August 1, 1629 Tsunami: Banda Sea, Indonesia
A tsunami caused by an earthquake began at Banda Sea, Indonesia on August 1, 1629. The water rose as high as 16 meters. Its effects were recorded at 3 places. It killed 5 people.
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 1, 1629
- Source
- Banda Sea, Indonesia
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- The earthquake
- Maximum water height
- 16 m (52.5 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 3
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 3
- Tsunami magnitude (Iida)
- 4
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Probable tsunami
- Source location
- 4.600° S, 129.900° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 5
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
- Houses destroyed
- Some (about 51 to 100)
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.
Reference #414:
August 1, 1629, 21:30 [local time]. Validity 3. The Banda Islands felt a strong earthquake; the ground cracked. Half an hour later, a high mountain of water appeared in the strait between Lonthor and Neira Islands. The tidal wave rolled directly onto Fort Nassau and the coastal settlement of Bandaneira on Neira Island. The water rose 16 m (9 fathoms) above the spring flood tide mark (according to Perrey, the water inundated Fort Nassau by 3 m [9 feet]). The stone breakwater in front of the fortress was washed away. The water invaded the fort with such force that a cannon weighing 1 1/2 tons was dragged 11 m. Several homes on the shore were washed away, and others were destroyed. The wave rose three times and spun the "Brill," which was riding at anchor in the roadstead, though the ship was not damaged. Many fish were tossed up on shore.
In the eastern direction, the tidal waves surged onto the coast of Lonthor Island, where a stone breakwater was also washed away. The rise of water was 4 m (13 feet) here, and a proa, situated at Cape Mandjangi was dragged inland past the guard post. The fishermen at open sea did not observe any signs of a tidal wave.
1630 or 1631. A date for the tsunami of 1.VIII.1629.
Reference #11528:
1629, August 1 9:30 p.m. Banda Islands. A half hour after the termination or a violent seismic shock there formed in the sound ... a high mountain of water. The ... wave rolled westward ... against Fort Nassau... where it achieved a height of 9 fathoms [15.3 m] above the springtide stand ... Houses lying on the beach were swept away, while others were laid to rubble... Eastwards the tidal wave crashed on the west beach of the island Lonthor, where . .. it achieved ...a height or 13 feel [4 m].
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lontor, Banda Islands | Indonesia | 7 | 4 | Eyewitness observation of water height | |||
| Bandanaira (Banda-Neira), Banda Is. | Indonesia | 8 | 16 | Eyewitness observation of water height | 5 | ||
| Fort Nassau, Banda Island | Indonesia | 8 | 16 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1629The 1600sTsunamis of IndonesiaThe 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 243.