Abstract
Abstract. Fourteen years ago, the 26 December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami demonstrated the destructional capability of tsunamis to the entire world. Since then, many research programs have been initiated to try to understand the phenomenon and its related hazards better and to improve the early warning systems for exposed coastal populations. Pacific Islands Countries and Territories (PICTs) are especially vulnerable to tsunamis. Amongst them, New Caledonia is a French overseas territory located in the Southwest Pacific and exposed to several tsunami sources. In 2010, a catalogue of tsunamis that were visually observed or measured in New Caledonia was published. Since this first study, several events occurred between 2009 and 2019, and an update of this catalogue was necessary within the framework of a tsunami hazard assessment project in New Caledonia (TSUCAL). To complete this catalogue, a decision table has been designed to select potential tsunamigenic events within the USGS earthquake database, using criteria on the distance to New Caledonia, the magnitude and the hypocenter depth. Then a cross-comparison between these earthquakes, the NOAA National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) tsunami catalogue and local tide gauge records provided 25 events that were recorded in New Caledonia for the period from 30 September 2009 to 10 January 2019. These events are added to the 12 events reported with certainty during previous studies, leading to a number of 37 tsunamis triggered by earthquakes reported or recorded in New Caledonia since 1875. Six of them have been identified only thanks to local tide gauges, supporting the fact that instrumental recording of tsunamis is paramount for tsunami hazard studies, from early warning to the validation of coastal models. In addition, unpublished tide gauge data are provided for the 1960 Chile tsunami.
Highlights
Indicate that the maximum run-up for a tsunami generated by a Mw = 6.5 earthquake would be no more than 0.5– 0.75 m, and Walker (2005) shows that tsunamigenic earthquakes with moment magnitudes Mw ≥ 8.6 all had a Pacificwide impact
It is important to note that aftershocks of powerful tsunamigenic earthquakes, such as the Mw = 7.8 earthquake of 8 December 2016 that occurred in Kirakira, Solomon Islands, could trigger tsunamis that would be drowned within the main shock tsunami signal
This study allows the tsunami catalogue of New Caledonia to be completed with 25 new events of seismic origin for the period between 30 September 2009 and 10 January 2019: 19 already identified in the NOAA National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) tsunami catalogue and 6 others recorded by New Caledonia gauges but not reported either in the NOAA NGDC catalogue or within the NOAA Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) bulletins
Summary
This study is based on the USGS earthquake catalogue that provides accurate information on seismic events that have occurred all around the world since 1 January 1900 (US Geological Survey, 2019). The events extracted are cross-compared to the tsunamis reported from the NOAA National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) tsunami database and the NOAA Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) bulletin archives and to local marigraphic data. We decided to select only the Mw > 6.3 events according to global tsunami databases, like the Historical Tsunami Database for the World Ocean Sscc.ru/tsunami-database/index.php, last access: 21 January 2019) or the NOAA NGDC/WDS Global Historical Tsunami Database (https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazard/tsu_ db.shtml, last access: 24 August 2018), which empirically show that there is no tsunami triggered by earthquakes of magnitude Mw < 6.3 (Tinti, 1991).
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