August 27, 1872 Tsunami: Hawaii, United States
A tsunami of unknown cause began at Hawaii, United States on August 27, 1872.
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
- August 27, 1872
- Source
- Hawaii, United States
- Cause
- Unknown
- Runups recorded
- 0
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Erroneous entry
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 #79 lists date as August 23 or possibly August 27. References #236, #237 and #239 list date as August 23. Reference #3922 (The Volcano Letter, published in Hawaii) lists this as August 27. This source says: "On August 27, 1872, just after a remarkable lava outbreak had begun in the summit crater of Mauna Loa which was destined to last some years, a small tsunami occurred at Hilo during calm weather, the water rising four feet, then six minutes later three feet, and diminishing for about 14 oscillations. The short period of this water wave, six minutes as contrasted with 20 to 30 minutes for the ones of distant origin, makes it likely to have been a local disturbance on the sea floor."
More
Every tsunami in 1872The 1800sTsunamis of United StatesThis 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 1042.