Abstract
On September 28th, 2018, a powerful earthquake (Mw 7.5) struck the Island of Sulawesi in Indonesia. The earthquake was followed by a destructive and deadly tsunami that hit the Bay of Palu. A UNESCO international tsunami survey team responded to the disaster and surveyed 125 km of coastline along the Palu Bay up to the earthquake epicentre region. The team performed 78 tsunami runup and inundation height measurements throughout the surveyed coastline. Measured values reached 9.1 m for the runup height and 8.7 m for the inundation height, both at Benteng village. The survey team also identified ten large coastal sectors that collapsed into the sea of Palu Bay after the earthquake. The distribution of the measured tsunami data within Palu Bay exhibits a clear localised impact suggesting the contribution of secondary non-seismic local sources to the generation of the tsunami. Findings of the field reconnaissance are discussed to provide an insight into the remaining debated source of the Palu tsunami.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Altinok, Y., Alpar, B., Ersoy, S., & Yalciner, A. C. (1999). Tsunami generation of the Kocaeli earthquake (August 17, 1999) in the Izmit Bay: Coastal observations, bathymetry, and seismic data. Turkish Journal of Marine Sciences (Institute of Marine Sciences and Management, University of Istanbul), 5(3), 130–144.
Altinok, Y., Tinti, S., Alpar, B., Yalciner, A. C., Ersoy, Ş., Bortolucci, E., et al. (2001). The tsunami of August 17, 1999 in Izmit bay, Turkey. Natural Hazards, 24(2), 133–146.
Arikawa, T., Muhari, A., Okumura, Y., Dohi, Y., Afriyanto, B., Sujatmiko, K., & Imamura, F. (2018). Coastal Subsidence Induced Several Tsunamis During the 2018 Sulawesi Earthquake. J. Disaster Res., Vol.13 Sci. Comm., sc20181204.
ASEAN (2018). ASEAN-Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster: Situation Update No. 12 M 7.4 Earthquake & Tsunami Sulawesi, Indonesia. https://asean.org/storage/2018/10/AHA-Situation_Update-no12-Sulawesi-EQ-rev.pdf. Last access: 18 December 2018.
Bellier, O., Sébrier, M., Beaudouin, T., Villeneuve, M., Braucher, R., Bourles, D., et al. (2001). High slip rate for a low seismicity along the Palu-Koro active fault in central Sulawesi (Indonesia). Terra Nova, 13(6), 463–470.
Gomez, J. M., Madariaga, R., Walpersdorf, A., & Chalard, E. (2000). The 1996 earthquakes in Sulawesi, Indonesia. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 90(3), 739–751.
Heidarzadeh, M., Muhari, A., & Wijanarto, A. B. (2018a). Insights on the source of the 28 September 2018 Sulawesi tsunami, Indonesia based on spectral analyses and numerical simulations. Pure and Applied Geophysics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-018-2065-9.
Heidarzadeh, M., Teeuw, R., Day, S., & Solana, C. (2018b). Storm wave runups and sea level variations for the September 2017 Hurricane Maria along the coast of Dominica, eastern Caribbean Sea: evidence from field surveys and sea level data analysis. Coastal Engineering Journal.. https://doi.org/10.1080/21664250.2018.1546269.
Horspool, N., Pranantyo, I., Griffin, J., Latief, H., Natawidjaja, D. H., Kongko, W., et al. (2014). A probabilistic tsunami hazard assessment for Indonesia. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 14(11), 3105–3122.
Løvholt, F., Glimsdal, S., Harbitz, C. B., Horspool, N., Smebye, H., De Bono, A., et al. (2014). Global tsunami hazard and exposure due to large co-seismic slip. International journal of disaster risk reduction, 10, 406–418.
