Titan Ridge Volcano — Papua New Guinea

SOFAR signals resembling those produced at known submarine eruptions were recorded in January 1972 in the central Bismarck Sea (Johnson et al., 1981). The source of the signals was at the junction of two segments of the N margin of the South Bismarck plate. The more easterly of these segments is a transform fault, whereas the more westerly is an area of oblique active seafloor spreading. The signals were detected by a seismic station on nearby Manus Island, as well as at hydrophone stations on Wake and Midway Islands in the central Pacific. During the eruption in 2026 the "Titan Ridge" name was proposed by local residents. The general story of the Titan (pronounced Tee-Tahn) people is that their island home got devastated and reduced to the Circular Reef (~40 km SSW) due to an uncertain natural phenomenon); they drifted for awhile before they settled, and most of the Titan villages are now mainly along the south coast of Manus Island.