The July 17, 1998 Papua New Guinea Tsunami

See results from the 2nd International Tsunami Survey Team (1.8 MB)

Computer Simulation of the Papua New Guinea Tsunami

Geological Studies of the Papua New Guinea Tsunami

The tsunami that struck Papua New Guinea on July 17, 1998 may have been the most devastating tsunami in this century. The tremendous loss of life is of great concern to all, including the international scientific community. Scientists continue to examine this event, in an attempt to explain the exceptionally high runups with the ultimate hope of mitigating such disasters in the future.

Scientists from the USGS have participated in the second International Tsunami Survey Team to study the sedimentary deposits left by this tsunami. Animations of the tsunami have also been developed to graphically display how the tsunami evolved from an earthquake source.

Contents of this site

• Preliminary Analysis of Sedimentary Deposits from the 1998 Papua New Guinea Tsunami (1.8 MB)
• Background information and more details about the tsunami and the animation

More Information About the Papua New Guinea Tsunami

• Recent articles about the event from the California Academy of Sciences and in Scientific American
• More information on this event can be found at the Russian Academy of Sciences Tsunami Laboratory
• Tide gauge records, simulations, and links to more web sites from NOAA
• Photographs and daily log of field survey from USC
• Preliminary report from the 1st International Tsunami Survey Team
• Earthquake information for this event from NEIC