January 4, 1869 Tsunami: North Island, New Zealand
A tsunami of unknown cause began at North Island, New Zealand on January 4, 1869 at 01:30 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 4, 1869, 01:30 UTC
- Source
- North Island, New Zealand
- Cause
- Unknown
- Runups recorded
- 0
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Very doubtful tsunami
- Source location
- 39.050° S, 174.070° E
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.
On Mon last [Jan 4] the tide in our roadstead exhibited extraordinary eccentricities. It was high tide at about 6 minutes past 1, when although it is the season of neap tides, it rose higher than a spring tide. But this was not all; it ebbed for above 3 or 4 hours, occasionally receding and flowing up to the boat sheds. It did not thoroughly fall during the whole afternoon. (Taranaki Herald 9 January 186; also quoted in Hawke's Bay Herald 16 January 1869) (reference #5324)
More
Every tsunami in 1869The 1800sTsunamis of New ZealandThis 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 5549.