1946 Dominican Republic earthquake

8.1 magnitude scale earthquake and tsunami near Dominican Republic __NOTOC__ 1946 Dominican Republic earthquake Gonâve microplate.png The Septentrional-Oriente fault zone in the Caribbean and across Hispaniola 1946-08-04 17:51:10 898498 iscgem898498 1946 08 04 13:51 AST Dominican Republic 7.8 w y8.1 s y 15.0 km (9.3 mi)M 7.8 – 16 km NNW of Miches, Dominican Republic https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/iscgem898498/executive 9 August 2022 United States Geological Survey 19.2 -69.316 type:event inline, title dms Dominican Republic 0.4 g (est) 9 Yes 1,790 The 1946 Dominican Republic earthquake occurred on August 4 at 13:51 AST near Samaná, Dominican Republic. It was the largest earthquake to occur in the instrumental era in the Caribbean. It generated a tsunami that was observed as far as New Jersey. A total of 1,790 deaths were reported.NCEI Hazard Tsunami Event Information https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazel/view/hazards/tsunami/event-more-info/1765 April 9, 2025 NCEI NOAA Tectonic setting The Dominican Republic is located on the eastern part of Hispaniola, which is the site of a complex tectonic environment. The North American plate undergoes subduction below the Caribbean plate.Johnson Kendra Pagani Marco Chartier Thomas October 2021 Probabilistic seismic hazard model for the Dominican Republic https://cloud-storage.globalquakemodel.org/public/wix-new-website/pdf-collections-wix/publications/TREQ%20deliverables/publications/TREQ_Deliverable_D222_DOM_PSHA_v2.pdf April 9, 2025 Global Quake Model (GEM) 7 In addition, the seismically active strike-slip Septentrional–Oriente fault zone runs through the northern part of the island. It has been estimated that the fault accumulates about 12 mm cm in of strain every year.Oliveira de Sá A. d’Acremont E. Leroy S. Lafuerza S. 2021 Polyphase Deformation and Strain Migration on the Septentrional-Oriente Fault Zone in the Windward Passage, Northern Caribbean Plate Boundary https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2021TC006802 Tectonics en 40 8 3 10.1029/2021TC006802 1944-9194 Major earthquakes (M>=7) have occurred in the northeastern Caribbean at least eleven times over the past 250 years, at least five of which have been located on the megathrust.Ali Syed Freed Andrew Calais Eric Manaker David McCann William September 24, 2007 Coulomb stress evolution in Northeastern Caribbean over the past 250 years due to coseismic, postseismic and interseismic deformation https://www.eaps.purdue.edu/freed/docs/18.pdf April 9, 2025 1 Earthquake The earthquake occurred on August 4 at 13:51 AST with an epicenter near the coast of Samaná Province in the northern Dominican Republic. The mainshock measured 7.8 on the moment magnitude scale; 8.1 on the surface-wave magnitude scale, and originated at a depth of 15 km.M 7.8 – 16 km NNW of Miches, Dominican Republic https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/iscgem898498/executive 9 August 2022 United States Geological Survey It was caused by movement on a northeast-dipping thrust fault striking northwest. At least 63 aftershocks followed the largest earthquake including a magnitude 7.0 event that struck the coast on August 8.M 7.0 – 24 km NNW of Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/iscgem898519/executive 9 August 2022 United States Geological SurveyRusso R. M. Villasenor A. 1995 The 1946 Hispaniola earthquakes and the tectonics of the North America-Caribbean plate boundary zone, northeastern Hispaniola https://people.clas.ufl.edu/rrusso/files/Russo_Villasenor_1995.pdf 10.1029/94JB02599 Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 100 B4 5901-6515 These aftershocks were distributed offshore along a west–northwest trending zone measuring 250 by 75 km. Several aftershocks with focal depths greater than 70 km delineate a south or southwest dipping plate that is subducted beneath the region. Tsunami A tsunami was generated by the initial earthquake and caused widespread devastation across Hispaniola. The tsunami was observed in much of the Caribbean and the northwestern Atlantic Ocean.6 August 1946 Northern Chile Rocked By Earthquake: West Indies Too http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article56405200 29 October 2019 Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton, Qld. : 1878 – 1954)Historic Earthquakes: Samana, Dominican Republic 1946 https://web.archive.org/web/20080602125204/http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/world/events/1946_08_04.php 2008-06-02, USGS, Retrieved June 10, 2008Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution February 8, 2005 Major Caribbean Earthquakes And Tsunamis A Real Risk https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/02/050205102502.htm December 9, 2012 Science DailyO'Loughlin Karen Fay Caribbean tsunamis: a 500-year history from 1498–1998 82 2003 https://books.google.com/books?id=gqNfBgAAQBAJ Boston Kluwer 978-1-4020-1717-9 Lander James F. Maximum tsunami heights exceeded 5 m ft in several locations, with a height of 8 m ft observed at Playa Boca Nueva, although it was likely associated with splash-up.Fritz H. M. Martinez C. Salado J. Rivera W. 2016-12-01 Field survey of the 1946 Dominican Republic tsunami based on eyewitness interviews https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2016AGUFMNH51D..07F/abstract American Geophysical Union 2016AGUFMNH51D..07F A small tsunami was also recorded by tide gauges at San Juan in Puerto Rico, Bermuda and in the United States at Daytona Beach, Florida and Atlantic City, New Jersey.Lander James F. http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazard/data/publications/pub41-2.pdf United States Tsunamis, (including United States possessions) 1690–1988: Publication 41-2 Lockridge Patricia A. United States Department of Commerce 1989 219, 220 See also List of earthquakes in 1946 List of earthquakes in the Dominican Republic List of earthquakes in the Caribbean References Active Strike-Slip and Collisional Tectonics of the Northern Caribbean Plate Boundary Zone https://books.google.com/books?id=aO1P67XkwYwC&pg=PA44 James F. Dolan Paul Mann 1998 Geological Society of America 978-0-8137-2326-6 44 The Dominican earthquakes of August, 1946 http://bssa.geoscienceworld.org/content/38/1/1.full.pdf+html?sid=af2723aa-17b9-4a21-93d0-2505848b73fb Joseph J. Lynch Ralph R. Bodle 1948 Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 38 1 4, 5 10.1785/BSSA0380010001 1948BuSSA..38....1L subscription Further reading Small Walter M. 1948 A short description of the general geology of the Dominican Republic, with notes on the earthquake of August 4, 1946 Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 38 1 19–32 10.1785/BSSA0380010019 1948BuSSA..38...19S https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/ssa/bssa/article-abstract/38/1/19/115508/A-short-description-of-the-general-geology-of-the?redirectedFrom=fulltext subscription External links 898498 Dominican Republic Earthquake, 1946 Category:Earthquakes in the Caribbean Category:Natural disasters in the Dominican Republic Earthquake Category:1940s tsunamis Category:Tsunamis in the Dominican Republic