February 17, 1996 Tsunami: Irian Jaya, Indonesia

At 05:59 GMT (14:59 local time), February 17th 1996, a large earthquake of Mw = 8.2 occurred about 60 km off the northeast coast of Biak Island, Irian Jaya, Indonesia and generated a large tsunami. The tsunami hit Biak Island and the maximum runup height reached 7.7 m above sea level at the time on the opposite side of coast directly facing the tsunami source. In Biak Island alone, 107 persons were killed, 51 persons were missing, 55 persons were seriously injured, and more than 2,700 houses were destroyed or partially damaged by both the earthquake and the tsunami (as of March 4th, 1996). Most of the casualties and missing people were due to the tsunami. (reference #1401)

According to the survivors, about 5 minutes after the earthquake, many people in the village heard a noise that sounded as if it came from a drum or an airplane, which many recognized as signaling the approach of an extraordinary wave. Most people along the coast fled to the hill February 17 was a market day, when many people are outside. The sound warned people of the impending tsunami danger; mare lives would have been lost if it had not been heard. According to eyewitnesses, a leading depression wave was the first to strike, consistent with observations of tsunamis generated by other large earthquakes, such as the 1992 Flores, 1994 east Jaya, and the 1994 Mindoro, Philippines, events. (reference #163)

As of 4 March 1996, 107 dead at Biak Is. and 3 at Yapen Is., and totally 51 missing and around 100 heavily injured are reported. (reference #430)

The tsunami hit the whole coastal part of Biak island and its vicinity islands such as Yapen island, Owi island, Pai island, also the north part of Papua island coastal zones such as Manokwari and Sarmi (reference #13290)

No severe damage in Japan except for fishing boats washing away are reported. (reference #3800)

The post-tsunami field survey revealed that the highest tsunami hit was not on the coast directly facing the earthquake’s epicenter but on the opposite coast, which is thought to be the result of the landslide. The highest tsunami on the north coast of Biak Island (near-epicenter) was 5.4 m, while the maximum tsunami height on the southwest coast (opposite coast) was up to 7.7 m in Farusi village (Matsutomi et al. 2001) […] Pandadaran et al. (2022) proposed the Biak 1996 tsunami was triggered by two submarine landslides and a Mw 8.2 earthquake. We identify three landslide sources that affected four locations along the southern coast of Biak based on witness that highlighted by Matsutomi et al. (2001) […] The Mw 8.2 Biak earthquake triggered a major dimension submarine landslide on the northwestern side of the Farusi coastline […] There were two minor dimension submarine landslides was occurred during an earthquake in the west and south of Biak Island. The landslides occurred on the west side of Biak Island, and the tsunami hit the Korido and Rayori coastlines, also in southern Biak Island it hit Samber within 10 min. (reference #14180)