Aitape

A beautiful sunrise while steaming into Aitape.

In Aitape we found our first real evidence of the tsunami wave: 3.5 m runup and inundation to over 150 m inland. The wave was the smallest further west in the bay, the region protected by a headland. Tumleo Village, approx 1 km east of Aitape was hit fairly hard. Several houses were destroyed and one fatality was reported. Tumeleo Island which lies just offshore, experienced over 4 m runup, the destruction of some houses and several small boats. There was also evidence of large coral bouders that had been moved around by the force of the wave.