Copyright Information: All images are in the public domain and available for free. If you use this image, credit NOAA/NGDC, Father Eugene McKinnon, OFM, Hugh Davies, University of PNG. |
The top frame is the 76-year-old church at Sissano Mission, photographed in 1990. The bottom frame shows all that remained after the event -- a concrete slab. The wave swept inland from right to left. After the initial influx of water, the flow turned towards the west (from left to right in the photograph) as the water escaped into back-beach ridges and channels west of Sissano. A collapsed two-story classroom building can be seen on the far right of the photo. A classroom building that was only slightly damaged is on the left of the photograph (in the background). It was almost 400 m from the shoreline. Image Credit: Father Eugene McKinnon, OFM. Hugh Davies, University of PNG 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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