the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
| 12 Dec 2023
A brief history of tsunamis in the Vanuatu Arc
Abstract. The archipelagos of Vanuatu and Eastern Solomon Islands, scattered over 1500 km along the Vanuatu Arc, include dozens of inhabited volcanic islands exposed to many natural hazards which impact their populations more or less severely. Due to the location of these islands upon a subduction interface, known as the Vanuatu Subduction Zone, tsunamis triggered by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and landslides locally, regionally and in the far field, represent a permanent threat. If catalogues already listed tsunamis having occurred in the Vanuatu Arc, they were not exclusively focusing on this region. This study goes further in the listing of tsunamis reported and/or recorded in the Vanuatu Arc, analysing existing catalogues, historical documents, and sea-level data from the 5 coastal tide gauges located in Vanuatu at Port Vila (Efate), Luganville (Santo), Litzlitz (Malekula) and Lenakel (Tanna) and in the Eastern Solomon Islands Province at Lata (Ndende). It allows to identify 100 tsunamis since 1863, 15 of them showing wave amplitude and/or run-up height of more than one meter and 8 between 0.3 and 1 m. If it is known that some tsunamis occurred by the past, information about the wave amplitude or potential run-up is sometime lost (15 events). Also, tsunamis reported in neighbouring islands like New Caledonia, but not reported or recorded in the Vanuatu Arc are discussed, as well as debated events or events with no known origin(s).
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RC1: 'Comment on nhess-2023-198', Anonymous Referee #1, 06 Jan 2024
reply
The paper is devoted to the analysis of availability of historical data on tsunami manifestation along the Vanuaty Arc which includes also the Eastern Solomon Island. Analysis is based mainly on the content of two historical catalogs – Soloviev, Go (1974) and Louat, Baldassari (1989) with addition of new events being observed in the area during the last three decades. The paper contains a brief overview of regional tectonics and the informative historical survey of human occupation of Vanuatu Archipelago as well as summary of available catalogs and previous works on tsunamis in Vanuatu Arc.
By reviewer’s opinion, the paper can be accepted for publishing after corrections of some typos and inconsistencies listed below.
Line 55 Reference for Walter and Sheppard, 2009 is absent in the List of References
Lines 90-91 “largest ones could have return periods OR hundreds to thousands of years” - “or” is obviously mistyping
Line 102 Reference for Tendrayen, 2006 is absent in the List of References
Line 104 Reference for (Roger et al., 2023) should be typed as (Roger et al., 2023a)
Line 109 “which is way too low resolution” – “way” –looks like mistyping
Line 167 It is OK to make a “notice to reader” saying that some of oldest references will not be included in the List of References but then their mentions in the text should be followed by indication to the catalog where they come from (like it is made in lines 198 and 232)
Line 176 “One people was drowned, and others were severely hurt”. If this relates only to Aneytium Island, it should be clearly stated. Otherwise, this could be associated with the mortality of the whole event (25 victims)
Line 231 Reference for Taylor et al., 1980 is absent in the List of References
Line 305 Reference for (Gusman et al., 2022) should be typed as (Gusman et al., 2022a)
Line 315 “On 19 May 2003” should be typed as “On 19 May 2023”
Lines 347-348 Reference for (Roger et al., 2023c) is absent in the List of References
Line 385 Reference for (O’Reilly, 1956) is absent in the List of References
Line 396 Reference for (Carney and Campillo, 1980) is absent in the List of References
Line 402 Reference for (Carney and Campillo, 1980) is absent in the List of References
Line 514 “New insights on 144 the tectonics of the New Hebrides” – 144 looks like a ostyping
Line 542 Reference for Gusman et al., 2022b is not mentioned in the text
Line 593 Reference for Roger, 2023 is not mentioned in the text
Line 633 Tryon, D.T., & Hackman, B.D.: should be typed as Tryon, D.T. and Hackman, B.D.:
Line 636 Witter, J.B., Self, S.: should be typed as Witter, J.B. and Self, S.:
Lines 636-639 Reference for Wallez et al., 1998 should go before the reference for Witter et al., 2007
Final remark concerns Section 2 where in lines 119-124 the authors are not quite correctly reflect the content of two global tsunami databases (NGDC/WDS and TL/ICMMG) as related to the area under study. They make a search of historical events for this area using location “Vanuaty” as a search criteria while the correct search should be made for the event occurred within a specific geographical area. In fact, request made in the TL/ICMMG database for the event search within the source area 25S – 9S, 161E – 175E (that corresponds to the geographical area shown in Fig.3c) returns 86 historical events for the period from 1452 to 2023. The same request for the NGDC/WDS database returns 83 events for the period from 1863 to 2023.
Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2023-198-RC1 -
CC1: 'Reply on RC1', Jean Roger, 12 Jan 2024
reply
The paper is devoted to the analysis of availability of historical data on tsunami manifestation along the Vanuaty Arc which includes also the Eastern Solomon Island. Analysis is based mainly on the content of two historical catalogs – Soloviev, Go (1974) and Louat, Baldassari (1989) with addition of new events being observed in the area during the last three decades. The paper contains a brief overview of regional tectonics and the informative historical survey of human occupation of Vanuatu Archipelago as well as summary of available catalogs and previous works on tsunamis in Vanuatu Arc.
By reviewer’s opinion, the paper can be accepted for publishing after corrections of some typos and inconsistencies listed below.
