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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