Quake Sparks Tsunami

Illawarra Mercury

Monday July 20, 1998

Tidal waves start as an insignificant ripple on the ocean's surface capable of passing under a ship unnoticed, but they become giants as they approach land, destroying everything in their path.

A tidal wave, or tsunami, three of which smashed into the Papua New Guinea coast on Friday, can be caused by an undersea earthquake, a sub-marine landslide or a volcanic eruption. They are most common in the Pacific Ocean.

Geological centres in Hawaii and Australia on Friday night monitored a quake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale in the Bismarck Sea just off Papua New Guinea's remote north-west coast.