June 5, 1888 Tsunami: La Plata River, Uruguay
A tsunami caused by an earthquake began at La Plata River, Uruguay on June 5, 1888.
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 5, 1888
- Source
- La Plata River, Uruguay
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- The earthquake
- Runups recorded
- 0
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Very doubtful tsunami
- Source location
- 34.500° S, 57.900° 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.
The 5 of June of 1888 at 0 hours 20 m an earthquake affected the southwestern part of Uruguay and the Province of Buenos Aires (Argentina). The fact that his epicenter was placed in the La Plata River between Colonia in Uruguay and the capital of Argentina, Buenos Aires, added to the fact that his magnitude is presumed to have been superior to 5.0. The consequences of a similar seismic event would be nowadays, without doubt, much majors that those experimenting for more of a century, given the urban development in the zone, the intense present marine traffic where the tremor was focused and in which variations were reported important in the level of the river... (reference #8855)
More
Every tsunami in 1888The 1800sTsunamis of UruguayThe earthquakeThis 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 5322.