December 24, 1853 Earthquake: Tonga Trench

December, 1853, Tonga Islands. The following is an account of Sawkins (Sawkins, 1856; Perrey, 1861; Davis, 1928), about a very severe earthquake which may have been accompanied by a tsunami. "Several months prior to my arrival on the island of Tongatapu in 1854, an earthquake in the area had caused the northeast part of the island to subside, so that the ocean encroached here for 3 1/2 km (almost 2 miles) inland. Flooding occurred also, though to lesser extent, on the southeast coast of the island up to Nukualofa where, in a garden next to a completely demolished house, the water is now washing the roots of trees. The western shore of the island rose approximately one meter (several feet) and one of the springs that had been there previously disappeared underground..." (reference #415)

Tongataboo, one of the Friendly Islands, was visited a few months previous to my sojourn there in 1854 by an earthquake, when the north-east portion of it was tilted down to an inclination sufficient to produce an encroachment of the sea for nearly 2 miles inland, gradually diminishing to the south-eastern shore as far as Nukualofa, where it now washes the roots of a tree that grew within the house that has been entirely destroyed. The western coast has visibly risen some feet, and a spring of water has sunk below the surface [...] overflow of the sea on the northern and eastern sides of the island, and the elevation on the south and west, are interesting in connection with the report of another island having appeared about this time to the westward. This fact was asserted by many, and among them by a whaling captain you had cruises often over the same track, and who landed in an open boat with his crew on the western coast, having stranded his vessel on the said island, which he described as being only a few inches above the ocean (at a distance of thirty miles), and covered with black sand exactly like that on the shores of other volcanic islands in this and the Haabai group; he said that "tons of this sand were being levelled down by the wash of every wave." I made a particular inquiry of the natives of Tongataboo if they had ever before seen any appearance of land in that direction, to which they replied, No, - but that it was their belief that it rose on the night of the earthquake (Christmas-eve, 1853), when the sea came over the land at Hihifo (the North Point). (reference #13311)

Note: Ref #415 incorrectly transcribe details from Ref #13311