November 14, 1883 Tsunami: Puunaluu, Hawaii, United States
A tsunami of unknown cause began at Puunaluu, Hawaii, United States on November 14, 1883.
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
- November 14, 1883
- Source
- Puunaluu, Hawaii, United States
- Cause
- Unknown
- Runups recorded
- 0
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Very doubtful tsunami
- Source location
- 19.133° N, 155.505° W
The toll
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million)
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
A wave of unprecedented height was observed at Punaluu, Oahu, last Wednesday; it damaged the government road somewhat. Has there been another big earthquake somewhere? Has the same phenomenon been noticed elsewhere along the coast? (reference #11773)
More
Every tsunami in 1883The 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 5645.