INDONESI A

AISENODNI

AENIUG WEN AUPAP

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

SOLOMON ISLANDS

Basilan

Kepuluan Sangir

Balabac

Maluku

Aru

Islands

Sumba Santa Cruz

Islands

Irian Jaya

Lesser Sunda Islands

Halmahera

New Guinea

D a v a o G u l f

M o r o G u l f

Arafua Sea

Timor Sea

Banda Sea

Molucca Sea

C o r a l S e a

Coral Sea Basi n

Solomon Sea

Bismarck Sea

PACIFIC OCEA N

M A N U S T R O U G H

N E W B R I T A I N T R E N C H

S O U T H S O L O M O N T R E N C H

NOR

TH

NE

W

HEBRIDES

TRENCH

T I M O R T R O U G H

S E R A M T R E N C H

N E W G U I N E A T R E N C H

Melanesian

Basin

N e w

G

u i n

e

a

R i s

e

D’Entrecasteaux Ridge

N o r t h

Australia n

Basi n

PAPU A NEW GUINE A

T I M O R - L E S T E

VANU A T U

SOLOMO N

ISLAND S

Melville

Island

AUSTRALI A

60

200

400

400

100 60

500

300

100

200

60

60

SUND

200

A (JAVA)

TRENCH

Woodlark Basin

BIRDS HEAD MICROPLATE

Kai

Islands

West Papua New Ireland Island

Birds Head 

 Peninsula

F'

E

E'

D

D'

C

C'

B B'

A

A'

1900

1906

1907

1913

1914

1916

1916

1917

1918

1920

1926

1931

1931

1932

1934

1935

1935

1938

1939

1939

1939

1943

1945

1946

1949

1950

1953

1953

1963

1963

1963

1965

1965

1965

1968

1970

1971

1971

1971

1975

1979

1980

1980

1984

1986

1988

1990

1991

1992

1995

1996

1996

1997

1998

2000

2000

2000

2000 2001

2002

2002

2004

2007

2007

2009

2009

2009

Makassar

1938

1977

165°

165°

160°

160°

155°

155°

150°

150°

145°

145°

140°

140°

135°

135°

130°

130°

125°

125°

120°

120°

0°

0°

5°

5°

10°

10°

15°

15°

Seismicity of the Earth 1900–2010

New Guinea and Vicinity

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Open-File Report 2010–1083-H

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

INDONESIA

VANUATU

SOLOMON

ISLANDS

AUSTRALIA PLATE

PACIFIC PLATE

SUNDA PLATE

90

65

93

71

90

160°

160°

150°

150°

140°

140°

130°

130°

120°

120°

170°

0°

0°

10°

10°

BIRDS HEAD

MICROPLATE

AUSTRALIA

SEISMIC HAZARD AND RELATIVE PLATE MOTION

TECTONIC SUMMARY

The earthquakes portrayed on the main map and the depth profiles are taken from two

sources: (a) the Centennial earthquake catalog (Engdahl and Villaseñor, 2002) and

annual supplements for the interval 1900–2007, where the magnitude floor is 5.5

globally, and (b) a catalog of earthquakes having high-quality depth determinations for

the period 1964–2002 and a magnitude range of 5.0≤M≤5.4 (Engdahl, personal comm.

2003).

The nucleation points of great earthquakes (M≥8.3) are designated with a label showing

the year of occurrence. Their rupture areas are shown as pale reddish polygons. Major

earthquakes (7.5≥M≤8.2) are labeled with the year of occurrence, while earthquakes

(8.0≥M≤8.2) are labeled with the year of occurrence and also denoted by a white outline.

(Tarr and others, 2010). The aftershock rupture zone of the M8.4 1938 Banda Sea earthquake 

could not be determined. Consequently, a radial area comparable to the aftershock zone

expected for such an event is shown.

The Seismic Hazard and Relative Plate Motion panel displays the generalized seismic

hazard of the region (Giardini and others, 1999) and representative relative plate motion

vectors using the NUVEL-1A model (DeMets, and others, 1994.)

