April 29, 1870 Tsunami: Westport, New Zealand
A tsunami of unknown cause began at Westport, New Zealand on April 29, 1870.
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
- April 29, 1870
- Source
- Westport, New Zealand
- Runups recorded
- 0
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Erroneous entry
- Source location
- 41.750° S, 171.580° 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.
Reference #5324:
1870, April 29-30th.
On 29-30 April 1870 were damaged by heavy seas and large waves, which Matthews (1999) and Spencer (1986) describe as a tidal wave, and as such have found their way into at least one Regional Authority listing of tsunami. Matthews' source of information about the "tidal wave" seems to have been Spencer, and his source can be traced to contemporary newspapers. These clearly describe a storm event, in which high tides combine with storm waves and probably storm surge.
More
Every tsunami in 1870The 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 5524.