'Quakes were PNG's biggest
p. 14 · Read in the full issue
shake-up for 64 years
Rabaul Harbour, part of which is seen above, is surrounded by volcanoes, but the big quakes of July were undersea shocks. Centre right of this picture is Matupit Island, where the causeway to the mainland at left subsided.
Fears that have been nnietened hv a opnprstinn nf quietened Dy a generation ot quiescence of New Britain s active volcanoes were swiftly aroused in July by a series of pnrthnnalrpQ that th P earthquakes that rocked the Rabaul area, and were felt on nearby New Ireland and Bou-
gainville.
Dozens of families—mainly women and children—left the Gazelle Peninsula on which Rabaul is situated, for safer parts. The airlines put on extra planes to meet the demand. The first big quake occurred on July 14, and less than a fortnight later there was another, equally severe. In the interval there were literally thousands of tremors.
Both quakes registered more than eight on the Richter scale. The centre of the disturbances was quite close, deep in the Solomon Sea.
There was no serious structural damage to any buildings in Rabaul, and most damage was caused by tidalwaves which swept in from the harbour, and bringing with them debris. Water swept through shops and the ground floor of at least one hotel. Cars were swept along.
Matupit Island, near the airport, was inundated, and the causeway joining it to the island sank. Some
of the islanders swam for their lives, and later islanders were given e shelter on main i an d.
Outside of Rabaul, worst hit was Gaulim Teachers’ College, about 30 miles away, where many buildings were destroyed or damaged. The tidalwaves caused havoc in some o f the villages on New Britain and New Ireland. Two children were missing on Bougainville and they were believed to have been swept to sea while fishing. One Tolai hospital patient near Rabaul died of a heart attack.
The PNG director of Civil Defence, Mr. W. A. Johnston, said on July 27 it was impossible to estimate the cost of damage but it was likely to run to at least $1 mil lion. The Gaulim College suffered $lOO,OOO damage, according to a church estimate.
A Rabaul vulcanologist said the frequency of the aftershocks was “really incredible”.
Other experts said it was a freak that two earthquakes of such inten sity had occurred in the same place so soon after each other. The inten sity of the second undersea shock was believed to be the world’s severest since the Alaskan shock of March, 1964, and the biggest in PNG since 1906. Undoubtedly if it had been more shallow and closer to land it would have been devastating.