3. LOCATION OF AITAPE AND DAMAGE
　
3.1 Geographical Situation of Aitape and Sissano
　
After Sissano to east there was lagoon of Sissano where village of Warapu is located after Warapu followed the region of Arop and Malol. All these villages were situated along the coast. The two rivers of Arnold (Bliri) and Yalingi form the boudaries between the various regions. The hinterland behind the region is swampy right up to the foot of the terricelli mountains. These swaps are bounded near the coast of many other lagoons. The largest one belongs to the lake village of Warapu. The settlements there were built on the narrow strip of land lying between the sea and the lagoon. The land which the villages used to build their houses on was slightly raised 1-3 meters above the sea level. The area was mostly surrounded by dense coconut trees. Coming closer to Aitape there is a change of the geographical scenary. Elevated coral formations were closer to the coast with people of cape Lapar. The live hood of the people was heavily depend on sea and the lagoon and they were very well know for their seamanship and their fishing expertise. They lived very happy lives and had a staple diet of fish and sago.
　
3.2 History of Aitape
　
Aitape is a tiny, picturesque town with evidence of its history. The Germans established their station here in 1905 and the jail they built in 1906 still stands above the town. It was used by the Japanese during the world war II.
The majority of the people were devote Catholics as the base of the early missionaries was in Aitape. Some of the parishes which were built before World War I were Malol (1908) and Sissano (1911). The church building at Sissano was swept into the lagoon by the tidal wave (tsunami) along with other buildings and village houses.
This was not the first time for a disaster has struck the area. In 1907 a similar tsunami caused by ab earthquake hit the same area but did not claim as many people killed as the recent one had. There was also another huge earthquake in 1935 but there were no tsunamis.
　
3.3 Recent hazards in PNG
　
Statistics show that 37 People died in the Finesttere Range between Madang and Lae in 1993 from landslide, an earthqauke in Madang in 1970 killed 15, a 1979 earthqauke in Port Moresby claimed no lives but cause massive damage, as did the twin volcanic eruptions in Rabaul in 1994, Mt Lamington blast. Having borne the brunt of a tidal wave back in 1907, when the population at the point of impact was apparently small. Aitapeﾕs residents should have been dame aware of the risk involved in living on the coastline.
　
3.4 Casualties
　
The death toll of the Aitape tsunami disaster has been confirmed at 2,182 as of 7 August 1998 while over 500 people are still missing. Major human damage are reported from three villages on sandbar of Sissano lagoon as shown in Table 3.1. The number of deaths is expected to rise further because many people are still unaccounted for with some bodies still in the lagoon.
　
　
　
Table 3.1 Major casualities at three villages as of 7 August 1998
　

Death

Injured

Survivors

Warupu

1,071

369

1,460

Arop

863

0

1,404

Malol

126

0

3,616