Comment on “Labor pains at subduction's birth” by William Ward Maggs, and “Macquarie Earthquake of May 23, 1989” by Barbara Romanowicz and Goran Ekstrom] Earthquake update

Abstract

Following the two notes in Eos on the recent great earthquake on the Macquarie Ridge (“Labor Pains at Subduction's Birth,” by William Ward Maggs, June 13, p. 650, and “Macquarie Earthquake of May 23, 1989,” by Barbara Romanowicz and Goran Ekstrom, July 11, p. 700), we would like to put the record straight on minor comments in the articles.Tsunami: Indeed, a tsunami was generated and recorded on at least four tide gages along the coast of southeastern Australia, southeast Tasmania and southeastern New South Wales. The peak‐to‐trough amplitude was very small, 0.3 m, barely above the normal harbor seiche at each ot the tide gage sites. The duration of the wave train in Sydney harbor was seven hours.