developed durin ...
s intersect. This movement between the plates results in extremely high volcanic and seismic activity.
Papua is constantly plagued by
landslide
Landslides, also known as landslips, rockslips or rockslides, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, mudflows, shallow or deep-seated slope failures and debris flows. Landslides ...
s.
Damage and casualties
Directly after the earthquake the casualty count was assessed as 350 dead. However, landslides soon occurred in the affected area, leading to 72 more casualties, and 5,000–9,000 were missing and assumed dead after the landslides. A total of six villages were demolished in the area. The west sector of
Irian and eastern
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...
also reported that the earthquake was felt significantly in their region.
See also
*
List of earthquakes in 1976
*
List of earthquakes in Indonesia
*
2009 West Papua earthquakes
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Papua earthquake
1976 Papua
1976 earthquakes
1976 in Indonesia
June 1976 in Asia
Papua (province)
1976 disasters in Indonesia