Ima Itikarai, Felix Taranu, Mathew Moihoi, Boris Waradin, Jacob Kimagl and Percy Kambui
1 . Introduction
A M7.0 earthquake occurred in the early hours of 3rd April 2023 at 04:04 am (Local Time). The epicentre for the earthquake was located in very close proximity of Chambri Lakes in the Gawi Local Level Government of the Wosera-Gawi District in East Sepik Province.
The earthquake was widely felt in East Sepik Province and most parts of the highlands provinces including Enga.
Field assessments on the impact of the earthquake shaking were conducted by the East Sepik Provincial Disaster Office and a number of NGO‟s. They reported collapse of many houses constructed mainly of bush material. Additionally, the earthquake claimed nine lives in East Sepik Province.
All the social media platforms were filled with images of collapsed traditionally constructed bush material houses and numerous surface ground cracks.
This report is a result of a field assessment campaign undertaken by the Geohazards Management Division (GMD) comprising Port Moresby Geophysical Observatory (PMGO) and the Rabaul Volcanological Observatory (RVO) in collaboration with UNDP, the East Sepik Provincial Disaster Office and the International Office of Migration (IOM) between 14th and 20th May 2023. The main components of the field campaign were damage assessment, deployment of a temporary seismic network and community awareness. Two value-added tasks which were not part of the original campaign plan were also undertaken and included assessment on effects of a moderate explosive eruption at Kadovar volcano and attempts to restore the permanent Wewak seismic station for PMGO.
The following information provides details of the tasks undertaken during field assessment campaign.