Copyright Information: All images are in the public domain and available for free. If you use this image, credit NOAA/NGDC, National Mapping Bureau of Papua New Guinea. |
Air photo of the Sissano Lagoon spit near the lagoon mouth. The Arop village of Otto was located near here. The spit averages about 100 m in width and is no higher than a few meters in elevation above sea level. The tsunami overtopped the spit and washed the villages on it into the lagoon. Note debris in the lagoon. Here damage extended further from the coast because lagoon waters helped to transmit tsunami energy as far as 1.3 km from the coast, snapping off mature mangroves one to two meters above the water level. Image Credit: National Mapping Bureau of Papua New Guinea July 17, 1998 Miyake-Jima Papua New Guinea earthquake At least 2,183 people killed, thousands injured, about 9,500 homeless and about 500 missing as a result of a tsunami generated in the Sissano area. Maximum wave heights estimated at 15 meters. Several villages were completely destroyed and others extensively damaged. Maximum recorded wave heights from selected tide stations (peak-to-trough, in cm) were as follows: 40 on Miyake-jima; 30 at Tosa-Shimuzu, Shikoku; 26 at Muroto, Shikoku; 24 at Naze, Amami O-shima; 20 on Tanega-shima; 20 at Kushimoto, Honshu; 6 at Jackson Bay and 4.7 at Kaikoura, New Zealand; 5 on Yap. Felt along much of the northern Papua New Guinea coast. Event Data:
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