February 14, 1840 Tsunami: N. Moluccas Islands, Indonesia
A tsunami caused by an earthquake began at N. Moluccas Islands, Indonesia on February 14, 1840. 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
- February 14, 1840
- Source
- N. Moluccas Islands, Indonesia
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- The earthquake
- Volcano
- The eruption that caused it
- Runups recorded
- 1
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 0.5
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Questionable tsunami
- Source location
- 0.800° N, 127.325° E
The toll
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million); Moderate (about $1 to $5 million) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses destroyed
- 500 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.
1840, February 14. There was an eruption of the volcano on
Ternate Island on February 2. The eruption was not accompanied by any underground shocks. In the afternoon of the 14th, a terrifying rumble was heard and lasted 5-10 minutes. During a terrible downpour, following two light oscillations, a strong shock occurred which knocked over most of the residences. The ground cracked in many places. Water rushed inland and this added to the destruction. (reference #414)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ternate Island | Indonesia | 6 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1840The 1800sTsunamis of IndonesiaThe earthquakeThe eruptionThis 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 718.