Approximate surface projection on Pacific Ocean of subduction features and high earthquake activity near the New Britain subduction zone. The earthquake activity can be due to other tectonic processes than subduction, but does hint at where subducted slabs may be. Key:
Up to 70 km (43 mi) deep shallow-focus earthquakes
70–300 km (43–186 mi) deep shallow-focus earthquakes
More than 300 km (190 mi) deep shallow-focus earthquakes
(blue) Active subduction trenches
(light blue) Inactive trenches
(brown) Selected oceanic floor ridges
(yellow) Spreading centers or rifts
Postulated active tectonic transform boundaries are not shown to reduce map complexity as direction of movement can not be shown. Click, then mouse-over shows feature names.[1]
Etymology
New Britain
Tectonics
Plate
Australian, New Hebrides
Status
Active
Earthquakes
Up to Mw8.1[2]
Age
Miocene-current
The New Britain subduction zone is one of the most recently formed and most active subduction zones on earth, producing great earthquakes (magnitude 8.1 or greater), with potential for tsunami hazard, and being associated with active volcanism,[3] as part of the Pacific Ring of Fire.[4] It has a close relationship to an area of subduction tectonic activity that extends south eastward from New Britain to the Vanuatu subduction zone, involving the north eastern portion of the Australian Plate and its complicated collision dynamics with the south-western portion of the Pacific Plate.[3]
^"USGS:Seismotectonics of the New Guinea Region and Vicinity". Retrieved 4 October 2023.
^Cite error: The named reference Heidarzadeh2015 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abLi et al. 2023, Figure 1
^Yang et al. 2018, Section:1. Introduction
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