Project Reducing disaster risk in Papua New Guinea

The problem

Papua New Guinea’s complex hazard profile

The island nation of Papua New Guinea (PNG) is one of the most hazard prone countries in the world and is regularly exposed to both geohazards (earthquakes, tsunami, volcano and landslides) and meteorological hazards (flood, drought, tropical cyclones and heatwaves).

Located in one of the world’s most complicated tectonic settings, the country experiences small earthquakes every day, and large earthquakes frequently, with a severely damaging earthquake occurring every few years.

Historically, houses, buildings and infrastructure in PNG have not been built to withstand these natural hazard events. For example, thousands of lives were lost and over 10,000 people were displaced from their homes in the 1998 Aitape tsunami event.

PNG also has the most active volcanoes in the Southwest Pacific. Its original capital, Rabaul, was destroyed in 1994 following a volcanic eruption that caused 80 per cent of its buildings to collapse from the subsequent ash rain. This event triggered a request for increased support from Geoscience Australia in providing advice on hazard monitoring and management.

Empowering PNG communities to make evidence-based hazard decisions

Partnering with the Australian and Papua New Guinea governments, Geoscience Australia is:

• establishing a community-based seismic network by installing professional-grade, low-cost Raspberry Shake sensors at dependable community locations. Sites that have reliable electricity, internet and security are being sought, such as schools and universities. These locations will be used to educate children and community members about seismology, raise awareness of natural hazards, and strengthen community awareness of how to keep safe if an event does occur.
• updating PNG’s earthquake monitoring system by integrating the ShakeMap tool. This will allow emergency managers to receive an automated system-generated alert, near-real-time maps of ground shaking intensity, and a report of the earthquake event and its predicted impact on local communities, housing and infrastructure. The accuracy of this data will help local emergency managers and governments provide appropriate emergency response in the event of an earthquake.
• monitoring seismic activity on Ulawun (one of PNG’s most dangerous active volcanoes) using Raspberry Shake devices and web cams, with the view to implementing the technology at other active volcanoes in PNG. The detection of seismic activity from the volcano can identify whether an eruption is potentially imminent and help local authorities to issue warnings and evacuate at-risk communities.
• developing a PNG Tsunami Guide to help government officials, emergency managers, members of NGOs and non-technical professionals better understand hazard assessments. This allows them to produce evidence-based risk mitigation strategies, reducing the threat of tsunami events in their communities.
• undertaking a National Seismic Hazard Assessment (NSHA) for PNG and use this information to develop ‘interim guidance’ for the PNG Earthquake Building Standard codes, in collaboration with local builders, architects and construction companies. The guidance updates the seismic loading design standard, ensuring that future buildings in PNG are constructed to withstand earthquake events, helping to keep families, schools and communities safe when they do occur. Builders will also be able to use the updated guidance to assess existing structures and recommend retrofit measures to strengthen a building’s design.
• developing a new PNG Geohazards website, in partnership the PNG Government’s Department of Mineral Policy and Geohazards Management. This website will allow communities and governments to access early warnings and evacuation alerts from a central location when there’s an earthquake, volcano or tsunami threat. It will act as the single authoritative source of hazard information, data, assessments, evacuation plans and hazard education materials for PNG. These resources are vital in helping officials make evidence-based decisions about the threat of hazards at a local, regional and national level.
• undertaking a Probabilistic Tsunami Hazard Assessment (PTHA) on Vanimo in PNG’s north coast so that hazard modelling can be used by engineers to inform the design of its future port.