The 2018 Papua New Guinea Earthquake: Crustal deformation detected by ALOS-2 data

A large earthquake (Mw 7.5, USGS) occurred in Papua New Guinea on February 25, 2018 (UTC). To measure the crustal deformation caused by this earthquake, we applied interferometric analysis using ALOS-2/PALSAR-2 data.

Results obtained from the data analysis are summarized as follows.
 

• Significant crustal deformation has been detected in an area with the length of ~170 km in NW-SE direction, including the epicenter, consistent with aftershock locations (USGS).
• The largest displacement has been observed around Lake Kutubu, ~70km ESE of the epicenter, with the amount of > 70 cm toward the satellite (uplift and/or westward).
• The observed displacement pattern is consistent with a focal mechanism estimated from seismic waves.

* Note that the result is possibly updated with further elaborated analyses.

Fig.1 Ascending SAR interferogram [PNG: 2.0MB]
*Note that this result may be affected by ionospheric noises.
 
 
Area of interest

 

Fig. #	Date	Time (UTC)	Flight Dir.	Beam Dir.	Obs. Mode*1	Incidence Angle (around epicenter)	Bperp	KMZ
1	2017/07/31 2018/02/26	14:46	Asc.	Right	W-W	34°-42°	+75 m	3.8MB

*1 W: ScanSAR (Normal)
(cf. ALOS-2 Project / PALSAR-2 (JAXA))


Analysis by GSI from ALOS-2 data of JAXA.
These results were obtained through the activity of the SAR analysis working group of the Coordinating Committee for Earthquake Prediction.

Date-Time	February 25, 2018, 17:44 (UTC)
Hypocenter Location	6.149°N, 142.766°E, Depth: 35.0 km (USGS, as of March 1, 2018)
Magnitude	Mw=7.5 (USGS, as of March 1, 2018)

ALOS-2 (Advanced Land Observing Satellite 2) launched by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency on May 24, 2014

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YARAI Hiroshi : Head of Division
MORISHITA Yu : Chief Researcher

• M 7.5 - 89km SSW of Porgera, Papua New Guinea (USGS)