August 19, 1868 Tsunami: Andaman Islands, India
A tsunami of unknown cause began at Andaman Islands, India on August 19, 1868. The water rose as high as 4 meters. 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
- August 19, 1868
- Source
- Andaman Islands, India
- Cause
- Unknown
- Maximum water height
- 4 m (13.1 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 1
- Tsunami magnitude (Iida)
- 2
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Probable tsunami
- Source location
- 11.670° N, 92.730° E
The toll
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
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.
August 19, 1868, earthquake in the Andaman islands, tsunami at Port Blair. (reference #96)
The 19 August 1868 earthquake that originated in Andaman Islands generated a tsunami. Magnitude data are not available for this earthquake. It was a definite tsunami with a runup height 4 m and caused extensive damage in Port Blair. By reviewing data sources [10,24] about this tsunami, no damage reports are available for the Bangladesh coast and adjacent region. The 19 August 1868 earthquake and associated tsunami probably did not affect the Bangladesh and adjacent coasts. (reference #12149)
Although we searched for reference material relating to the events of 1886, 1882, 1868 and 1847 in Table 1, we were unable to find mention of them in any of the sources we consulted. We therefore tentatively conclude that if these events occurred at all they are unlikely to have had a significant impact on the Indian coast. Since we were unable to clearly identify any other primary sources describing these events, we have assigned them a CI of 1, indicating that their interpretation as tsunami is in doubt. (reference #2725)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Port Blair, Andaman Islands | India | 2 | 4 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1868The 1800sTsunamis of IndiaThis 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 988.