Covered SZI events

Hi Alan

Thanks for your question. As of version 1.0, the Mussau site is not included in the SZI Database. As with the potential Papua-New Guinea event (which we considered ‚unclear‘), this particular subduction realm is geodynamically very complicated, with multiple microplates and differing respective plate motions. Apart from that, the Mussau trench seems to be young, as you/the studies you mention suggest: The site is likely „only“ an incipient subduction zone and not a self-maintaining subduction zone yet, meaning that it can’t considered an SZI event by our definition yet (see https://www.szidatabase.org/glossary). This all does not mean that the event is neglected and related data shouldn’t find its way into the SZI Database. As with the probably ongoing Puysegur subduction initiation, data extracted from these sites is hugely valuable, and we would like to add it to future releases of the database. Having said this, we are happy for anyone joining the team and really any contribution to collect more data for our community. Thanks, Alan, for the suggestion!

Fabio - @SZI Database Team