Pre-instrumental seismicity was obtained from the NOAA National Geophysical Data

Center (2010) database of significant earthquakes; locations are approximate, based on

macro-seismic reports and field investigations. We selected earthquakes with associated

reports of moderate to major damage, 10 or more deaths, an estimated magnitude of 7.5

or greater (if known), Modified Mercalli Intensities X, or tsunami generation.

Base map data sources include GEBCO 2008, Volcanoes of the World Dataset (Siebert an

Simkin (2002), plate boundaries (Bird, 2003), Digital Chart of the World (1992), and

ESRI (2002). Slab contours from Hayes and Wald (2010).

DATA SOURCES

0 100 200 400 600

KILOMETERS

SCALE 1:8 000 000 

Suggested citation:

Benz, H.M., Herman, Matthew, Tarr, A.C., Hayes, G.P., 

Furlong, K.P., Villaseñor, Antonio, Dart, R.L., and Rhea, 

Susan, 2011, Seismicity of the Earth 1900–2010 New 

Guinea and vicinity: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File 

Report 2010–1083-H, scale 1:8,000,000.

There have been 22 M7.5+ earthquakes recorded in the New Guinea region since 1900. The

dominant earthquake mechanisms are thrust and strike slip, associated with the arc-continent

collision and the relative motions between numerous local microplates. The largest

earthquake in the region was a M8.2 shallow thrust fault event in the northern Papua province

of Indonesia that killed 166 people in 1996.

The Australia-Pacific plate boundary is over 4,000 km long on the northern margin, from the

Sunda (Java) trench in the west to the Solomon Islands in the east. The eastern section is over

2,300 km long, extending west from northeast of the Australian continent and the Coral Sea

until it intersects the east coast of Papua New Guinea. The boundary is dominated by the

general northward subduction of the Australia plate.

Along the South Solomon trench, the Australia plate converges with the Pacific plate at a rate

of approximately 95 mm/yr towards the east-northeast. Seismicity along the trench is

dominantly related to subduction tectonics and large earthquakes are common: there have

been 13 M7.5+ earthquakes recorded since 1900. On April 1, 2007, a M8.1 interplate

megathrust earthquake occurred at the western end of the trench, generating a tsunami and

killing at least 40 people. This was the third M8.1 megathrust event associated with this

subduction zone in the past century; the other two occurred in 1939 and 1977.

Further east at the New Britain trench, the relative motions of several microplates surrounding

the Australia-Pacific boundary, including north-south oriented seafloor spreading in the

Woodlark Basin south of the Solomon Islands, maintain the general northward subduction of

Australia-affiliated lithosphere beneath Pacific-affiliated lithosphere. Most of the large and

great earthquakes east of New Guinea are related to this subduction; such earthquakes are

particularly concentrated at the cusp of the trench south of New Ireland. 33 M7.5+

earthquakes have been recorded since 1900, including three shallow thrust fault M8.1 events

in 1906, 1919, and 2007.

The western end of the Australia-Pacific plate boundary is perhaps the most complex portion

of this boundary, extending 2,000 km from Indonesia and the Banda Sea to eastern New

Guinea. The boundary is dominantly convergent along an arc-continent collision segment

spanning the width of New Guinea, but the regions near the edges of the impinging Australia

continental margin also include relatively short segments of extensional, strike-slip and

convergent deformation. The dominant convergence is accommodated by shortening and

uplift across a 250–350 km-wide band of northern New Guinea, as well as by slow southwardverging subduction of the Pacific plate north of New Guinea at the New Guinea trench. Here,

the Australia-Pacific plate relative velocity is approximately 110 mm/yr towards the

northeast, leading to the 2–8 mm/yr uplift of the New Guinea Highlands.

Whereas the northern band of deformation is relatively diffuse east of the Indonesia–Papua

New Guinea border, in western New Guinea there are at least two small (<100,000 km2)

blocks of relatively undeformed lithosphere. The westernmost of these is the Birds Head

Peninsula microplate in Indonesia's West Papua province, bounded on the south by the Seram

trench. The Seram trench was originally interpreted as an extreme bend in the Sunda

subduction zone, but is now thought to represent a southward-verging subduction zone

between Birds Head and the Banda Sea.

The western portion of the northern Australia plate boundary extends approximately 4,800 km

from New Guinea to Sumatra and primarily separates Australia from the Eurasia plate,

including the Sunda block. This portion is dominantly convergent and includes subduction at

the Sunda (Java) trench, and a young arc-continent collision.

