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Abstract On 18 November 2022, a large earthquake struck offshore southern Sumatra, generating a tsunami with 25 cm peak amplitude recorded at tide gauge station SBLT. OurW‐phase solution indicates a shallow dip of 6.2°, compatible with long‐period surface wave radiation patterns. Inversion of teleseismic body waves indicates a shallow slip distribution extending from about 10 km deep to near the trench with maximum slip of ∼4.1 m and seismic moment of Nm (MW7.3). Joint modeling of seismic and tsunami data indicates a shallow rigidity of ∼23 GPa. We find a low moment‐scaled radiated energy of , similar to that of the 2010MW7.8 Mentawai event () and other tsunami earthquakes. These characteristics indicate that the 2022 event should be designated as a smaller moment magnitude tsunami earthquake compared to the other 12 well‐documented global occurrences since 1896. The 2022 event ruptured up‐dip of the 2007MW8.4 Bengkulu earthquake, demonstrating shallow seismogenic capability of a megathrust that had experienced both a deeper seismic event and adjacent shallow aseismic afterslip. We consider seismogenic behavior of shallow megathrusts and concern for future tsunami earthquakes in subduction zones globally, noting a correlation between tsunami earthquake occurrence and subducting seafloor covered with siliceous pelagic sediments. We suggest that the combination of pelagic clay and siliceous sediments and rough seafloor topography near the trench play important roles in controlling the genesis of tsunami earthquakes along Sumatra and other regions, rather than the subduction tectonic framework of accretionary or erosive margin.
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This content will become publicly available on February 26, 2026
Tsunami Variability for the 2021 Megathrust and 2023 Outer Rise M W 7.7 Earthquakes Southeast of the Loyalty Islands
Abstract The 2021 shallow plate‐boundary thrust‐faulting and 2023 outer rise normal‐faultingMW7.7 earthquakes southeast of the Loyalty Islands produced significant, well‐recorded tsunamis around the North and South Fiji Basins. The two earthquakes occurred in close proximity on opposing sides of the Southern Vanuatu Trench with similar seismic moments and east‐west rupture lengths but different faulting mechanisms. This provides a basis to examine tsunami sensitivity to source geometry and location for paths in the complex southwest Pacific region. Finite‐fault models of the source processes for both events were inverted from teleseismic body wave data with constraints from forward, nonhydrostatic modeling of regional tide gauge and seafloor pressure sensor recordings. The wave motions are reversed in sign, with a leading crest generated by 1.31 m uplift on the upper plate slope for the 2021 tsunami and a leading trough from 2.37 m subsidence on the subducting plate near the trench for the 2023 tsunami. The more recent outer rise normal faulting produces narrower seafloor deformation beneath deeper water resulting in shorter period tsunami waves that shoal and refract more effectively along seamounts and island chains to produce a more elaborate radiation pattern. The source location relative to seamounts and small islands in the near field influences the energy lobes and directionality of the far‐field tsunami to the north. In contrast, both events have very similar radiation patterns to the south due to absence of major bathymetric features immediately southward of the sources.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1802364
- PAR ID:
- 10576531
- Publisher / Repository:
- DOI PREFIX: 10.1029
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans
- Volume:
- 130
- Issue:
- 3
- ISSN:
- 2169-9275
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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