The 17 July 2006 Java earthquake and tsunami

The 17 July 2006 Java earthquake (Magnitude 7.2) involved thrust faulting near the Java trench and triggered a tsunami with run-ups between five and eight meters [20 and 30 feet] that killed more than 637 people along the southern coast of Java.

Ammon et al. analyzed surface and body waves and found that the rupture was unusually long (about three minutes), propagated slowly, and occurred near the up-dip edge of the subduction zone thrust fault, attributes shared with past earthquakes that generated larger than expected tsunami for events of their surface-wave magnitude.

Most of the earthquake's large aftershocks involved normal faulting. Further, the rupture included five or six pulses of energy release as it propagated along 200 kilometers [120 miles] of the trench. Because earthquakes that generate tsunami must be identified quickly by tsunami warning operators, the authors expect that similar retrospective studies of such earthquakes will help authorities better respond to future hazards.

By American Geophysical Union