The 17 July 2006 Java tsunami earthquake

The 17 July 2006 Java earthquake involved thrust faulting in the Java trench and excited a deadly tsunami (similar to 5 - 8 m) that inundated the southern coast of Java. The earthquake's size estimates vary significantly with seismic wave period: very long-period signals ( 300 - 500+ s) indicate a seismic moment of 6.7 x 10(20) Nm (M(w) = 7.8), M(S) (similar to 20 s) = 7.2, m(b) (similar to 1 s) = 6.2, while shaking intensities ( 3 - 10 Hz) were <= MMIV. The large tsunami relative to MS characterizes this event as a tsunami earthquake. Like previous tsunami earthquakes, the Java event had an unusually low rupture speed of 1.0 - 1.5 km/s, and occurred near the up-dip edge of the subduction zone thrust fault. Most large aftershocks involved normal faulting. The rupture propagated similar to 200 km along the trench, with several pulses of shorter period seismic radiation superimposed on a smooth background rupture with an overall duration of similar to 185 s.