Seismic Hazard and Risk in Lae City, Papua New Guinea (Png)
Lae is Papua New Guinea’s second largest city, most significant port, and a major economic hub critical to PNG’s development. It also straddles the Ramu-Markham Fault Zone (RMFZ), which accommodates convergence rates of approximately 50 mm/yr associated with the arc-continent collision between the Australian and South Bismarck plates. Recently published updates to PNG’s national seismic hazard assessment have identified that Lae is exposed to high seismic hazard. In order to better understand and mitigate this threat, a comprehensive seismic hazard and risk assessment has been undertaken for the city. This work has included: detailed mapping of active fault traces from lidar elevation models; an earthquake geology study to constrain the timing of past large earthquakes by dating flights of uplifted fluvial terraces; a GNSS survey to constrain fault slip rates; a microzonation survey to understand site amplification and liquefaction potential; and a building inventory survey that has captured relevant engineering data for more than 3300 structures in the city. Fault mapping has shown that the RMFZ bifurcates west of the city, with one strand continuing to the east 10 km north of the city (as previously mapped), and a second strand (previously unmapped) trending southeast through Lae itself. GNSS results suggest that about a quarter of the plate convergence rate is accommodated along this second strand, likely contributing to higher seismic hazard estimates for the city. Integration of the hazard information with the building survey data and an assessment of the vulnerability of key building types is creating a picture of concentrated earthquake risk in the Lae urban area, port and airport. Ongoing work is focused on updating PNG’s building standards, with a particular focus on critical infrastructure including bridges.
Session: Research Advances in “High-Impact”, “Under-Studied” Earthquakes and Their Impacts on Communities [Poster Session]
Type: Poster
Room: Exhibit Hall
Date: 5/3/2024
Presentation Time: 08:00 AM (local time)
Presenting Author: Jonathan Griffin
Student Presenter: No
Additional Authors
Jonathan Griffin Presenting Author Corresponding Author jonathan.griffin@ga.gov.au Geoscience Australia |
Phil Cummins Phil.Cummins@ga.gov.au Geoscience Australia |
Dan Clark Dan.Clark@ga.gov.au Geoscience Australia |
Mark Edwards Mark.Edwards@ga.gov.au Geoscience Australia |
Joseph Espi joseph.espi@upng.ac.pg University of Papua New Guinea |
Mirzi Betasolo Mirzi.betasolo@pnguot.ac.pg Papua New Guinea University of Technology |
Leo Jonda leojonda@upng.ac.pg University of Papua New Guinea |
Grace Wantepe grace.wantepe@pnguot.ac.pg Papua New Guinea University of Technology |
Hadi Ghasemi Hadi.Ghasemi@ga.gov.au Geoscience Australia |
Neil Corby Neil.Corby@ga.gov.au Geoscience Australia, Canberra, , Australia |
Hyeuk Ryu Hyeuk.Ryu@ga.gov.au Geoscience Australia, Canberra, , Australia |
Andrew Pai Andrew.pai@pnguot.ac.pg Papua New Guinea University of Technology, Lae, , Papua New Guinea |
Richard Stanaway richard.stanaway@quickclose.com.au Quickclose, Canberra, , Australia |
Justine Kemp j.kemp@griffith.edu.au Griffith University, Brisbane, , Australia |
Martin Wehner martin.wehner@ga.gov.au Geoscience Australia, Canberra, , Australia |
Seismic Hazard and Risk in Lae City, Papua New Guinea (Png)
Category
Research Advances in “High-Impact” “Under-Studied” Earthquakes and Their Impacts on Communities
Description