November 17, 1872 Tsunami: Penobscot Bay, Maine, United States
A tsunami caused by an earthquake began at Penobscot Bay, Maine, United States on November 17, 1872. The water rose as high as 0.51 meters. Its effects were recorded at 2 places.
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
- November 17, 1872
- Source
- Penobscot Bay, Maine, United States
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Maximum water height
- 0.51 m (1.7 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 2
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Questionable tsunami
- Source location
- 44.183° N, 68.917° W
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.
Fluctuations were registered on the tide gages at North Haven and on the Fox Islands in Penobscot Bay, Maine. Berninghausen (Reference #43) quotes Nature (Reference #1883) which states: "The fluctuations continued from midnight until nearly 6:00 am at somewhat irregular intervals of about 17 minutes from crest to crest with an average vertical range of about 23 cm. The largest wave at 3:00 am had a height of 50.8 cm. Corresponding earthquake phenomena are not known, although it is possible that a shock occurred in the Atlantic Ocean." An earthquake of August 18, 1872 (the next day) recorded in New Hampshire may possibly indicate that seismological activity was occurring in the region. Please refer to this event in the Significant Earthquake Database.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Haven, ME, ME | United States | 8 | 0.5 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Fox Islands, ME, ME | United States | 74 | 0.5 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) |
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 1044.