June 6, 1855 Tsunami: Penzance, England, United Kingdom
A tsunami of unknown cause began at Penzance, England, United Kingdom on June 6, 1855.
Where the waves reached
The source of the tsunami. No runup with a place is recorded for it.
- 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
- June 6, 1855
- Source
- Penzance, England, United Kingdom
- Cause
- Unknown
- Runups recorded
- 0
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Questionable tsunami
The toll
The record gives no deaths, injuries or damage for this tsunami.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
Penzance 1855. On the 6 June 1855 Edmonds (1856) noted …an extraordinary oscillation of the sea occurred in the tidal harbour of Penzance, with the sea rushing in and out several times like a very strong tide, ultimately floating and leaving dry boats which drew three feet of water. This is a good description of a tsunami, but it does not give us any clues as to the cause of the waves. This is possibly a meteotsunami, but the amount of evidence leaves doubt as to the waves’ origin. (reference #14269)
More
Every tsunami in 1855The 1800sTsunamis of United KingdomThis 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 6103.