August 2, 1498 Tsunami: Boca DE LA Sierpe, Venezuela
A tsunami caused by an earthquake began at Boca DE LA Sierpe, Venezuela on August 2, 1498. Its effects were recorded at 1 place.
Where the waves reached
The source (white) and every runup with a place, colored by the water height recorded there. A ring is a runup NCEI marks doubtful.
- Under 1 m
- 1 to 3 m
- 3 to 10 m
- 10 to 30 m
- 30 m and more
- Height not recorded
Travel times
How long the first wave took to reach each part of the ocean, one line for each hour up to 24, estimated from the source and the depth of the sea.
The travel times are computed in your browser, which needs JavaScript.
- 1 to 4 hours
- 5 to 6 hours
- 7 to 14 hours
- 15 hours and more
Computed in your browser the way NOAA’s own travel time maps are: the wave travels at the square root of gravity times the depth, over NOAA’s ETOPO1 depths averaged to a 10 arc-minute grid. Checked against NOAA NCEI’s maps for 21 tsunamis over the first 24 hours, these lines fall within 10 minutes of NCEI’s at half the points compared and within 52 minutes at 9 in 10. They give when the first wave could arrive, not how high it is; bays, harbors and island chains finer than the grid can see it later. Not for use in a warning: see tsunami.gov.
The tsunami
- Date
- August 2, 1498
- Source
- Boca DE LA Sierpe, Venezuela
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- The earthquake
- Runups recorded
- 1
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Questionable tsunami
- Source location
- 9.900° N, 62.300° W
The toll
- Deaths
- Many (about 101 to 1,000)
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
- Houses destroyed
- Many (101 to 1,000)
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
An earthquake and possible tsunami affecting Pedernales in Boca de la Sierpe, Venezuela, was reported (Reference #410). The date is attributed to reports by inhabitants along the coast as "very recent at the time of Christopher Columbus' third voyage," 1498 (Reference #1491).
Singer reported a wave that affected Boca de la Sierpe, Pedernales, and added the notation: "muremofo?" [tsunami]. Humboldt reported, "Rough waves smashed the natural dike
between the coasts of Cumani and Peninsula de Araya, opening a connection to the sea. The Gulf owes its existence to a rent of the continent attended by an irruption of the ocean." Water entered 14 leagues [68 km] into the gap, forming Golfo de Cariaco. Many dwellings
collapsed, and many native Indians perished. This earliest tsunami report for the Caribbean predates many other chronicles, which usually begin at 1530. Humboldt placed the rupture that opened up the Gulf of Cariaco, otherwise attributed to the 1530 event, as earlier due to
the remembrance preserved by the inhabitants of Isla de Margarita and along the coasts of the Cumana region, referred to as "very recent at the time of Christopher Columbus' third voyage," which took place in 1498. Humboldt & Bonpland, 1818; Singer et ul., 1983. V4. (reference #1492)
Every runup
Nearest the source first. Heights are above sea level at the time; a tide gauge reads half the wave’s full height.
| Where | Country | Km from source | Water height, m | Inland, m | Measured by | First wave, UTC | Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pedernales | Venezuela | 8 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1498The 1400sTsunamis of VenezuelaThe earthquakeThis day in weather historyAlerts in force
Sources
Tsunami events and runups from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI tsunami event 145.