January 6, 1857 Tsunami: Nile River, Sudan
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 5 earthquake began at Nile River, Sudan on January 6, 1857 at 19:00 UTC.
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
- January 6, 1857, 19:00 UTC
- Source
- Nile River, Sudan
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 5
- Runups recorded
- 0
- Waters
- A lake or river, not the ocean
- How certain
- An event that only caused a seiche
- Source location
- 4.500° N, 31.500° E
The toll
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million) 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.
The activity in the Gondokoro Gorge continued intermittently. Late at night on 6 January 1857, another very strong earthquake occurred in the Gondokoro region which was followed by a long series of minor shocks. This event, which at Gondokoro was strong enough to crack walls and ceilings, to set up waves on the Nile and to shake leaves from trees, had its epicenter near Ilengwe, where rockfalls and violent movements of the ground caused panic among the natives. (reference #3790)
More
Every tsunami in 1857The 1800sTsunamis of SudanThe 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 3639.