Palu-Koro Fault

It extends from near Dondowa, North Luwu Regency, in the south, where it links to the WNW-ESE trending Matano Fault. It continues northwards, heading offshore through the Gulf of Palu and passing to the west of the Minahassa Peninsula, before eventually linking with the North Sulawesi Subduction Zone. Although it is a strike slip fault, there are locally normal and thrust features and segments. Near Palu it forms the western side of the Palu Basin, a small pull-apart basin developed along the fault system.

The fault forms part of the boundary between two of the major crustal blocks that form the island, the North Sula Block and the Makassar Block. The current slip rate along the Palu-Koro Fault is estimated to be in the range {{convert|30|to|40|mm|in}} per year, compared to a long term slip rate of {{convert|40|to|50|mm|in}} per year over the last 5 million years.{{Cite web |url=http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018/09/29/central-sulawesi-quake-what-we-know-so-far.html |title=Central Sulawesi quake: what we know so far |first=Devina |last = Heriyanto |work = The Jakarta Post|access-date=29 September 2018}}{{Cite journal |last1=Socquet A. |last2=Simons W. |last3=Vigny C. |last4=McCaffrey R. |last5=Subarya C. |last6=Sarsito D. |last7=Ambrosius B. |last8=Spakman W. |year=2006 |title=Microblock rotations and fault coupling in SE Asia triple junction (Sulawesi, Indonesia) from GPS and earthquake slip vector data |journal=Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth |volume=111 |issue=B8 |doi=10.1029/2005JB003963|bibcode=2006JGRB..111.8409S |url=http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:c89f9e7d-ea2d-4ce6-b74c-1faabad284c2 |doi-access=free }}{{Cite journal |last1=Bellier O. |last2=Sébrier M. |last3=Beaudoin T. |last4=Villeneuve M. |last5=Braucher R. |last6=Bourlès D. |last7=Siame L. |last8=Outranto E. |last9=Pratomo I. |year=2001 |title=High slip rate for a low seismicity along the Palu-Koro active fault in central Sulawesi (Indonesia) |journal=Terra Nova |volume=13|issue=6|pages=463–470 |doi=10.1046/j.1365-3121.2001.00382.x|bibcode=2001TeNov..13..463B |doi-access=free }}

The fault is known to be highly active and several historical earthquakes are thought to have occurred on this zone, in 1905, 1907, 1909, 1927, 1934, 1968, 1985 and 1993.{{Cite book |title=Geohazards in Indonesia: Earth Science for Disaster Risk Reduction |last1=Watkinson I.M. |last2=Hall R. |year=2016 |isbn=9781862399662 |editor-last=Cummins P.R. |series=Geological Society, London, Special Publications |volume=441 |pages=71–120 |chapter=Fault systems of the eastern Indonesian triple junction: evaluation of Quaternary activity and implications for seismic hazards |doi=10.1144/SP441.8 |s2cid=132297395 |editor-last2=Meilano I. |chapter-url=http://www.vacationindonesiatours.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/watkinson-and-hall-2016.pdf}} From trenching across the fault, three major earthquakes have been identified over the last 2,000 years, suggesting a recurrence interval for major earthquakes of about 700 years. That recurrence interval is insufficient to account for the long-term slip-rate, suggesting that either aseismic creep is important in this fault zone or that other strands have been active, away from the main fault trace.

{{Portal|Geology|Earth sciences}}

• Banda Sea plate
• Molucca Sea plate

{{reflist}}

{{SE Asia plates}}

{{Earthquakes in Indonesia}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Great Sumatran Fault}}

Category:Seismic faults of Southeast Asia

Category:Strike-slip faults

Category:Seismic faults of Indonesia

Category:Supershear earthquakes