June 1, 1886 Tsunami: Lake Tarawera, North Island, New Zealand
A tsunami caused by a volcano and an earthquake began at Lake Tarawera, North Island, New Zealand on June 1, 1886. The water rose as high as 0.3 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
The tsunami
- Date
- June 1, 1886
- Source
- Lake Tarawera, North Island, New Zealand
- Cause
- Volcano and earthquake
- Volcano
- The eruption that caused it
- Maximum water height
- 0.3 m (1.0 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 0
- Waters
- A lake or river, not the ocean
- How certain
- An event that only caused a seiche
- Source location
- 38.180° S, 176.430° 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.
On a smaller scale, a small wave some 30-centimeters high was generated in Lake Tarawera in 1886, at the start of a nearby eruption of the same name. (reference #2990)
On 1 June, peculiar waves 0.3m high on the western shore of Lake Tarawera may have resulted from early ground movements, but the first definite indications of impending eruption were earthquakes felt at Te Wairoa and Rotorua beginning at 12.30am on 10 June. (reference #12913)
More
Every tsunami in 1886The 1800sTsunamis of New ZealandThe eruptionThis 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 5777.