Dear Referee,
We acknowledge the detailed comments you provided and answer them hereafter point by point (in bold writing).
Line 55 Reference for Walter and Sheppard, 2009 is absent in the List of References --> This missing reference will be added. [Walter, R., & Sheppard, P. (2009). A review of Solomon Island archaeology. Lapita, ancestors and descendants. New Zealand Archaeological Association, Auckland, New Zealand, 35-72.]
Lines 90-91 “largest ones could have return periods OR hundreds to thousands of years” - “or” is obviously mistyping --> “or” will be replaced with “of”.
Line 102 Reference for Tendrayen, 2006 is absent in the List of References --> This missing reference will be added. [Tendrayen M., 2006 – Modélisation numérique du tsunami du 2 janvier 2002 au Vanuatu. Rapport de stage d’ingénieur ENSIM. 63 p.]
Line 104 Reference for (Roger et al., 2023) should be typed as (Roger et al., 2023a) --> The reference will be corrected.
Line 109 “which is way too low resolution” – “way” –looks like mistyping --> This sentence will be rewritten with “which has too poor resolution”.
Line 167 It is OK to make a “notice to reader” saying that some of oldest references will not be included in the List of References but then their mentions in the text should be followed by indication to the catalog where they come from (like it is made in lines 198 and 232) --> The mention to the corresponding catalog will be added for each reference.
Line 176 “One people was drowned, and others were severely hurt”. If this relates only to Aneytium Island, it should be clearly stated. Otherwise, this could be associated with the mortality of the whole event (25 victims) --> It relates only to Aneytium Island. The sentence will be modified so that it is clearly stated. “On Aneytium Islands one people was drowned, and others were severely hurt (Inglis, 1887 in Louat and Baldassari, 1989).”
Line 231 Reference for Taylor et al., 1980 is absent in the List of References --> this missing reference will be added. [Taylor, F.W., Isacks B.L., Jouannic C., Bloom A.L., Dubois J., 1980. Coseismic and Quaternary vertical tectonic movements, Santo and Malekula islands, New Hebrides island arc. J. Geophys. Res., 85(B10), 5367-5381.]
Line 305 Reference for (Gusman et al., 2022) should be typed as (Gusman et al., 2022a) --> The reference will be corrected.
Line 315 “On 19 May 2003” should be typed as “On 19 May 2023” --> This date will be corrected.
Lines 347-348 Reference for (Roger et al., 2023c) is absent in the List of References --> The correct reference is Roger, 2023. It will be corrected. This reference is present in the List of References.
Line 385 Reference for (O’Reilly, 1956) is absent in the List of References --> In agreement with the disclaimer at the beginning of the section, this reference will be replaced with “O’Reilly, 1956, In Louat and Baldassari, 1989”.
Line 396 Reference for (Carney and Campillo, 1980) is absent in the List of References --> In agreement with the disclaimer at the beginning of the section, this reference will be replaced with “Carney and Campillo, 1980, In Louat and Baldassari, 1989”.
Line 402 Reference for (Carney and Campillo, 1980) is absent in the List of References --> See previous answer to comment.
Line 514 “New insights on 144 the tectonics of the New Hebrides” – 144 looks like a ostyping --> this typo will be fixed.
Line 542 Reference for Gusman et al., 2022b is not mentioned in the text --> “The widespread tsunami triggered by the 15 January 2022 eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano was well recorded on the Vanuatu tide gauges VANU, LITZ and LUGA (Figure 7).” Will be replaced with “The widespread tsunami triggered by the 15 January 2022 eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano was well recorded in the southwest Pacific Region (e.g., Gusman et al. (2022b)), and particularly on the Vanuatu tide gauges VANU, LITZ and LUGA where it reached amplitudes of 0.5 m and more as shown on Figure 7.”
Line 593 Reference for Roger, 2023 is not mentioned in the text --> See answer to comments related to lines 347-348.
Line 633 Tryon, D.T., & Hackman, B.D.: should be typed as Tryon, D.T. and Hackman, B.D.: --> This will be corrected and the whole references list checked carefully.
Line 636 Witter, J.B., Self, S.: should be typed as Witter, J.B. and Self, S.: --> This will be corrected and the whole references list checked carefully.
Lines 636-639 Reference for Wallez et al., 1998 should go before the reference for Witter et al., 2007 --> This reference will be moved at the right place. Note that it is “Wallez, 1998” in the manuscript and not “Wallez et al., 1998”.
Final remark concerns Section 2 where in lines 119-124 the authors are not quite correctly reflect the content of two global tsunami databases (NGDC/WDS and TL/ICMMG) as related to the area under study. They make a search of historical events for this area using location “Vanuaty” as a search criteria while the correct search should be made for the event occurred within a specific geographical area. In fact, request made in the TL/ICMMG database for the event search within the source area 25S – 9S, 161E – 175E (that corresponds to the geographical area shown in Fig.3c) returns 86 historical events for the period from 1452 to 2023. The same request for the NGDC/WDS database returns 83 events for the period from 1863 to 2023. --> We agree with the referee’s comment and will modify the paragraph to make it clearer for the readers. However, the search on the two indicated online databases using the coordinates of the region provides only a list of tsunamis which sources are located within this extent. As an example, it does not provide the tsunami of 5 March 2021 generated in the Kermadec and which was recorded by all the Vanuatu Arc coastal gauges.
Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2023-198-CC1
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CC1: 'Reply on RC1', Jean Roger, 12 Jan 2024
reply
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