Zawu Islands
| Zawu Islands | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Waters | Sawu Lake | |
| archipelago | Lesser Sunda Islands | |
| Geographical location | 10 ° 29 ′ S , 121 ° 54 ′ E | |
|
||
| Number of islands | 3 | |
| Main island | Sawu | |
The Sawu Islands (Indonesian: Kepulauan Savu) are a group of islands in the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara and belong to the administrative district ( Kabupaten ) Sawu Raijua . They are part of the Lesser Sunda Islands .
They include the main island of Sawu ( Rai Hawu ) and the smaller islands of Raijua ( Rai Jua ) and Ndana ( Raidana , Rai Dana ) to the southwest .
The archipelago is located in the south of the Sawu Sea at the transition to the Indian Ocean . To the west lies Sumba , in the north Flores and East Timor and Roti .
For history and population, see the article on Sawu .
Climate, flora and fauna
The islands are mostly covered with grassland and palm trees, and surrounded by sandy beaches and coral reefs. The climate is dry for much of the year as hot winds blow over from Australia . 82 to 94% of the rain falls between November and March at the time of the western monsoon , from August to October almost no rain falls.
Volcanism
The Sawu Islands lie along a tectonic subduction zone , where the Indo-Australian plate pushes northwards under the Eurasian plate . The islands lie on a sea ridge that was created by volcanic activity as a result of the plate movements. But the volcanoes are no longer active. Due to the subduction, Sawu still rises one millimeter a year and in 1977 there was a large earthquake with a magnitude of 7.9 on the Richter scale 280 km southwest of Raijua . A tsunami then flooded the plains near Seba up to the airport. A total of 180 people died on the neighboring islands of Sumba and Sumbawa .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Vorkink, MW & Harris, RA (2004) TECTONIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE INCIPIENT BANDA ARC-CONTINENT COLLISION: GEOLOGIC AND KINEMATIC EVOLUTION OF SAVU ISLAND, INDONESIA. 2004 Denver Annual Meeting
- ↑ Pararas-Carayannis, G. (1977) Indonesian Earthquake and Tsunami of August 19, 1977. Abstracted article in Tsunami Newsletter, Vol. X, No. 3. (Sept 1977). International Tsunami Information Center Report