March 1871 Tsunami: Westport, New Zealand
A tsunami of unknown cause began at Westport, New Zealand in March 1871.
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
- March 1871
- Source
- Westport, New Zealand
- Cause
- Unknown
- Runups recorded
- 0
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Very doubtful tsunami
- 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:
1871, mid-March.
No. of significant (>1 m) waves: 1.
Max height reached at the limit of inundation relative to sea level at time: HWT-LWT.
In a few minutes water at river mouth changed from low water to reach HWM.
More
Every tsunami in 1871The 1800sTsunamis of New ZealandAlerts 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 5525.