Qualla: 1996 Biak Earthquake https://qualla.com/1996-biak-earthquake en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:28 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/r/p/c/6/1996-biak-earthquake-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: 1996 Biak Earthquake https://qualla.com/1996-biak-earthquake 1996 Biak Earthquake: Introduction https://qualla.com/1996-biak-earthquake/ Photo credit Mikenorton, CC BY-SA 3.0. About five minutes after the shaking stopped on 17 February 1996, residents along the Biak coast heard an extraordinarily loud sound - something that traveled low and steady, like a large airplane passing just overhead. Older people recognized it immediately. In local tradition, a deep roar from the sea was the last warning before a wave. Families grabbed what they could and ran for higher ground. Many of them made it. This single, shared decision - the choice to trust a sound over an official warning that had not come - is why the death toll from the 1996 Biak earthquake stopped at about 108 people and not in the thousands.

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Image: Mikenorton | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/p/c/6/1996-biak-earthquake-wp/rpc6-1996-biak-earthquake-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full 1996 Biak Earthquake: A Magnitude 8.2 https://qualla.com/1996-biak-earthquake/ Photo credit Mikenorton, CC BY-SA 3.0. The earthquake struck at dawn local time off Biak's north coast - a magnitude 8.2 megathrust event along the New Guinea Trench, the kind of rupture that sends real destructive energy into the seafloor above. The US Geological Survey classifies it among the major earthquakes of th...

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Image: Mikenorton | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/p/c/6/1996-biak-earthquake-wp/rpc6-1996-biak-earthquake-a-magnitude-8-2.mp3 0:06 2 full 1996 Biak Earthquake: The Tsunami That Came From the Wrong Side https://qualla.com/1996-biak-earthquake/ Photo credit Mikenorton, CC BY-SA 3.0. At Madori on the west coast of Biak, the tsunami run-up - the height water climbed above sea level as it pushed inland - was substantial. At Korem on the north coast, waves reached significant heights. Waves also hit the neighboring islands of Yapen, Owi, and Pai. What surprised ...

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Image: Mikenorton | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/p/c/6/1996-biak-earthquake-wp/rpc6-1996-biak-earthquake-the-tsunami-that-came-from-the-wrong-side.mp3 0:06 3 full 1996 Biak Earthquake: The Warning in the Sound https://qualla.com/1996-biak-earthquake/ Photo credit Mikenorton, CC BY-SA 3.0. There is no official early-warning system that can beat a submarine landslide tsunami in its own back yard. The tsunami's first wave can reach the nearest shore within minutes - sometimes before any alert is broadcast, sometimes before the earthquake is even characterized. What s...

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Image: Mikenorton | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/p/c/6/1996-biak-earthquake-wp/rpc6-1996-biak-earthquake-the-warning-in-the-sound.mp3 0:06 4 full 1996 Biak Earthquake: Rice and Blankets https://qualla.com/1996-biak-earthquake/ Photo credit Mikenorton, CC BY-SA 3.0. Relief came slowly. Bad weather and high seas after the tsunami kept boats from reaching damaged villages for days. The Indonesian government airlifted in 36 tents, 5,300 blankets, medicine, ambulances, water pumps, kerosene lamps, plastic sheeting, and food. The Ministry of Soci...

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]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/p/c/6/1996-biak-earthquake-wp/rpc6-1996-biak-earthquake-rice-and-blankets.mp3 0:06 5 full 1996 Biak Earthquake: Frans Kaisiepo Airport Closed https://qualla.com/1996-biak-earthquake/ Photo credit Mikenorton, CC BY-SA 3.0. Biak's main runway - Frans Kaisiepo International Airport, then still a scheduled stop for Garuda's transpacific service to Honolulu and Los Angeles - closed immediately after the earthquake. Garuda wide-body jets on the LA route had been landing at Biak for refueling four times ...

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]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/p/c/6/1996-biak-earthquake-wp/rpc6-1996-biak-earthquake-frans-kaisiepo-airport-closed.mp3 0:06 6 full