TSUNAMI of 17 July 1998

A major earthquake with a magnitude of 7.1 occurred at 0849 UTC 17 July 1998
and was located North of Papua, New Guinea in the Bismarck Sea.(2.3S 143.0W).

The earthquake produced a killer tsunami in New Guinea and was observed at
the following tide guages by the University of Waikato in New Zealand

Location           Maximum Observed Height                     


Jackson Bay (43 57'S 168 31'E)   6.0 cm ptt = Peak to Trough
Kaikoura    (42 26'S 173 42'E)   4.7 cm ptt
Summer Head (43 34'S 172 47'E)  10.0 cm ptt (may be amplification of shelf waves)
The tsunami was also observed at the following tide guages by the JMA Tokyo:

Location           Maximum Observed Height                     


Ofunato                 < 10 cm hptt = 1/2 Peak to Trough
Ayukawa                 < 10 cm	hptt
Takeyama                  10 cm	hptt
Irozaki                   14 cm	hptt
Izu-Ohshima               15 cm	hptt
Miyake-jima               20 cm	hptt
Hachinijo-jima            11 cm	hptt
Chichij-jima               8 cm	hptt
Kushimoto                 10 cm	hptt
Katsuura                < 10 cm	hptt
Muroto                    13 cm	hptt
Tosa-shimizu              15 cm	hptt
Aburatsu               a few cm	hptt
Tanegashima               10 cm	hptt
Naze                      12 cm	hptt
Naha                   a few cm	hptt
Miyako-jima            a few cm	hptt
Ishigaki-jima          a few cm	hptt
Yonaguni-jima          a few cm	hptt

Also, the tsunami in New Guinea was observed at the following
USA HANDAR guages:

Location           Maximum Observed Height                     


Yap                        5 cm	ptt = Peak to Trough
Malakal, Koror, Palau      3 cm	ptt
Pohnpei, Micronesia        3 cm ptt

Graphic of PNG tsunami runups from the International Tsunami Survey Team (ITST).

[PNG tsunami runup graphic]

For more information on this Papua, New Guinea (PNG) tsunami:
PMEL Tsunami Page

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