Aitape

Aitape is a small town of about 8,000 people on the north coast of Papua New Guinea in the Sandaun province. In July 1998 it suffered from an enormous tsunami in the region which, in total, killed over 2,000 people.

Just before 7 pm on Friday 17th of July 1998, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake rocked the north coast region offshore from Aitape. The earthquake resulted in a large undersea earth slippage, which then in turn resulted in a tsunami.

The area worst hit was Sissano village about 8km west of Aitape. The village was situated on a narrow spit between the coast and a large lagoon. It is estimated that waves with an average height of 10.5 metres passed over the spit into the lagoon.