In the east, this boundary extends from the Kai Islands to Sumba along the Timor trough,

offset from the Sunda trench by 250 km south of Sumba. Contrary to earlier tectonic models

in which this trough was interpreted as a subduction feature continuous with the Sunda

subduction zone, it is now thought to represent a subsiding deformational feature related to

the collision of the Australia plate continental margin and the volcanic arc of the Eurasia

plate, initiating in the last 5–8 Myr. Before collision began, the Sunda subduction zone

extended eastward to at least the Kai Islands, evidenced by the presence of a northwarddipping zone of seismicity beneath Timor Leste. A more detailed examination of the seismic

zone along its eastern segment reveals a gap in intermediate depth seismicity under Timor

and seismic mechanisms that indicate an eastward propagating tear in the descending slab as

the negatively buoyant oceanic lithosphere detaches from positively buoyant continental

lithosphere. On the surface, GPS measurements indicate that the region around Timor is

currently no longer connected to the Eurasia plate, but instead is moving at nearly the same

velocity as the Australia plate, another consequence of collision.

Large earthquakes in eastern Indonesia occur frequently but interplate megathrust events

related to subduction are rare; this is likely due to the disconnection of the descending oceanic

slab from the continental margin. There have been nine M7.5+ earthquakes recorded from the

Kai Islands to Sumba since 1900. The largest was the great Banda Sea earthquake of 1938

(M8.5) an intermediate depth thrust faulting event that did not cause significant loss of life.

Any use of trade, product or firm names is for 

descriptive purposes only and does not imply 

endorsement by the U.S. Government.

Although this information product, for the most part, 

is in the public domain, it also contains copyrighted 

materials as noted in the text. Permission to 

reproduce copyrighted items for other than personal 

use must be secured from the copyright owner.

This and other USGS information products are available at

http://store.usgs.gov/. 

U.S. Geological Survey

Box 25286, Denver Federal Center

Denver, CO 80225

To learn about the USGS and its information products visit

http://www.usgs.gov/. 

1-888-ASK-USGS

This report is available at:

http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2010/1083/h

For more information concerning this publication, contact:

Center Director, USGS Geologic Hazards Science Center

Box 25046, Mail Stop 966

Denver, CO 80225

(303) 273-8579

Or visit Geologic Hazards Science Center Web site at:

http://geohazards.cr.usgs.gov/

1889

1878

1857

1818

120° 130° 140° 150°

0°

10°

120° 130° 140° 150° 160°

0°

10°

°061 °071

AUSTRALIA

PRE-INSTRUMENTAL SEISMICITY 1500–1899

M ≥ 8.0, tsunami, or deaths

Albers Equal Area Conic Projection

Digital map database and cartography by Susan Rhea and Arthur Tarr

Manuscript approved for publication Nov. 16, 2011

Compiled by Harley M. Benz,

1 Matthew Herman,2

Arthur C. Tarr,1 Gavin P. Hayes,

1 Kevin P. Furlong,2

Antonio Villaseñor,3 Richard L. Dart,

1 and Susan Rhea1

1

U.S. Geological Survey

2

Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA 16802 USA 3

Institute of Earth Sciences, CSIC, Barcelona, Spain

2011

A A'

B B'

C C'

D D'

E E'

PROFILE F

 0 100 200

-500

-400

-300

-200

-100

0

TRENCH AXIS

PROFILE E

 -100 0 200

 -500

 -400

 -300

 -200

 -100

 0

 100

TRENCH AXIS

PROFILE D

-100 100

-100

-200

-200

-300

-300

-400

-500

0 200

0

TRENCH AXIS

PROFILE C

-400 -300 -200 -100 0 100

-300

-200

-100

0

TRENCH AXIS

TRENCH AXIS

PROFILE B

-400 -300 -200 -100 0 100

-300

-200

-100

0

TRENCH AXIS

PROFILE A

-500 -400 -300 -200 -100 0

-700

-600

-500

-400

-300

-200

-100

0

TRENCH AXIS

F F'

Profiles of earthquake and volcano

locations are constructed from the

mapped data. Locations of the profile

intersection with the surface are drawn

on the map and labeled to coincide with

the profile label. Box defines extent of

earthquakes included in profile. Length

of the profile graphic is the same as in

the map. Distance in kilometers from

the trench axis is indicated in the X

direction, depth in kilometers is

indicated in the Y direction. There is no

vertical exaggeration. See Explanation

at side for color key. Not all earth layers,

earthquake depths or magnitudes, are

visible on every map.

