August 28, 1690 Tsunami: Banda Sea, Indonesia
A tsunami of unknown cause began at Banda Sea, Indonesia on August 28, 1690. 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
The tsunami
- Date
- August 28, 1690
- Source
- Banda Sea, Indonesia
- Cause
- Unknown
- Earthquake
- The earthquake
- Runups recorded
- 1
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Erroneous entry
- Source location
- 3.750° S, 127.750° E
The toll
- Deaths
- Few (about 1 to 50)
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses destroyed
- Some (about 51 to 100) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
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.
1690, no date. There are erroneous references in some sources to a tsunami on the Banda Islands. (reference #414)
1690 Aug 28. Ambelau (Ambalu): Houses in several villages on this island fell over; rockfalls in the hills; a section of the coastline sank; aftershocks continued to be felt till 11 January 1691; Buru: Wall of fort (?) damaged; tsunami. (reference #13384)
Reference #14031 summary [note: translation from original Dutch supported by AI tools]: […] [in Bouro] a good part of the land had been sunk from the beach (p 388); Furthermore, around the middle of the year, Bourou suffered a severe earthquake with an uncommon flood and mortality among the natives, which caused some minor earthquakes throughout the province, but without any damage, just as the castle suffered two fires, which were of little importance (p 442)
Note: lat/long unknown, approximate based on descriptions
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buru Island | Indonesia | 115 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1690The 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 343.