Muhari, A., Imamura, F., Arikawa, T., Hakim, A., & Afriyanto, B. (2018). Solving the Puzzle of the September 2018 Palu, Indonesia, Tsunami Mystery: Clues from the Tsunami Waveform and the Initial Field Survey Data. Journal of Disaster Research, 13, sc20181108.
Nishimura, S., & Suparka, S. (1990). Tectonics of east Indonesia. Tectonophysics, 181(1–4), 257–266.
Pelinovsky, E., Yuliadi, D., Prasetya, G., & Hidayat, R. (1997). The 1996 Sulawesi tsunami. Natural Hazards, 16(1), 29–38.
Prasetya, G. S., De Lange, W. P., & Healy, T. R. (2001). The makassar strait tsunamigenic region, Indonesia. Natural Hazards, 24(3), 295–307.
Socquet, A., Simons, W., Vigny, C., McCaffrey, R., Subarya, C., Sarsito, D., Ambrosius, B. & Spakman, W. (2006). Microblock rotations and fault coupling in SE Asia triple junction (Sulawesi, Indonesia) from GPS and earthquake slip vector data. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 111(B8).
Spencer, J. E. (2011). Gently dipping normal faults identified with Space Shuttle radar topography data in central Sulawesi, Indonesia, and some implications for fault mechanics. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 308(3–4), 267–276.
Tinti, S., Armigliato, A., Manucci, A., Pagnoni, G., Zaniboni, F., Yalciner, A. C., et al. (2006). The generating mechanisms of the August 17, 1999 Izmit bay (Turkey) tsunami: regional (tectonic) and local (mass instabilities) causes. Marine Geology, 225(1–4), 311–330.
UNESCO (2014). International Tsunami Survey Team (ITST) Post-Tsunami Survey Field Guide. 2nd Edition. IOC Manuals and Guides No.37, Paris: UNESCO 2014 (English).
Watkinson, I. M., & Hall, R. (2016). Fault systems of the eastern Indonesian triple junction: evaluation of Quaternary activity and implications for seismic hazards. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 441(1), 71–120. https://doi.org/10.1144/SP441.8.
Yalciner, A. C., Altinok, Y., & Synolakis, C. E. (2000). Tsunami Waves in Izmit Bay after the Kocaeli Earthquake. Earthquake Spectra, Kocaeli, Turkey Earthquake of August 17, 1999 Reconnaissance Report. Special Issue Supplement to Professional Journal of Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, 16, 55–62.
Acknowledgements
Authors thank Indonesian authorities BMKG, BPPT, MORTHE, CMMA, MMAF, LIPI, IATsI. The authors acknowledge all supporters of the survey: METU, Yuksel Project International Co., Turkish Chamber of Civil Engineers, Turkey; Prof. Stefano Tinti from Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Bologna, Italy; Prof. Maria Ana Baptista from University of Lisbon; European Commission Joint Research Centre (EC JRC), Disaster and Risk Management Unit Ispra, Italy; Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere, Lisbon, Dom Luiz Institute, Faculty of science, University of Lisbon, Portugal; Special Research Bureau for Automation of Marine Researches, and Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University n.a. R.E. Alekseev, Russia; Austrian Embassy in Jakarta; Fundação para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (FCT), Kneissl Touristik GmbH, FCT funded project MAGICLAND (PTDC/CTA-GEO/30381/2017); RF Ministry of Science and Higher Education (project No. 5.5176.2017/8.9); RF President program (project No. NSH- 2685.2018.5) and RFBR (project No. 18-05-80019). Furthermore, we acknowledge the excellent cooperation of Laura Kong from UNESCO ITIC and Ardito Kodijat from UNESCO IOTIC and the onsite contributions thankfully.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Appendix
Appendix
See Table 2.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Omira, R., Dogan, G.G., Hidayat, R. et al. The September 28th, 2018, Tsunami In Palu-Sulawesi, Indonesia: A Post-Event Field Survey. Pure Appl. Geophys. 176, 1379–1395 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-019-02145-z
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-019-02145-z