March 28, 1875 Tsunami: Lifou Island, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia

Reference #414:

1875, March 28, validity 3, 20 S, 168.5 E, magnitude 8. There was an earthquake on Lifou Island, the largest of the Loyalty (Loyaute) Islands. The shocks weakened on the next day, but intensified again on the 30th. Many settlements were damaged. A high wave which followed the earthquake washed away three settlements, and their residents for the most part perished. Off Aneityum Island, two sand banks more than 4 m high on the outer side of a reef were washed away; they later reformed. The wave flooded a number of other low-lying islands of the archipelago.

Reference #79:

1875, March 28. Loyal Islands or New Hebrides.

Reference #132:

1875, March 28. New Caledonia.

Reference #8975:

1875, March 28 (testimonies and literature). A significant earthquake of an undetermined magnitude struck the Loyalty Islands at 11 pm. Twenty minutes later, a powerful tsunami attacked the coast of Lifou (Ioualalen and Pelletier, 2006). This destructive event was recorded by missionaries at Lifou.

The tsunami caused the death of 25 people on the Southeast coast of Lifou. The areas the most affected were the villages of Thoth and Mou around the Cap des Pins. Important waves are also noticed at Luengoni and We in the Bay of Chateaubriand. The New Caledonian newspaper Le Moniteur dated 28 April 1875 reports missionary witness accounts that describe the series of events that occurred. The testimonies and letters are reported in extenso by Louat (Louat, 1988) and Loua and Baldassari (Louat and Baldassari, 1989). The oral transmission of events gives evidence even today of some areas reached by the waves. A minimal runup of 2.5 m is reported in Mou by four descendants of different families affected by the tsunami (Ephrem N., 87 y.o., Andre L., 50, Jules H., 73, and the Lossi tribal area's High Chief, Evanesie Boula, ~50). The ruins of affected buildings remain on-site (Chiefs hut, temple... The limits of inundation could not be reconstituted.

Numerical modeling, based on detailed bathymetry of the island's coastal zones (Pelletier et al., 2004) and on an earthquake having a potential magnitude of Mw=7.6 in the southern subduction zone of Vanuatu, reproduced the observations (loualalen and Pelletier, 2006). The seismic source in this scenario is located about 180 km north-east of Lifou.

Reference #10134:

Among the more noteworthy events, is the powerful earthquake of 28 March 1875 which triggered a tsunami characterized by a wave 12 feet (3.85 m) high that caused the death of 26 people at Lifou (Loyalty Islands).

Reference #13893:

28–30 March 1875 (Aneityum, Aniwa, Erromango). A huge seismic crisis felt in both the Loyalty Islands in New Caledonia and the southern Vanuatu Islands began 28 March in the southern portion of the VSZ. Major shocks occurred 28 and 30 March and were followed by a “tidal wave”, as reported by Soloviev and Go (1974) and Louat and Baldassari (1989) […] On Aneityum, one person drowned and others were severely hurt (Inglis, 1887, in Louat and Baldassari, 1989). The sea rose around the whole island and did serious damage to dwellings and crops (Inglis, 1887). A wave of 10–11 ft (~3 m) above the spring-tide level, arriving 15 min after the earthquake, was reported (Inglis, 1887) […] The earthquake and tsunami were also felt on Erromango (Robertson, 1892) and Aniwa (Patton, 1894). On both islands a tidal wave from the second, 30 March event was higher than the 28 March one. At Erromango, Robertson (1892) indicated that he saw “a prodigious wall of sea, stretching right across the bay, and which appeared about forty feet high” (~12 m). However, considering the described damage, this value is considered to be an overestimation herein.