April 17, 1860 Tsunami: Petit Trou Nippes, Haiti
A tsunami caused by an earthquake began at Petit Trou Nippes, Haiti on April 17, 1860 at 15:10 UTC. 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
- April 17, 1860, 15:10 UTC
- Source
- Petit Trou Nippes, Haiti
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- The earthquake
- Runups recorded
- 1
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Probable tsunami
- Source location
- 18.550° N, 73.500° W
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.
Of note among the other documented events, an aftershock on 16 April 1860 (E-46) caused a local tsunami that flooded the cemetery in Petit-Trou Nippes (La Feuille de Commerce, 2 June 1860; Fig. 1c). Building damage was also reported from the event in this town, but it is unclear whether this was associated with shaking or the tsunami (reference #13268)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petit Trou Nippes | Haiti | 3 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1860The 1800sTsunamis of HaitiThe 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 5854.