TRENCH AXIS

PROFILE X

-500

0

-600

-700

-800

600

0

500

-100

400

-200

300

-300

 200

-400

100

Depth (km)

DEPTH PROFILE EXPLANATION

Distance (km)

X X'

Bird, Peter, 2003, An updated digital model of plate boundaries: Geochemistry Geophysics

Geosystems, v. 4, no. 3, 52 p.

DeMets, Charles, Gordon, R.G., Argus, D.F., and Stein, Seth, 1994, Effects of recent revisions to

the geomagnetic time scale on estimates of current plate motions: Geophysical Research

Letters, v. 21, p. 2191–2194.

Digital Chart of the World, 1992: http://earth-info.nga.mil/publications/specs/printed/89009/ 89009_DCW.pdf, last accessed Mar. 9, 1996.

Engdahl, E.R., and Villaseñor, Antonio, 2002, Global seismicity 1900–1999, inLee, W.H.K.,

Kanamori, Hiroo, Jennings, P.C., and Kisslinger, Carl, eds, International Handbook of

Earthquake and Engineering Seismology, v. 81(A), chap. 41, p. 665–690.

ESRI, 2002, ESRI data and maps: Redlands, Calif., ESRI. Available at

http://www.esri.com/data/data-maps/index.html.

GEBCO, 2008, The GEBCO_08_Grid, ver. 20091120, last accessed January 8, 2010 at

http://www.gebco.net/.

Giardini, D., Grünthal, G., Shedlock, K., Zhang, P., and Global Seismic Hazards Program,

1999, Global Seismic Hazards Map, last accessed January 9, 2007, at

http://www.seismo.ethz.ch/GSHAP.

Hayes, Gavin., and Wald, David., 2010, Slab models for subduction zones: U.S. Geological

Survey Earthquake Hazards Program, last accessed July 22, 2010 at

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/research/data/slab/.

NOAA, 2010, National Geophysical Data Center: National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration, accessed on March 31, 2010 at http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazards.

Siebert, Lee, and Simkin, Thomas, 2002, Volcanoes of the world: An illustrated catalog of Holocene

volcanoes and their eruptions: Smithsonian Institution, Global Volcanism Program Digital

Information series, GVP–3, last accessed January 9, 2007, at

http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/.

Tarr, A.C., Villaseñor, Antonio, Furlong, K.P., Rhea, Susan, and Benz, H.M., 2010,

Seismicity of the Earth 1900–2007: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map

3064, scale 1:25,000,000.

Magnitude classes

4–5.9

6–6.4

6.5–6.9

7–7.4

7.5

7.6

7.7

7.8

7.9

8.0

8.1

8.2

Depth of focus

0–69 km

70–299 km

300–700 km

Earth structure

Air

Crust

Upper mantle

Transition zone

Lower mantle

Active volcanoes

Nucleation points

of M>8.3 events

FIGURE EXPLANATION

Peak ground acceleration

0–0.2 m/s2

0.2–0.4

0.4–0.8

0.8–1.6

1.6–3.2

3.2–6.4

6.4–9.8

Relative plate motion

11.0–19.9 mm/yr

20.0–39.9

40.0–59.9

60.0–79.9

80.0–100.0

Plate boundaries

Divergent

Transform

Inferred

Subduction

Convergent

MAP EXPLANATION

Magnitude classes

4–5.9

6–6.4

6.5–6.9

7–7.4

7.5

7.6

7.7

7.8

7.9

8.0

8.1

8.2

Depth of focus

0–69 km

70–299 km

300–700 km

Nucleation points

Active volcanoes

Mean slab depth

50 km

100

200

300

600

Plate boundaries

Divergent

Rupture zones

Transform

Inferred

Subduction

Convergent

REFERENCES