September 23, 1880 Tsunami: Sydney Harbor, Australia

Name: September 23, 1880 Tsunami: Sydney Harbor, Australia
Start: 1880-09-23
Location: Sydney Harbor, Australia

September 23, 1880 · 0.08 m · Questionable tsunami

A tsunami of unknown cause began at Sydney Harbor, Australia on September 23, 1880. The water rose as high as 0.08 meters.

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

Tsunami warnings in force

The tsunami

Date: September 23, 1880
Source: Sydney Harbor, Australia
Cause: Unknown
Maximum water height: 0.08 m (0.3 ft)
Runups recorded: 0
Waters: Ocean
How certain: Questionable tsunami
Source location: 33.800° S, 151.300° 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.

Note: We consider the Chilean earthquake report listed below to be erroneous and the Australian tsunami report to be possible but doubtful, based on the following:

None of the earthquake or tsunami references in the NCEI archive contain any type of listing for an earthquake or a tsunami in Chile or Peru on or around September 23, 1880.

We did an exhaustive search of the El Mercurio newspaper published in Valparaiso for a few days before and several weeks after the supposed date of the Chilean earthquake and found no mention of an earthquake or a tsunami in September.

A Chilean earthquake large enough to generate a tsunami observed in Australia would have at least been observed in the local area and most likely in other parts of the Pacific.

There was a strong earthquake in Central Chile on August 15, 1880 that caused two deaths and a local tsunami. The earthquake report listed below is very likely a duplicate listing of that earthquake.

Reference #11706

Terrible Earthquake. Valparaiso, Sept 24.

One of the most severe earthquakes that ever visited South America took place yesterday, and was more or less felt all over Chili. The visitation has been accompanied by great loss of life. It has been already ascertained that at least 200 persons have perished.

Reference #11707

The Recent Earthquake in Chili. To the Editor of the Herald.

On the morning of September 27 you published a telegram from Chili, which told us of a severe earthquake in that country. Three days before, or at 40 minutes past 10 a.m. on September 24, the tide-gauge in Sydney harbour recorded the fact that the water suddenly receded from this coast after the manner of earthquake waves, and in a few minutes began to return, reaching the crest in 30 minutes. If this be one of the effects of that earthquake, as previous experience would lead us to suppose, its transmission was even more rapid than the telegram.

The rise and fall of these waves have not been great only about 3 inches; but their character and period of recurrence (26 minutes) leave no doubt as to their origin. They continued to affect the tide-gauge until the morning of the 28th.

Every tsunami in 1880 The 1800s Tsunamis of Australia This day in weather history Alerts 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 5634.