| fault =
| type = Thrust [4]
| affected =
| damage = $4.2 million [5]
| intensity = VIII (Severe)
| pga =
| tsunami = {{convert|7|m|abbr=on}} [4]
| landslide =
| foreshocks =
| aftershocks =
| casualties = 166 dead [5]
423 injured [5]
5,090 displaced [5]
}}The 1996 Biak earthquake, or the 1996 Irian Jaya earthquake, occurred on February 17 at {{tooltip|14:59:30 local time|05:59:30 UTC}} near Biak Island, Indonesia. The earthquake had a moment magnitude of 8.2 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). The run-up height of the generated tsunami reached {{convert|7|m|sp=us}}. One-hundred and sixty-six people were reported dead, 423 were injured, and 5,090 were made homeless.
This earthquake was a thrust in a very oblique subduction zone. It ruptured at least {{convert|270|km|abbr=on}} along the New Guinea trench.[1] The slip distribution is very nonuniform. The largest slip was ∼12 m near the hypocentral depth, and the mean slip over a 230 km by 100 km fault area was 4 m.[2]
References
1. ^{{citation|title=Comparison of Coulomb Shear Stress Changes from the Feb. 17, 1996 Biak Mw = 8.2 Event and a Subsequent Seismic Inversion|url=http://esag.harvard.edu/taylor/Biak.html|first=M. A. J.|last=Taylor|first2=R.|last2=Dmowska|first3=J. R.|last3=Rice|access-date=2010-08-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100715010956/http://esag.harvard.edu/taylor/Biak.html|archive-date=2010-07-15|dead-url=yes|df=}}
2. ^{{citation|title=The Mw 8.2, 17 February 1996 Biak, Indonesia, earthquake: Rupture history, aftershocks, and fault plane properties|first=C.|last=Henry|first2=S.|last2=Das|journal=Journal of Geophysical Research|volume=107|pages=2312|number=B11|doi=10.1029/2001JB000796|bibcode=2002JGRB..107.2312H|year=2002}}
3. ^1 2 {{citation|title=Tsunami detection by satellite altimetry|url=http://www.earth.northwestern.edu/people/emile/PDF/EAO118.pdf|first=E.|last=Okal|first2=A.|last2=Piatanesi|first3=P.|last3=Heinrich|year=1999|journal=Journal of Geophysical Research|volume=104|issue=B1|doi=10.1029/1998JB000018|page=611|bibcode=1999JGR...104..599O}}
4. ^1 2 3 4 {{citation|title=PAGER-CAT Earthquake Catalog|url=https://earthquake.usgs.gov/static/lfs/data/pager/catalogs/|author=USGS|date=September 4, 2009|publisher=United States Geological Survey|series=Version 2008_06.1}}